- It's good to see you again.
- It's good to see you.
- We love when you come here, you make me feel good.
I don't know, you have this like vibe about you
- You make everybody feel good.
- That is not true, but I'll take it
- It is. Oh no, it's the truth.
[Crowd Cheering]
- Do you, you feel at home right,
with this audience?
- Oh yeah. These are my people
- For 17 years, yeah.
- There's not enough in my branch here, but there are some.
- Well, tell us about your time in the military.
You served for, was it nearly 17 years?
- 17 and a half total time...
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- in service, I had 10 and a half active duty.
- Oh wow.
[Crowd Cheering]
- But yeah I was with the 82nd Airborne the 101st
had the great privilege of working with
some of the greatest people in the world.
- Yeah, Wow. Well so even though you're retired
from the military you say that, that training
kind of never goes away, right?
- That's a fact, yeah.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- I say this from my stage every night, when we're on stage,
and I use the term once a soldier, always a soldier.
And it is the truth.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- It's just something that never gets away from you.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- All of these people can attest that
no matter what they do in their future lives,
wherever they may end up,
what they're doing right now will be with them forever.
And those relationships, which is also
a wonderful thing.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- They never go away.
- I hope not for them.
So you're very popular with the military.
I'm sure they connect with you because
obviously you're a veteran as well but
why do you think your songs hit them so deeply?
Because people love you.
- I wish I knew
- Then you'd know the secret.
- I think it's because
I sing and write from their perspective really.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- I mean like I said, I'm a soldier.
I entertain people now,
I sing, I write songs, produce records, get to be in movies
which is why I'm for the record,
any of you...
- I love this
- people making fun of this, thinking I, you know,
I'm not clean shaving like I normally am, like I said
I think it's because I'm still them.
- Yeah.
- And like you we're still fans.
- Yeah.
- So when I sing and write, I try to sing
from that perspective as if I wanted to hear the song.
- Absolutely. I know sometimes I'll write
something that I want to hear that'll help me
kind of heal and that's why I do it.
- Yeah.
- Yeah,
Well we have to take a quick break
but up next we've got two members
of the 82nd Airborne who recently went viral.
You've served in that unit, so have you seen this video?
- I have seen the video.
- Okay.
- I love it because I actually did a thing
long, long time ago, it was an Airborne school.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- I wrote a song, they found
out I was a singer by me singing cadences...
- Yeah.
- and they asked me what I was doing one night
and I said I'm writing a song.
And it was about the test platoon
and it was the first banquet
that the test platoon had ever had.
And they brought in the 82nd Airborne Choir
and they backed me up on that song
at Fort Benning, Georgia a long time ago.
- A long time ago
- I hate to say how many years.
- Like 10 years ago.
- Yeah.
- As we discussed, Craig served 17 years in the military
including time in the 82nd Airborne.
That division actually has a singing chorus
which I did not know, but were you in it?
Were you ever in it?
- No
- [Kelly] No.
- I had a critical MOS, they wouldn't let me do it.
- They wouldn't let you do it. They're holding you back,
holding you back.
So the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus went
viral this summer when they sang My Girl, great song,
at a paratrooper drop zone.
Here you go.
[Chorus Harmonizing and Singing]
- I guess you say
what can make me feel this way
my girl, my girl, my girl, my girl
[Crowd Cheering]
- I dunno who's holding in that base, but that is so nice.
Please welcome two members of the chorus staff,
Sergeant Shaquille McKenna and Specialist Kevin Ortiz.
[Crowd Cheering]
- Thank you guys
- Thank you
- So I'm gonna start with you Sergeant McKenna,
So you guys are really good.
So how did that video come about?
How did that happen?
- Well honestly Kelly, thank you for having us first of all.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- It was just another
- Oh, I love your accent.
- Oh, thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
- Yeah
- It was just another Tuesday,
We were preparing for 82nd Airborne Division,
Airborne operations and...
- [Specialist Ortiz] Casual.
- Yeah, it was just casual.
[Kelly Laughs]
- one of the NCOs came over and she said,
Hey are you guys the chorus?
We'd love to, you know, can you sing for us?
It meant so much to her because she grew up
listening to us and we just performed.
And in the performance, you know, we figured we'd go back
in time and sing some Motown and stuff like that.
Because historically the chorus was instituted in 1967.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- And it was an all males chorus
and then it transitioned to being male and female.
And yeah, so we performed that song and, you know
being part of this organization is
just an incredible opportunity.
- Oh my God, it was so cool.
And like just a cool little sneak peek for all of us.
And it was just like, wait, what?
Like, it was just, I didn't know that was gonna happen
and whenever I turned, you know
press play and I was like, What? They're really good.
I don't know who's holding that bass, but shout out.
- [Sergeant McKenna] Oh
- That was real good.
So Sergeant McKenna,
so does military service run in your family?
- Yes, it does.
My great uncle served in the United States Military.
And then when I came from a foreign country,
as you can tell,
I had the opportunity to continue in that service.
My great-grandfather was crowned
The Reigning Calypso Monarch King.
And so, he made sure that music was part
of what we did traditionally in our family.
So being able to serve in the military and do music it was
- [Kelly] Conquering both at the same time.
- Yeah, it was just so beautiful and I'm very fortunate
to be able to do that.
- I know music is healing man.
- [Sergeant McKenna] Absolutely.
- Yeah.
- [Specialist Ortiz] It's why we do it.
- Oh, absolutely.
Well, Specialist Ortiz, what is your story about?
- Well, see me personally, the military doesn't run
in my family, but I am a first generation immigrant,
the son of two very proud immigrants who work tirelessly
to cement their legacy.
And so in serving our country
it was a way for me to give back
and also add to, you know, add honor to our name.
And that's just why I serve and I love doing that.
- Yeah. And you love singing.
- I love singing
- Yeah, me too. Me too.
[Crowd Cheering]
It's not all singing though, right?
Cause people are singing that and they're like, oh
they're like singers in the court, y'all are soldiers.
- Yes.
- Yep.
- Well, Kelly, first and foremost
the 82nd Airborne Division is America's Guard of Honor.
We are one of the most technically and tactically
proficient fighting forces deployable anywhere in the world
in under 18 hours.
And, you know, being part of that organization
requires a high level of, you know, readiness.
And our command team and all the paratroopers
at the 82nd Airborne Division, they do a great job of
you know, maintaining and sustaining and establishing
that standard.
- And especially as paratroopers, we go through a lot
of rigorous training to be able to do what we do
and stay at the ready to do it.
I mean, sometimes you can question why you're doing it
and you kind of
whenever you're about to jump outta this aircraft
that sense of purpose comes right back to you
because you're standing there hooked up, the door is open,
air's whooshing, and it's suddenly getting really real
and you jump outta that aircraft.
And that's where you learn to trust your training,
trust your equipment.
And then you get that sense of, here's why I'm serving
this is what we do as paratroopers.
- Yeah. Oh my gosh.
Was your experience anything like that?
I feel, first of all, I feel like I need a glass of wine
after what they just said.
I'm just like jumping out of a plane.
Not unless it's going down, brother.
[Specialist Ortiz And Sergeant McKenna Laugh]
I'm like, nope.
- It's exactly what he said. I'm still a jump master.
And to this day I still remember
all the jump master command.
- Oh my gosh.
- Oh yeah.
Get Ready.
Out more personnel, Stand up.
[Kelly Laughs]
- [Kelly] They're about to do like, I got it.
- They're ready
- I know this one.
So this summer, the chorus went viral
with their incredible rendition
of My Girl at an actual drop zone.
So Sergeant McKenna, so you guys rerecorded the song
just for us right?
- Yes we did. We actually did a video,
a music video recently
at the 82nd Airborne Division Museum.
And you know, there it features tons of aircrafts
from present day all the way back, dating back to, you know
the first World War, so...
- [Kelly] Yeah
- we hope you guys enjoy it.
- Give it up for
The 82nd Airborne All American Chorus with My Girl.
[Chorus Harmonizing]
- I've got sunshine
on a cloudy day
when it's cool outside, baby.
I've got the month of May.
Well, I guess you'd say
What are you saying?
What can make me feel this way?
Nobody but my girl, my girl, my girl
I'm talking about my girl, my girl.
I've got so much honey
the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song, baby
than the birds in the trees
Well I guess you'd say, I said what you say,
What can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl, I'm talking about my girl.
I don't need no money,
fortune or fame,
I've got all the riches, baby,
one man can claim.
Hey, I guess you'd say
what can make me feel this way?
I guess you'd say,
what can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl, I'm talking about my girl.
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl.
Oh my, my, my girl.
I've even got the month of May with my girl.
My, my, my girl.
Talking about, talking about my girl, with my girl.
My girl.
[Crowd Cheering]
- [Kelly] Oh my God, that is so good!
- [Sergeant McKenna] Thank you
- Oh my gosh, everybody, one more time.
I loved all those runs, all those things, one more time
for the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus.