FORT RILEY, Kan. - At 9:45 a.m. Oct. 29, Kristin Takach and Courtney Forrester arrived at the Fort Riley Post Exchange with one mission in mind. For Takach, that mission was to be the first person in line to meet country music singer Darryl Worley - the first star she's ever met.
"I've never met a famous person before, and so I knew that if I had the opportunity, I wanted to get here first in line," Takach said.
After waiting three hours, she accomplished her mission.
"It was awesome," Takach said afterward. "He is such a wonderful person."
"That's just dedicated fans," Worley said. "I wouldn't expect them to wait that long. It's just precious. You don't think about things like that until somebody tells you that story, and you know they've been standing there for three hours or longer waiting."
Worley performed that evening at Hangar 863 on Marshall Army Airfield to kick off Military Family Appreciation Month at Fort Riley. Prior to his performances, he conducted a meet-and-greet session at the PX.
"We do (meet and greets) because there's people out there that actually want to come up and shake your hand," he said. "It's always good to have an opportunity to look the men and women in the eyes that serve the country and shake their hands and thank them for their service."
Takach and Forrester were accompanied by their husbands, Staff Sgt. Justin Takach, a Soldier and career counselor with the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Forrester, a Soldier and chaplain's assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd HBCT, 1st Inf. Div., as well as their daughters, Addison Takach and Laura Forrester.
Both military wives enjoy country music, and as Takach put it, "I've got the belt buckle and everything else to prove it."
With their husbands preparing for deployment within a matter of weeks, the concert gave the Families an opportunity for a fun night out at no expense.
"Nothing's better than having the military put on something free for us, especially when country artists come out and want to do something like this for us," Forrester said. "We thank God for that and thank them for taking time out of their busy work days to actually come and support us and what our guys are doing for us."
Worley's performance at Fort Riley was one of seven at military installations on his "God and Country Tour." He said he feels performing for the servicemembers and their Families is the right thing to do.
"If I have a talent of some sort that can make a difference in the big picture, when it comes to the war efforts, I feel that it's our duty as Americans to use that talent and to do whatever we can," he said. "It's been a real honor for me to do what we've done in that line of duty - to go out and use whatever we have to make a difference in the big picture."
With Army and Navy servicemembers dating back to the Revolutionary War in his Family, Worley had plans of following his Family's tradition of serving in the armed forces, but his height wouldn't allow him to fly jets in the Air Force. So instead, he attended college after his high school graduation.
Now he serves the U.S. in a different way - by performing for Soldiers and their Family members.
"When you've been around it all your life and you've felt the effects of war and deployments and those kinds of things on your own Family members, it certainly takes on a little bit of a different dynamic," Worley said.
Since traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan for several performances, Worley's had the opportunity to learn more about the war efforts and get closer to the heart of the matter seeing it firsthand, he said.
"I think after we went over there a couple of times, it started to sink in that morale is really important, and after the higher ups tell you several times, you realize what a difference this makes for our men and women when you come and just remind them that there's people that really care," he said.
Worley recalled a performance at Camp Blessing, Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, hearing the battle just over the hillside.
"Those moments are very surreal because you're right there where it's happening," he said. "I've learned a whole lot more of what I thought I knew about the amount of sacrifice and dedication it takes to be in the military and what's really expected of you."
Seeing the war firsthand and sharing videos and photographs with his Family has inspired them.
"It just makes (my Family) want to do our part, and if we're giving back, we want people to know that we're doing it for the right reasons," Worley said.
Worley has written a few songs like, "Have you Forgotten" and "Awful Beautiful Life" about military servicemembers, but Worley said he never thought about writing a song for the Families left behind while their loved ones are fighting abroad, until he was approached by servicemembers around the world.
"I heard this over and over and over again," Worley said. "One day, I was driving home from downtown Nashville, and it was like God was sitting in the passenger seat and went, 'Hey stupid, have you been listening''"
Worley said he thought to himself, "Why haven't I done this because it's obviously something that they wanted to hear."
He called the co-writer of "Have you Forgotten" with his idea. After searching for a song about military Family members with no luck, "Unsung Heroes" was written in a matter of a couple hours.
"I think these men and women that do this are special people, and they love their job," Worley said. "I think still, that we have to be conscious of their situation and sacrifice."
Worley and his wife have personally reached out to military Families going through difficult times. They also have become involved with local military installation's homecoming ceremonies.
"We try to lift them up through our music," Worley said. "The biggest part of the efforts that we're involved in are just the many, many different performances that we do, whether it be abroad or here on the home front, to try to extend our appreciation to the troops and let them know just what it means to us to be free."
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