Kiss Hires War Veteran For Road Crew
After a two months search that included over 1900 applicants, Gene Simmons and Kiss have their hero. As part of the Hiring Our Heroes campaign, the band hired Paul Jordan, a 27-year military veteran, to work on their road crew this summer, surprising him with the news on yesterday’s ‘Today’ show.
Jordan was at first led to believe he was one of three finalists for the position. He stood nervously next to Matt Lauer and Al Roker as Simmons talked about why his band teamed up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for Hiring Our Heroes. Finally, he let Jordan in on the good news. “Dream come true!” the three war veteran shouted after enthusiastically throwing his hands in the air.
His Kiss tattoo and loyalty to the band probably didn’t hurt Jordan’s chances. He showed off the picture of Simmons he has inked on his chest, and talked of being a fan of the band since he was four-years-old. His letter at Kiss’s official website goes into detail about his military service, which includes three tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You out there, get off your behinds and give our heroes a job,” Simmons shouted into the camera after explaining what Jordan would do during his summer with the band. Essentially he’ll be part of the crew that sets up and tears down the stage every night. It’s long hours, and often dirty work but Jordan seemed more than excited to begin. He’d been out of work since Nov. 2010.
Simmons’ message throughout the process was that American businesses should be going out of their way to hire out of work members of the U.S. military. “It’s tough for veterans out there sometimes,” he said. Hiring Our Heroes is a nationwide initiative to find work for these brave people. According to the U.S. Chamber’s website, over 10K former soldiers have found work in the first 12 months of the program.
Watch Gene Simmons Surprise Paul Jordan on the ‘Today’ Show
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy