KISS and Hiring Our Heroes Salute America’s Military with Freedom to Rock

07/09/2016

KISS and Hiring Our Heroes Salute Americaï¿½s Military with Freedom to Rock

By Erica Roberts / US Chamber of Commerce

When KISS hits the road this summer, it wonï¿½t just be the usual groupies that accompany the band on its Freedom to Rock tour. At each of the tourï¿½s 32 concert stops, the band will ï¿½ with a little help from the U.S. Chamberï¿½s Hiring our Heroes program ï¿½ select a current member of the National Guard or Reserve to be a ï¿½Roadie for the Day,ï¿½ who will join the iconic band on tour and assist in the backstage processes.

ï¿½Our military heroes are called upon sometimes at a momentï¿½s notice to deploy into harmï¿½s way, and they drop everything to respond,ï¿½ Eric Eversole, U.S. Chamber vice president and president of the Hiring Our Heroes program, said in a statement. ï¿½Itï¿½s fitting to honor these men and women in their hometowns as part of the ï¿½Freedom to Rockï¿½ tour.ï¿½

This is not the first time that the legendary rock band has shown its support for the men and women in U.S. military. Two years ago, as part of the bandï¿½s 2014 Heroes tour, both KISS and Def Leppard sought out veterans to hire as roadies.

All of the stops on this year's Freedom to Rock tour ï¿½ which include towns like Fort Wayne, Ind., and Sioux City, Iowa ï¿½ are home to military bases or communities, making this KISS tour an even bigger ode to those who serve our country.

As the bandï¿½s founder, Paul Stanley, explained: ï¿½KISS is celebrating our ï¿½Freedom To Rockï¿½ tour this summer; the same freedom thatï¿½s been upheld by our veterans and active duty service members.ï¿½

In addition to selecting a veteran as a roadie for each stop, KISS will also be donating a number of tickets to veterans in each community by partnering with the Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) as well as offering discounted tickets to veterans in select cities.

Added KISS frontman Gene Simmons: "We are proud to partner with HOH and Vet Tix to highlight the incredible commitment and sacrifices of hometown heroes serving in the National Guard and Reserve forces. Many of these heroes have given a lot ï¿½ and some have given all ï¿½ and we will honor them in every town we tour.ï¿½

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