May 8, 2008 — Some country artists sing patriotic songs. Others travel to bases to perform. Then, there are those elite few who have earned their stripes by fighting on the front lines, by sea, and in the air to bravely defend our country. Here are a few of country music's finest who proudly served for the red, white and blue: Craig Morgan, Josh Gracin, Phil Stacey, Keni Thomas and Stephen Cochran.

Read their powerful stories and click here to view personal photos of these brave men from their days in the military!

Craig Morgan
Craig Morgan is deep in the trenches of a country music career with hits like "That's What I Love About Sunday" and "Almost Home," but it was later in life before he enlisted in the music industry. The former staff sergeant was in active duty with the Army from 1985-1996 and then in the reserves until 2004.

"I think probably one of the coolest things was when I went to Korean Ranger School," Craig recalls. "That was probably one of the most challenging things I had ever done. It was 9 ½ weeks of some of the toughest physical, mental stuff that you could ever do."

While jumping out of planes was part of his day job, playing guitar and writing songs were his escape as Craig coped with life a long way from home.

"Korea is a point where it became even more so important than any other time," Craig said. "Music was something I kind of leaned on to take me back home sort of. I always wrote about the stuff that I missed the most at home."

In 1990, the Nashville, TN native won the U.S. Army Male Vocalist of the Year contest, but he didn't dare dream of actually attempting music for a living.

"I never did have the confidence," he says. "Some of my closest friends in the Army were people that were convincing me that I should get out of the Army and pursue it."

With those friendly marching orders, Craig signed up for a hitch with Broken Bow Records and has been rising through the ranks in country music ever since. He recently signed a new record deal with Sony BMG Nashville. However, his heart continues to serve with patriotic pride.

"We've been over to Iraq and Afghanistan entertaining for four years during Christmas holidays and New Years and other critical times, and we do shows throughout the year for the men and women who are serving here," Craig said. "I think it's an obligation as an American citizen. I think we're obligated to give back to the men and women in any way that we can."

Josh Gracin
"I've always wanted to do something for a mass amount of people—just feel like I'm contributing in some way," Marine Lance Corporal Josh Gracin said of his military days. "I guess you could call it a hero complex. I thought serving my country would be the best way to do that and fill a part of my life with something I always wanted to do."

From 2000-2004, he trained in Paris Island, SC, and then was shipped to Camp Pendleton, CA. where Josh stayed busy as a supply administration and operations clerk. He waited until he was on leave to explore his music muse, but about halfway through his tour of duty, his wife urged him to audition for "American Idol." Josh ran the idea up the flagpole to see if his superiors would salute, and to his surprise, they did.

"I had a company officer who believed in me and was adamant about making sure I got a chance to be on the show," Josh said.

But not all the troops lined up in support.

"You had some marines that didn't really understand it and were a little taken the wrong way by it," Josh remembers. "After I won on the show and released the first album, I'd get nothing but good things said to me by Marines still in the Corps, and not just them but the Navy, Army, and all of the men and women in the service."

Josh says his stint in the Marines was physically demanding, but the experience also gave him the discipline to endure some of the rigors of the music industry, like some recent lengthy days promoting his new CD, We Weren't Crazy.

"I was in the studio for the past two days doing 13 hours of radio interviews," says Josh. "Every five minutes I was talking to another radio or TV station---Same questions, one after the other, and trying to remain upbeat and happy because it is a happy time."

Combating doldrums may not be as grueling as going on a full-pack long mountain hike, but mentally, it wore him out.

"I went to the house when I got home and passed out on the couch, and I never do that! I'm usually up until 2, 3 o'clock in the morning."

Phil Stacey
The tragic unraveling of normal life after September 11th had already put Phil Stacey in a tailspin. Then, as his emotions spiraled out of control, Garth Brooks' hit, "The Change," began to play on the radio.

"The message of it is with all the evil in the world I'm going to be part of the good," Phil says as he relives that fateful day. "The world is not going to change that about me. I turned the radio off and turned towards my wife, and I said, 'Honey, I think I need to join the military.'"

Phil set sail for four years with the Navy, enduring boot camp at Great Lakes, IL before heading to the Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach and at Navy Band Southeast in Jacksonville, FL. Petty Officer Third Class Phil continues serving his country in the reserves as a mass communications specialist.

During his initial stint, the "American Idol" contestant's tour of duty was touring as a rock singer in a Navy band to support recruitment efforts at high schools in the southeast.

"I was up there singing like Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses," Phil says. "It was very hard to get up there and do it initially on my voice, because I was used to going in and singing hymns and spiritual songs in churches."

But the highlight of his service time happened when he performed the national anthem for former Commander-in-Chief, President Jimmy Carter at an Atlanta Braves game.

"It was a thrill for me," Phil exclaimed. "My uncle is a world-renowned artist [Mitchell Tolle]. He actually painted one of the official portraits of Jimmy Carter. So, I was an idiot and the only thing I could say to Jimmy Carter was 'my uncle painted you.' What do you say to a former leader of the free world? He was president when I was born, and all these thoughts just rushed into my head."

Keni Thomas
Keni Thomas keeps one eye over his shoulder as the country music newcomer travels the road these days. But it's not a cautious move that became ingrained from his combat experience as a member of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. It's an uncanny feeling that he can't shake, born out of an attitude of gratitude toward his fellow fallen soldiers.

"Any time that you make it out of something where other people did not, you will spend the rest of your life thanking the people that were on your left and on your right," Kenni explains. "There's this odd sense of guilt that follows you around," Kenni adds. "Why me? Why did I deserve to make it out of there when other people did not?"

Straight out of college, Keni signed on after the first Gulf War started in 1991 with the intention of only serving one enlistment. But his dutiful desire became the defining point in his life, and he filled out the papers for a second enlistment. While he was stationed in Columbus, GA, Keni started playing during open mic nights at a local club and formed his band, Cornbread. Eventually, the soldier set his sights on making music full-time.

"It took me a long time to come to grips and be at peace with being a musician for a living, because you just don't feel like it's hard enough. It's such a blessed life. It's so, 'Look at me!'"

Now Keni uses his music [his debut CD was called Gunslinger] to help raise money for The Special Operations Warrior Foundation that provides college education to children of Special Ops personnel who were killed in the line of fire. And he also returns overseas to perform for the folks in uniform.

"You feel good about who you are because you see that you are part of something bigger than just Hey, look at me, I'm a star,' the veteran said. "They know that you're not out there just trying to cash in on the patriotic bandwagon because you can do it with sincerity."

Stephen Cochran
I don't know but I've been told, Stephen Cochran served mighty bold. That's the kind of cadence that could ring true for the country music newcomer and decorated war veteran who put his life on the line in combat action and fought back from paralysis to walk again.

Stephen was just a few hours shy of finishing his college degree when 9/11 happened. Compelled to do his duty, he joined the Marines for a total of five years, leaving as a Sergeant and a team leader of recon scouts. He served in Albania, Kuwait, Germany, Quatar, and Malta and was honored with numerous awards including the Purple Heart.

"I met the most dedicated friends that I will ever have because I could never trust anyone like I can trust those individuals who were willing to give up their life for me," Stephen said. "I still keep in contact with everyone I served with in both combat tours, and I still pray for the ones that we lost on different missions."

The loss of one person in particular hit Stephen hard, the death of his buddy, Corporal Ron Payne, who was killed during an ambush in Afghanistan.

"Ron and his team were engaged by a forward observer of an Al Qaeda unit which included up to 30 terrorist fighters," Stephen said. "The last transmission that I received was a broken transmission that said "Contact."

"No more transmissions were received from Ron, and we didn't know at the time, that they had already fallen under attack from the high ground position. The reason we weren't getting radio transmission was because Ron was wearing the radio, and he was killed by an RPG blast which blew up the radio so we had no way of knowing where our men were when we hit the ground. As soon as we arrived, the Taliban began to retreat as we made our way up the mountain to try to find our men."

Stephen wrote about the tragic tale in "When a Hero Falls" on his self-titled debut CD, while he was recovering during a 9-month hospital stay from injuries suffered in Afghanistan. He was on a combat mission in Kandahar when he broke his back in six places. Stephen was paralyzed and faced the strong possibility that he would never walk again.

"To be honest, I don't know how positive I was at that time," Stephen admits. "I loved songwriting and that got me through the day-to-day struggle of watching everything that I had ever worked for fade away."

Stephen gained a lot of his inner strength from the Marine Corps that helped him survive that ordeal and the daunting obstacles of the country music industry.

"I'm very glad I didn't pursue my music until after the Marine Corps because I don't think I would have had the determination, the will and the drive to perform the needs that need to be met in this business," Stephen said. "I truly believe that it was easier for me to learn to walk again than it is to get country radio to play one of my singles, especially since I'm on an independent label. However, I have made a lot of great friends at country radio and I think we have made a lot of believers out of them."