Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images via ABCAs America celebrates its military men and women this Memorial Day weekend, it’s a holiday that makes Sam Hunt feel particularly close to his grandfather.
“My granddad was in World World II,” he reveals. “He was on the USS Texas battleship, and he was over at Normandy and over near Japan and he spent a lot of time right in the thick of World War II.”
For the Georgia native, his grandfather became a living example of what it means to truly appreciate the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.
“He really took pride in what that meant,” Sam reflects, “and it was something I got to see firsthand, as somebody who experienced that, and somebody who had that galvanized American trait… Somebody who’s been through that, and seen that really appreciates what it means to be free.”
It’s a characteristic the “Body Like a Back Road” hitmaker has worked to cultivate himself.
“I’ve tried to channel that into my own life,” Sam says, “because I haven’t fought in any war, but I really, really have a ton of respect for folks who have, and folks who have sacrificed, families who’ve lost lives and just sacrificed years of their own lives and time and effort to maintain those freedoms.”
On Thursday, Sam kicks off his 15 in a 30 Tour with Maren Morris and Chris Janson in Cleveland, Ohio.
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