January 18, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Sanford Brokaw, 310-273-2060, brokawc@aol.com
 

Judy Seale Finds Passion
In Providing Entertainment For Soldiers  

A trip to Iceland in 1991 changed Judy Seale's life. That was the year Judy, who is an international tour producer in Nashville, agreed to take the Forester  Sisters on a USO trip to Iceland on New Year's Eve.

"We flew in a P3 surveillance plane. Immediately AFTER we landed, there was a white-out," Judy recalls. "I had no idea we had young men and women deployed to places like that. I started helping the USO book talent to perform for our military men and women and I never looked back." 

In 2003 Judy took the first group of celebrities to bases in Iraq. She continues to book talent to military bases around the world, often contacting bases directly to set up a tour.

One of her goals is to take talent to some of the smaller, more remote sites where there are less troops stationed. These men and women don't get much in the form of live entertainment. Judy says the number of people on these bases doesn't matter. "I don't care if there are only 20 people there, that's where we want to go. They are the people who hear about the tours to the big bases, but never get to see anyone themselves. We may go to the big bases because we need that landing strip, but then we'll go out from it and hit some of the smaller bases that surround it."

This is truly a labor of love for Judy. She doesn't get paid to book these trips. She does get her expenses covered when she takes the celebrities overseas. The entertainers don't get paid either, except a per diem for expenses.

"I beg, plead, and get a lot of acts in country music and some Christian music to go with me," Judy explains. "I also take some actors and actresses, NFL players -- anyone who has already heard about the program and want to do their share to help.

"Things are a lot different than we see on TV." Judy says. "Every celebrity who goes will say it's a life changing experience."

Judy says she's never not felt safe while she was on foreign land. "Things happen, they just do, but you have a dozen military men and women around you all the time to make sure you are safe."

The shows are very important for morale among the troops. Judy tells all the artists who go that they have to sign every autograph that's asked of them, a task that sometimes takes three or four hours. The last trip out, with Aaron Tippin, Judy went through 4400 printed photos of the singer. "He signed them all if the people asked. He also signed caps and tee-shirts, and he took a photo with everybody who stood in line."

Judy says the troops are very polite and usually won't come up and interrupt a celebrity to talk to them or get an autograph. "Charlie Daniels will not walk past someone without stopping to say hello and introduce himself. He'll always ask if they want their picture taken with him. Once they see that happen a few times, then the rest of the people politely step into line for one as well.

Putting the tours together is a lot of hard work. According to Judy, the tour itself is "like a Chevy Chase vacation movie, we have so much fun."

Judy has done 28 trips with her company, Stars For Stripes, since December of 2003. The nonprofit serves as the base for booking celebrities to military bases around the world. They have traveled mostly to Iraq, with some trips to Afghanistan and others to Korea, Italy and Germany.

In addition to Aaron Tippin, other celebrities who have made the trip with Judy include Josh Gracin, Chely Wright, Charlie Daniels, Lee Ann Womack, Richard Marx, Dierks Bentley, Trick Pony, Diamond Rio, Craig Morgan, Darryl Worley, Bellamy Brothers and Little Big Town. In 2008 she plans to take Switchfoot; NFL players Kevin Butler and Jim Mc Mann; and comedians Michael MacDonald with "MADD TV" and David Price from the "CBS Early Show."

Part of the reason Judy brings entertainment to the troops is that they are so appreciative of the people who go to perform for them. "What you see over in Iraq or other places is one big happy family," Judy recalls. "There is purpose and you know what you are going to do will make a difference in someone's life. I come home and I feel like what I'm doing here is no longer important. I'm so lucky and so fortunate to get to do this."

For more information: www.judysealeinternational.com and www.starsforstripes.com.

#     #     #

---------------------------------------
Sanford Brokaw
The Brokaw Company
9255 Sunset Blvd., Suite 804
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Phone: 310-273-2060
Fax: 310-276-4037
Email: brokawc@aol.com



STARS FOR STRIPES IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR ITS PUBLICATION, STARS AND STRIPES. 

STARS FOR STRIPES IS A NON-PROFIT, 501(c)(3) CORPORATION