Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne Discuss 'Incredible' USO Tour Experience

Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne are used to being the ones people admire as elite athletes who have performed in front of large crowds for much of their careers, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star and former LSU gymnast were the ones doing the admiring during a two-day USA Tour.

The couple went through a two-day experience aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Mahan for the tour and met with sailors who are at sea and serving their country.

"It was an experience I'll never forget," Dunne told Skyler Caruso of People.

"I think one of my favorite parts was being able to just sit down and have real conversations with the people serving our country. They are doing incredible things overseas that not everybody gets to see on a day-to-day basis.

"Paul and I get public praise all the time for our accomplishments and what we do, and these people are doing incredible things. So being able to sit down with them, talk to them, eat meals with them and hear what they go through every day, it was an incredible experience."

As for Skenes, there was a personal connection since he attended the Air Force Academy prior to transferring to LSU in pursuit of his MLB career.

"It brought me back to the Air Force Academy a little bit because everybody comes from a different place, different background, different motivations," he said. "But in the end, they're all doing the same thing. They're all fighting for the same thing.

"They all have the same purpose as the people that are to the left or right of them," he adds. "So it was cool to hear that, understand that along with all the other experiences that we got. That was the coolest part."

He also said the entire experience gave him "perspective" in his current position.

"There's a whole lot more in this world that matters than baseball," Skenes said. "In the grand scheme, for me, baseball, it's not the most important thing that's happening in the world right now."

It is a perspective he figures to take back to the Pirates during the upcoming season when he will be looking to add to his already impressive resume.

The 23-year-old already has a National League Cy Young award, NL Rookie of the Year, ERA title and two All-Star Game selections through two seasons and is on the short list of the very best players in the entire league.

He is the face of the Pirates and one of the faces of MLB, and the sailors were surely fired up to see him as well even if he and Dunne found the entire experience "incredible" themselves.