Christina Fuoco of The Flint Journal has issued the following report:

Going to Iraq to play USO shows was especially important to new ADEMA lead singer Luke Caraccioli. When he served in the Marines for five years, he thrived on USO concerts when American culture was thin.

"It was very special for me when I was in the military. I remember there were some USO shows that I went to, especially when I was in deployment in Japan," said Caraccioli, who also served in San Diego and on the U.S.S. Essex.

"The culture in Japan is nothing like the culture in America. You don't see any American things. To see an American rock band come over and play a show over there, it really made my entire time over there," added Caraccioli, who saw BLESSID UNION OF SOULS and TONIC while in the Marines.

ADEMA — which also includes drummer Kris Kohls, bassist Dave De Roo and guitarist Tim Fluckey — visited Mosul, Iraq, in April to play for the troops.

"I was really stoked about going over there and playing for those guys and girls. The biggest thing I took away was kids coming up to us saying, 'You guys made my year.' When someone says that, that's just powerful, you know? It was awesome."

"Awesome," sure, but Caraccioli admitted that he was scared to be in a war zone.

"It definitely was scary. Whether or not you want to think about it, you know you're going to the combat zone. There were definitely dangers. You get briefed about that when you're going over there by the tour manager," he said.

"There was a little bit of tension when we first got into Iraq. Once we got over there and saw how safe the base was, we felt a lot better. We were in Mosul, the most active spot in Iraq. That's where the artists ought to go. That's where the kids are going out on the missions. That's where people are losing their lives. That may be the last concert some of them ever get to see."

Read the rest of the article at MLive.com.