In November of 2000, Weehawken resident Emma Lampert felt she had reached the crossroads in her professional career as a singer and actress. After traveling with the national touring company of "A Christmas Carol" and performing in "Grease" at the Paper Mill Playhouse, among other performing credits, the 30-year-old wanted to make a change.
"I was kind of getting to the point in my career where I wanted to make a difference in what I was doing, with my abilities," Lampert said. "I had done my share of theater in off-Broadway productions. I was looking to do something that was more intimate."
At that time, Lampert found an advertisement for an audition for the role of Miss USO 2001 in a local trade acting paper.
For more than 60 years, the United Service Organizations (USO) has been helping U.S. military members and their families with a variety of programs and activities, in peacetime and times of war.
Thousands of USO centers, staffed primarily with volunteers, provide a wide range of nurturing programs and opportunities for communication between traveling military staff and their loved ones.
"The ad said that I could travel the world, going to Bosnia, Egypt, Kuwait," Lampert said. "I figured that I would love to audition for it."
However, Lampert thought that there might be an obstacle. She was married to husband Oscar Del Rio.
"I wondered if you could be Miss USO and still be married," Lampert said. "I wrote a letter, telling the USO that I supported what they were doing, but I wanted to give it a try. I sent them a resume and they responded by telling me to come to an audition."
Lampert attended the first audition with another 100 hopefuls, and a panel of judges narrowed down the contestants to five, including Lampert. From there, she had to audition again in front of a very prestigious panel, including executives from HBO and the William Morris talent agency, who eventually selected her.
"I had to sing the National Anthem and was selected as Miss USO," Lampert said. "Immediately, my life changed. I told my husband that this was what I wanted to do. I told him that I would be going to active military bases to perform in front of hundreds of men. I would go to veterans’ hospitals to perform for mostly men. But my husband was very supportive and told me I should go for it."
In January, 2001, Lampert appeared at 23 different veterans’ hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, some days appearing at two and three different hospitals. Then she performed for servicemen with the USO Troupe Tour in Korean and Japan.
"It was wild," Lampert said. "I was at the DMZ [Demilitarized Zone] in North Korea, myself and three other women. We got to see the soldiers that don’t get to see the big stars. The soldiers were just so excited that we were there. I was there for about two weeks."
Occasionally, Lampert was able to return home to Weehawken and continue her job as an assistant for the Coldwell Banker real estate office in Hoboken. Her boss, Jerry Lasquadro, understood when Lampert had to pack up and set out for another tour.
"He let me work whenever I could," Lampert said. "I was headed for a performance in New Orleans and there was a layover in Atlanta, so I did some work there for Jerry."
As Miss USO, Lampert did not receive a salary, only expenses when she was on the road.
"Honestly, the expenses weren’t too bad," Lampert said. "It was like the equivalent of an off-off-Broadway show. All in all, I did 150 performances throughout the United States and overseas.
She went to a tour show in Italy and Spain in June and July, where the tour performed more for families than it did for the servicemen and women. Lampert also toured with the Air Force and Military Big Bands.
"They were some of the best musicians in the world," Lampert said. "I performed at the Army and Marine Corps Balls in Washington, D.C. I went to Ohio, Nebraska, Boston, Texas. It was a tremendous experience."
Lampert has attended several parades and events, including the National Disabled American Veterans convention in Miami, singing in front of 4,000 people.
And then everything changed
There were plans for another trip in September and October, but then everything changed on Sept. 11.
"I was home in Weehawken on Sept. 11 and was turning on the radio to get the traffic and the weather, when they said the planes hit the World Trade Center," Lampert said. "I went outside my apartment [on Boulevard East] and couldn’t believe what I saw. My responsibilities as Miss USO changed right there and then."
A day after the terrorist attacks, Lampert received a phone call from the director of the Spirit Cruise Line of New York and New Jersey, which had been transformed as a vessel set up to feed some of the workers who were at Ground Zero looking for possible victims.
"I put on the Miss USO sash and tried to smile and make the workers happy," Lampert said. "I asked, ‘Are you sure this is all they need?’ And they said that was it."
Lampert worked with comedian Dave Konig, who is known for the "Subway Q&A" show on the Metro Channel.
"The Spirit of New York and New Jersey were serving 15,000 to 20,000 meals per day," Lampert said. "It was hard for me to digest where I was. I mean, we landed a block away from Ground Zero."
One fireman put Lampert up on a chair and had a simple request.
"Sing for me," Lampert said. "It was like what you saw in 1940s movies. Go sing for them. They were coming back to us, too tired to even wash their hands and faces. I never felt such a strong bond with the American people."
Lampert continued her mission of good cheer for three weeks, meeting the hundreds of volunteer workers who wanted to help in the rescue and recovery mission.
"I attended a USO board meeting and I was almost afraid to tell them what I was doing," Lampert said. "But at that point, everyone was in their own little world."
Soon after, Lampert’s role changed once again. She was asked to help escort the countless array of celebrities to the workers at Ground Zero, such as Christie Brinkley, Marisa Tomei, John Travolta, Billy Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Olivia Newton-John, Brooke Shields, and Nathan Lane.
"John Travolta was so great," Lampert said. "He just talked to so many people and their families on cell phones. And Christie Brinkley was wonderful with the guys. So many people went there with open hearts. They didn’t want the publicity. They just wanted to help people. I had to go and smile and be a guide for the celebrities. The end result was that the workers were distracted from what they were doing, in typical USO tradition."
The Sept. 11 attacks slowed Lampert’s performance schedule down. She did manage to sing a stirring rendition of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch of the Mets-Braves game at Shea Stadium Sept. 23. She also performed at a Vietnam Veterans event in Queens.
"I think people were a little nervous to put on a show after Sept. 11," Lampert said. "But at that veterans’ event in Queens, I sang, ‘God Bless the USA,’ and everyone stood and raised their glass and sang it with me. I knew then our lives had changed forever."
Lampert went on to perform at USO Tour stops with country stars Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith. On Christmas Day, she went to all the Port Authority bridge and tunnel entrances to meet the National Guard on patrol.
"I sang Christmas carols with them," Lampert said. "It was one of my favorite things I did as Miss USO."
Although she is still visiting veterans’ hospitals, her official reign as Miss USO has ended. She will perform one last time at the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Feb. 3, but her tenure is over.
"There is no way I could ever forget this year," Lampert said. "I was able to serve my country in a way that not a lot of people did, performing for the soldiers, working at Ground Zero. I know that there was a healing power in music and it was an honor for me to be able to bring that healing power to so many people.
She added, "I’ll never forget some of the people I met. I met a 103-year-old Army general, soldiers who survived prison camps. Even before Sept. 11, the stories were unreal. I felt that I was changed as a person, as a performer and as a patriot forever."
Lampert doesn’t know what her future holds now. She released a CD of her patriotic songs, recorded at some of her performances.
"I am a union actress, so I can go back to that," Lampert said. "But I know I don’t want to let any of this go. So that’s why I think I want to get into Big Band singing. I don’t know much about it. I also can become a cabaret singer. I may move into that direction."