Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley + More Commend U.S. Troops

The whole nation has seemed to come together as one, without any divisive lines drawn between political parties, cultures or ethnicities, with news of the death of Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world. As the entire country was mesmerized by Sunday's demise of the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many country artists were feeling the same emotions as the rest of America.

"The only way I could be happier would've been if I had killed him myself," Trace Adkins tells The Boot with a laugh. "I don't think they should've dumped him in the ocean neither. I would've brought his head back to Washington, D.C. and stuck it on a pike in the front yard of the White House. I'd have left it there until it rotted."

Trace is also very proud of the courageous men and women who are overseas, especially the Navy SEALS who killed bin Laden. "We had the means, and we had the men and the manpower to get him whenever the opportunity presented itself. It just took us this long for us to finally zero in on him and really nail him down and find out where he was," says the outspoken singer. "As soon as they knew, the easy part was going in and getting him. Because we've got men who can storm the gates of Hell and bring the Devil back, if they choose to."

"That was something! How about that?" Brad Paisley tells reporters backstage at the Play On, Nashville Opry Jam on Tuesday night (May 3). "I love the moments when we feel like one united country ... It's a bittersweet type of victory. It took a long time, and that's bittersweet. It's still a death, so you feel a little strange, but at the same time if anybody in the history of human kindness deserved it, he did. He deserved what he got.

"Those Navy SEALS, every one of us wishes we could shake their hands, and we will never know who they are," Brad continues. "Our military, I meet them. I'm given dog tags, country musicians are beloved by a lot of these guys. Having looked in the eyes of maybe one of the guys who went over there, because we played that base once, and realizing what they're capable of, I couldn't be prouder. I hope that Sunday becomes a catalyst, maybe a little wave happens; maybe people get proud of this country for a little while. Things like that can jolt everybody into a groove of, 'Let's look at the bright side. Let's look at what we're good at and take it from there. Maybe we'll do that.' Maybe I'm being overly hopeful and naive. I don't know."

Dierks Bentley was on his tour bus on the way back home from a show in Michigan when he received a heads up to turn on his TV. "It's the best news in the world," he recalls. "A buddy of mine works in the president's department, and he helped me get a visit into the Oval Office a couple of years ago. He said, 'Hey man, you should turn on the news. There's a big announcement getting ready to happen.' So, we put down the X-box controllers and picked up the remote ... It's long overdue, and I'm really proud of the troops and the sacrifices those families made ... it's a great thing!"

"I think it proves the tenacity of the United States of America," explains the legendary Charlie Daniels, who has performed for U.S. troop many times. "I see it as an overwhelming victory for the country, for the president, most of all for the troops and more than anything for the people of the United States of America to say, 'Yes! We got it done.' Thank God!"