Courtesy Photo | Grammy Award-winning artist The Band Perry performs for service members at the Futenma...... read more read more
Subscribe
For Staff Sgt. Matthew Wee, spending time at a free concert by The Band Perry brought him a little slice of America on a warm evening on Okinawa.
The Marine, who’s stationed at Kadena Air Base, and his friends were among thousands of who attended a free show by Grammy Award-winning The Band Perry at the Futenma Flightline Fair. The sibling trio—Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry—played a free concert Sept. 24 for service members, their families and the Okinawa community. The concert was Camp Foster’s prize for winning the Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s and Pizza Hut’s Wingapalooza contest earlier this year.
“It’s amazing,” Wee said of the free concert. “It’s a good opportunity for the different service members and the Japanese to come together on base. This brings a piece of home to Marines, Sailors and other service members here.”
To kick off the show, Exchange Pacific Commander Col. Scott Maskery addressed the crowd, thanking them for being part of a special night and expressing his gratitude for Pizza Hut and Marine Corps Community Services, which hosted the band as part of its fair.
“It’s a privilege to give back to service members and families—to take care of them when they’re far from home,” Maskery said.
Members of The Band Perry, making their first trip to the Pacific, were eager to play for the troops.
“This show tonight is important,” Kimberly Perry said. “We’re bringing a little bit of home to the soil here in Okinawa for our servicemen and women. There’s a lot of love coming off the stage tonight. We are so honored to bring a little bit of home over here.”
Hours before the concert, the band signed autographs and handed out swag to fans at the Camp Foster Exchange. Hundreds of fans began lining up nearly two hours before the meet-and-greet to make sure they got to spend a few moments with the trio.
Charla Jo Williams, whose husband, Dennis, has served in the Marines for 24 years, was the first in line.
“This is huge,” Williams said. “I’ve been here three years—we’ve never had anything like this here before.”
In line behind Williams, Amber Wood and her 9-year-old daughter, Kylie, were patiently awaiting their turn with the band. Wood’s husband, Terry, has been serving in the Army at Kadena since the end of April.
“This is such a small island, and our entertainment is limited,” Wood said. “It’s a big deal to have this band here for us.”
Marine Sgt. Daniel Burrell and his wife, Abby, were among a few lucky fans who got to meet the band backstage before the show.
“It’s nice of the band to come here and do this for us,” Abby said. “It feels more like we’re home…like America.”
The Band Perry spent the weekend getting to know more about the service members on Okinawa. The night before the show, they made a surprise delivery—a large Pizza Hut cheese pie and wings (for Wingapalooza, of course) to a Marine who had called in a dinner order. The day of the show, Marines showed the band an Osprey and other aircraft on the Futenma flightline, talking to the trio about their own roles in serving America.
The Exchange and Pizza Hut teamed up to bring the band to Okinawa. During May and June, Camp Foster’s “The Spot” Pizza Hut sold more orders of wings—8,829—than any military installation in the Pacific, earning a free concert for the community. In all, more than 700,000 wings were consumed during the Wingapalooza contest at military installations across the Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2016 11:56 |
| Story ID: | 210820 |
| Location: | FUTENMA, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 239 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Exchange, Pizza Hut Give Back to Camp Foster With Free Concert by The Band Perry, by Julie Mitchell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT