This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Uah singer David Archuleta returned from his LDS mission earlier this year, but he's still got the travel bug.
Archuleta, the former "American Idol" runner-up, is on tour performing for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, he wrote Friday on his website.
The tour, Archuleta writes, was organized by Dan Clark, a motivational speaker known as a main contributor to the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series. The tour includes a comedian/impersonator, Jason Hewlett, and Archuleta's vocal coach, Dean Kaelin.
Archuleta visited Bahrain and Kuwait before landing in Afghanistan, where he encountered dry desert heat that "feels like a hair-dryer blowing in your face." He also met soldiers who thanked him for "bring[ing] a piece of home".
"These are people who learn what the word 'duty' means," Archuleta wrote. "They literally put their lives on the line with rockets being shot at the bases, mines exploding their and civilians' paths, and suicide bombers coming at them."