After a last minute-trip to Clinton, Tennesse to pick up a loaned Yamaha P-150 Digital Stage Piano; a trip to Dayton, Ohio to Wright Patterson Air Force Base to pick up airline tickets at CI Travel International; and multiple trips to the US Dept of State Regional Passport Office in Chicago, Illinois to get the 6 passports; FINALLY, December 21, 2003 dawned bright and clear. The last minute packing was completed and the Collingsworth Family's Ford Excursion and utility trailer pulled up at the curb at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for the departure to Kosovo.

Sixteen large cases were unloaded at the Delta counter and the long check-in process started. With the help of Tony Hill, Delta's Cincinnati Hub Manager (who was already aware of their departure and the amount of equipment they would be taking), the process was expidited and they made it thru security with 12 carry-on cases and to the gate just in time to board. There, they were met by Doran Horning and Daniel Kreider, both experienced sound and video technicians from the Harrisburg, PA area who would make the trip with them.

The overnight flight to Paris, France was quite something, especially-for 5 year old, Olivia, who had never flown before. Fortunately, Kim and three of the children were bumped up to First Class on this flight which made it much more comfortable for them. The flight was more than 8 hours in length and 6 hours were lost in the process, crossing the time lines to the east. Upon arrival at the Paris, France airport, it was discovered that they were almost 1 hour late in arriving. This caused them to miss their connecting flight to Vienna, Austria and consequently missing the only flight to Skopje, Macedonia for that day. Air France graciously put their entire crew up for the night in a nice hotel at the Paris Airport and provided all meals for them. The most interesting site was the family sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant, surveying their first French menu. Kim began to laugh, as there was nothing understandable to even begin with. Unfortunately, the waiter's English was very limited but he did save them from accidently ordering raw meat which they thought was an American-style-hamburger (minced meat). While waiting on their meal to arrive, jet-lag began to take over the children and Phillip's head fell right in his empty plate, resting.

Choices at the Breakfast Bar the next morning included raw fish, fruit with sour cream, and some type of cabbage slaw. You should have seen their faces, especially Phillip and Olivia who were looking everywhere for a Pop-Tart !! Luckily, they found some eggs and bacon before diving into the strange French fish.

The next morning (December 22), their trip continued, even tho' they were a day late at this point. This meant that an additional concert at the United Nations Base in Pristina, Kosovo had to be cancelled due to their unexpected late arrival. They made their way thru the beautiful Vienna, Austria airport and made their final destination in Skopje, Macedonia. It was pouring the snow when the walked off the plane and onto the tarmac in Skopje. Their military escort was waiting at the airport (which included Kim's younger brother, SPC Brian L. Keaton, Sr., who is stationed at Camp Bondsteel), even tho' many of the roads to the airport were closed due to very poor weather conditions. The army personnel had personally moved approximately 50 vehicles out of the road in order to make it to the airport to pick them up.

The carry-on luggage was collected, inventored (all 12 items were present) and the checked luggage was collected from the belt. Much to their extreme disappointment, 6 of their cases were missing. A missing luggage report was immediately filed with the Austrian Airlines personnel and a search for the missing cases started. These cases included their brand new mixer board; the hard drive recorders being utilized for the filming of a live video; all of their microphones; the house speakers and monitors; and all of the system cables.

-The typical trip across the border to Kosovo should have taken 1 hour and 15 minutes. This night, it took nearly four hours with the military escort personnel again personally helping to move stalled and wrecked vehicles from the clogged roadways. The Collingsworth Family finally arrived at Camp Bondsteel extremely exhausted after three days of intense traveling. They were taken immediately into the TOC (Tacital Operation Center) in the center of the Military Installation where a Christmas Party was already in progress. This operation center contains the intelligence info for Task Force Falcon and curtains and security covers were quickly placed across secret maps before they were permitted to enter the TOC. After a quick meal of pizza, it was off to their quarters to bed down for the night.

-Christmas Eve arrived quite quickly as their bodies were very jet-lagged and their body clocks had not yet adjusted to the new time zone. It dawned snowy and very cold. As soon as breakfast was completed at the South DFAC (Dining Facility), they made a quick trip to the PX (the store on the base) for some personal items and gifts. The Chaplain's Office extended a gracious gift of a $30 PX Gift Card to each of them and Olivia and Phillip especially enjoyed the shopping adventure with Phillip choosing a new Wilson leather football and Olivia choosing an Army Bear, complete with a Camp Bondsteel T-shirt and hat.

-A quick tour of Camp Bondsteel was enjoyed by everyone which included a thorough inspection of the helicopter hangars. Their visit to the hangars was hosted by the Aviation Guard from both Alabama and South Carolina. The southern boys quickly warmed to the family and began to show off both the Blackhawks and the Apaches. Doran sat in the gunner's seat in the Blackhawk and Phil & Phillip even got to set at the controls of an Apache. Phillip got to try out a $50,000.00 command helmet which instantly made the guns and weapons on the Apache automatically turn to whereever his eyes looked.-INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGY !!!!

Following the tour, a quick scouring of the chapel facilities found enough equipment to put together (with the portion of their system that did arrive) a complete, working system, even if it was quite elementary. The rest of the afternoon was used to piece this all together while Kim and the girls prepared for the evening.

At 5:30 pm, they were ushered into the Secret Room in the TOC for a performance they will not soon forget. Seated in front of them was Brigadier General Jerry G. Beck along with his entire command and a room full (approx 75) of Army Officers. They were having a strategy session and had requested that the family be asked to come in and perform a Christmas Carol for them. With no microphones or a piano, they simply stood, faced the officers (who were seated in a theater-style raised platform formation in front of them) and began to sing "O Come All Ye-Faithful" acapella. In the most powerful and unique way, God's sweet Presence filled the room and the officers began to weep. As the arrangement progressed, Brooklyn stepped out with a solo verse, then Courtney joined her in a duet. Next, as the family softly oohed "Silent Night" as back-up music, Courtney began to quote from memory Luke 2:1-14. The General and his Command Staff sat spellbound as Courtney very animatedly told the story of Christmas one more time, straight from God's Word. If ever an instance of God's Word not returning void occurred, it was during this performance. When the arrangement was completed, there was a rousing stand of applause and the family quickly left the Secret Room. God had accomplished more in that five minutes than they could have ever done in hours of a concert performance.

The Christmas Eve service at North Chapel on base was very touching and there were many tears, especially as Phil, Kim, & Brooklyn sang the simple but beautiful Christmas Favorite, "O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem".-There was hardly a dry eye in the house as everyone simply enjoyed the music and the sounds that reminded everyone of their loved ones at home, more than 6,000+ miles away. When the service was over, many of the soldiers came straight to Phil & Kim and began to express their gratitude for them "giving-up" their Christmas at home and coming the 6,000+ miles to Kosovo to sing for them. One veteran soldier was so overwhelmed emotionally, he had to leave from trying to speak to Kim and come back to try it again later on. When most of the soldiers had gone, Kim gathered with a group of black female soldiers and they all broked out singing acapella spontaneously in the great acoustics of the chapel's auditorium. Kim then moved to the piano,-one of them moved to the drum set, a guitar was brought out, and an impromptu jam-session broke out. It was like therapy to the souls of the soldiers who just hung around, sang, played and enjoyed being together with the family.

That evening, Phil, Phillip, Doran, & Daniel along with their military armed excorts made their way to Camp Montieth to set-up for the Christmas Morning performance there in the MWR Gymnasium. Kim took the girls back their quarters, accompanied by security, and read Olivia a Christmas story and bedded them down for the night. Set-up was finally completed and Phil and the boys climbed into their bunks, bone weary at 2:30 am. Christmas had arrive in Kosovo !!!

-At 6:00 am, Kim was already up, preparing for the trip to Camp Montieth. Kim opened the door of their quarters and looked out at the scene you see in this picture. A beautiful "WHITE CHRISTMAS" !! They certainly didn't have to "dream" about it, because there was white-stuff everywhere you looked. 8:00 am found them departing Camp Bondsteel for Camp Montieth in a convoy with armed military escort. The concert began at 10 AM with a wonderful response from the soldiers present that early on Christmas Morning. The family made their way to the DFAC on Camp Montieth and enjoyed a scrumpcious Christmas Dinner with the soldiers.

A hurried return trip to Camp Bondsteel was made across the bombed-out countryside of Kosovo and Phil, Doran, and Daniel along with their armed escorts began setting up the system again for the main concert that they had come for in the Movie Theater on the base. -The 4 pm start-time arrived and after a short introduction by Colonel Robert Boidock, in marched the Color Guard for the Presentation of the Colors. Following the quite official, ceremonious presentation, a rousing rendition of the STAR SPANGLED BANNER was perfomed by Kim on the piano (along with the accompaniment track of full orchestra) and the soldiers sang along. The family immediately broke into a rousing instrumental rendition of "GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN". The applause was thunderous and the atmosphere of the concert was quite charged. As the family were each individually introduced and each of the children did their respective performances, the appreciation of the soldiers filling the theater was overwhelming. Olivia walked out in her lamb's costume and the crowd began to ooh and aah. -She completed a heart-stopping performance of "The Little Christmas Lamb" and to much applause, she began to toss Christmas candy from her little sparkly red/green purse directly into the audience. After several fun and warm traditional Christmas favorites (which included an incredible rendition of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Brooklyn), there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Then, the repertoire moved to the family's traditional gospel music and the tears flowed freely down the faces of the soldiers while they performed favorites like "God is Up to Something", "Joshua Fit 'De Battle", and "In Everything Give Him Thanks".

At the close of the first set, a short break for refreshments was enjoyed by all as the video equipment was prepared. At the start of the second set, the tape began to roll with scenes of nearly 75 of the soldiers' families from back in the states. Phil & Kim had spent several weeks, collecting video clips from around the US, then having them edited by a professional production company for presentation to the soldiers. There were many tears, alot of laughter and hooting, especially when one young soldier's mother told him (via the large screen): "Now, you drive NICE!! Don't take out any more side mirrors on vans or anything". That poor soldier will never live it down, I'm afraid. Kim then moved into the most moving portion of the concert with a special song written by her brother, Pastor Troy Keaton, especially for the troops. As the final bars of "PEACE ON EARTH TONIGHT" rolled across the theater, the audience-rose together in one final thundering ovation, voicing their appreciation to the family for spending their Christmas with the troops in Kosovo.

A special presentation was immediately made to the family by Brigadier General Jerry Beck himself who sat on the front row the entire concert. General Beck presented Phil, Kim, and the entire family his personal Coin of Excellence in recognition for their service to the United States Army. The scene was overwhelming as the soldiers shouted their appreciation for the extraordinary presentation. Gifts were passed to the children from the soldiers and a wonderful Holiday Spirit was enjoyed by all as the soldiers came around the stage to personally talk to the family and take alot of pictures. After tear-down and loading, a relaxing Christmas evening was enjoyed by all at the South DFAC along with lots of stories, laughter, tears, and hugs. The ethnic native Albanians who actually work for the US Army in the DFAC facilities were taken with Olivia and her red hair. They repeatedly pinched her face and asked to have their pictures taken with her.

Friday morning dawned bright, clear, and beautiful and the entire process of repacking the system for the 6,000+ mile trip back to the US was started again. Two important interviews were taped with Phil and Command Sargeant Major Kennethy Jacoby as well as Colonel Robert Boidock. The return trip to the Skopje, Macedonia Airport was made under armed security. Upon arrival at Skopje, it was found the 6 missing cases had finally just arrived at the airport, but too late to help with the concert presentations. The cases were unfortunately smashed and had to be put -back together with a combination of airline tape and engineer's strapping brought along from the base. The two flights from Macedonia & Vienna, Austria went very smoothly and arrival back in Paris was right on time. Upon arrival in Paris, Air France informed the family that the entire group of 16 very large cases had to be taken by the family to their hotel. They would not check them on thru to Cincinnati and also would not secure them in the airport for them until they continued their journey home on Sunday morning. This left them in a dilemma as their scheduled hotel rooms were in downtown Paris, 30 minutes away with the only transportation being small taxis. After a three-hour delay which included negotiations with the US Emabssy in Paris about how the cases should be secured, an empty shuttle bus to an airport hotel was located and all of the equipment loaded on to go to a different hotel with Doran & Daniel.

-Saturday was spent enjoying some of the incredible sites in Paris via the Paris Subway System. Everyone enjoyed an incredible visit to one of the most famous churches in the world, -The Cathedral of Notre Dame. Then it was on to a beautifully lit Eiffel Tower. After some shopping and quite a fun time trying to read the menus in a street cafe near Notre Dame, it was to bed, ready for an early morning flight back to the USA.

After the typical and very frustrating security hassles upon arriving at an International Airport with 16 huge cases as luggage and answering alot of questions from officials who didn't speak English very well, the 9+ hour flight back to Cincinnati was underway. The pilot welcomed everyone aboard and his American english and accent was such a welcome sound that Phil said he was ready to kiss the first American he saw on board the plane. The pilot gave some new special security rules and then made the following, hilarious comment: "If anyone is planning on going home to see Allah today and taking a 767 along with you, there are several hundred people on board today who will more than happy to oblige you in helping you go, but we're not going with you."

-FINALLY, the wheels hit the runway in Cincinnati and the trip of a lifetime rolled to a stop. One weary family came off the plane and started the process of getting all of the cases thru international customs. Upon inspection, it was found 5 more cases were damaged, so the long process of standing in line and filling out the appropriate forms for making claims was accomplished. Pastor & Mrs. Stetler along with Sherilyn were a more than welcome site. A hot meal was waiting compliments of Regina Stetler in the SUV and an extremely weary but happy family loaded in the truck & trailer and started towards home and their own beds.

Over the next week, e-mails and phone calls poured into their office. Radio interviews were conducted and e-mails returned to the soldiers and their families, thanking them for their kind words.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!!

Phil the world traveler


Doran & Daniel


In the beautiful Vienna Austria airport

Enjoying first class seats

Busy Paris airport

Camp Bondsteel quarters

Shopping at the PX

Family with aviation guard


Kim in a Blackhawk



Eatable Christmas Decorations



Brigadier General Jerry G. Beck


Family performing at Bondsteel


Emotions during the main concert at Bondsteel



Christmas Eve candlelight service


Christmas Eve in the North Chapel


6 AM Christmas morning at Camp Bondsteel


Color guard


Phil plays at Bondsteel

Trio performing at Bondsteel

Daniel gives Olivia a ride

Eiffel Tower

Family at the Cathedral of Notre Dame

Entering the Notre Dame for prayer

French food at restaurant in Paris

Finally some American food!

Eiffel Tower at night