If you missed the 2010 live airing of the National Memorial Day Concert on Sunday, May 30th 2010, here are a few highlights:
Show Preview Video: Here
Backstage Interviews for 2010 Memorial Concert
The 2010 National Memorial Day Concert focused on three main themes this year: honoring the sacrifices, suffering and love of a new generation of young military widows whose fallen spouses served in Iraq and Afghanistan; paying tribute on the 60th anniversary of the Korean War to the heroic service of the soldiers who fought and perished; paying homage to the more than 125,000 WWI and WWII service members who did not come home but rest in 24 military cemeteries in the foreign lands where they fought for liberty.
The program was co-hosted for the fifth year by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise ("CSI: New York") and Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna("Criminal Minds"), two acclaimed actors who have dedicated themselves to veterans' causes and supporting our troops in active service. Joining them was be an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists.
For more than 20 years this top-rated annual program has honored the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. The show is broadcast live in High Definition from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before an expected live audience of hundreds of thousands, to millions more at home and, via American Forces Network to the nearly one million American service men and women, Department of Defense civilians and their families overseas, stationed at bases in 175 countries as well as 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea.
“Our country’s fairly young as countries go, 200 years. And in that 200 years we’ve had men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to live in, arguably, the greatest country on the planet,” Mantegna points out. “Even with the faults and the problems we may have it’s almost like a noble experiment ; the ‘great experiment’ as many historians have put it. This country is founded on the basis that men and women should be free. We believe in democracy and the ability to vote and be able to follow the religion you want all those things that the founding fathers planned this country to be have had to be defended and protected and preserved for the last 200 years and our military has had to pay that price. Memorial Day is that holiday that we’ve set aside to pay homage to them. In my mind that makes it the most important holiday of all.
Lionel Richie Rehearses for National Memorial Day Concert
“The evening, that has become an American tradition, offers viewers a time to remember, to heal and bring our country together”, said Sinise. “The 2010 event will focus on three themes:
-- The concert will honor the sacrifices, suffering and love of a new generation of young military widows whose fallen spouses served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
-- On the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, the broadcast pays tribute to the heroic service of the soldiers who fought and perished in this "forgotten war."
-- The concert will also pay homage to the more than 125,000 WWI and WWII service members who did not come home but rest in 24 military cemeteries in the foreign lands where they fought for liberty. Combined worldwide losses in WWI & WWII was over 8 million people.
Joining co-hosts Sinise and Mantegna was an all-star line-up that included: distinguished American leader Colin L. Powell USA Ret.; Oscar, Golden Globe and multiple Grammy award-winning music legend and humanitarian Lionel Richie whose distinguished career includes over 100 million records sold; Grammy, CMA and ACM Award-winning country music artist Brad Paisley; Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Blythe Danner; acclaimed actors Dennis Haysbert and A.J. Cook, Mentagna’s co-star on Criminal Minds; classical crossover artist Katherine Jenkins; three time Tony-nominated Broadway star Kelli O'Hara; and Grammy-winning gospel/adult contemporary superstar Yolanda Adams in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly.
The National Memorial Day Concert kicked off at 5:00 p.m. ET and was broadcasted live. If you missed it, hopefully PBS in your area will replay it later today (May 31st along with the Ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery, that unfortunately our president has chosen to skip to go on vacation in Chicago.). It is definitely programming that all Americans should watch, but especially young Americans!
Reagan’s Normandy Speech
Below are photos of 20 of the 24-military cemeteries where Americans are buried in foreign lands.
Our European arrogance in alphabetical order
1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France.. A total of 2289
2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgiu . A total of 5329
3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410
4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468
5. Cambridge , England .. 3812
6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525
7. Flanders Field , Belgium .. A total of 368
8. Florence, Italy . A total of 4402
9. Henri-Chapelle , Belgium . A total of 7992
10. Lorraine , France . A total of 10,489
11. Luxembourg , Luxembourg. A total of 5076
12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246
13
. Netherlands , Netherlands . A total of 8301
14. Normandy , France . A total of 9387
15. Oise-Aisne , France . A total of 6012
16. Rhone , France . A total of 861
17. Sicily , Italy. A total of 7861
18. Somme , France . A total of 1844
19. St.. Mihiel , France . A total of 4153
20. Suresnes , France . a total of 1541
Video: Names On A Wall/The Vietnam Wall Memorial
America, apologize to no one. (Except maybe ‘for’ the clown we now have in the White House)
Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership. The count is 104,366 dead brave Americans, and rising.
And we have to watch an American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is arrogant"!
HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL, DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?
WE DON'T ASK FOR PRAISE ... BUT WE HAVE ABSOULUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!!
PLEASE---- DO NOT DELETE, DO THINK ABOUT THIS. THANK YOU.
I hope you remember this when election time comes around again..
Remember that our Commander in Chief went to Chicago on vacation instead of to honor our dead heroes in Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day 2010
Nobody should have to be told that is wrong… especially not a U.S. President
Our military’s policy has always been to bring our men home, every last one, bury them in a permanent military cemetery like the ones above and keep looking for our MIA’s an POW’s.
But I guess sometimes that hasn’t been the case:
Read about McCain & Kerry --- I can perhaps understand Kerry, but not McCain, he was a prisoner of war himself--- They both are disgusting!!
clip about John McCain opposing efforts to bring home POWs taken from the film Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America’s POWs
If you have some time, read “Was Rambo Right?”, by Ron Unz and get a hold of a copy of Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America’s POWs.
It is about time that we Americans realize that Career Politician’s, Members of the Progressive Movement believing in Socialism and Marxism, CFR Members, International Bankers who control the Federal Reserve, the United Nations, Academic Elitists, and the list goes… supported by puppets in Hollywood and the Mainstream Media on are not our friends nor do they represent them or their interests or care about their sacrifices.
I never miss watching the Memorial Day Concert; it has been a favorite of patriotic Americans for 20-years and is one of the better things on TV every year. Today, however, apparently after the White House received endless complaints about Obama’s absence at the Arlington event, they sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the the concert. (As usual they missed the point!) It as almost enough for me to change channels. Thank God they only showed her 2 or 3 times. I decided instead of changing the channel to pray that after sitting through this amazing and patriotic program that God would soften her heart and open her eyes, so that she would change her beliefs and policies.
Our additional Memorial Day gift from the federal government was the National Park Service Removing the Replacement Mojave Desert Cross. Please do not stand-by and let this stand. To the amazement of everyone the U.S. National Park Service ordered its employees to remove a replica of the original memorial cross honoring our brave war dead, who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Instead the Park Service honored the demands of those who hate our American way of life and rewarded their disregard for the laws our American heroes fought and died for.
Wishing all a safe, blessed and happy Memorial Day. May we all take a moment to remember the reason for the Holiday and for all of those who made it possible for us to celebrate this day.
Put out your flag and if you don’t have one, make it your weekend investment… and if anyone tells you or a Veteran you know that they can’t display their flag… make sure that flag gets displayed! Teach your children and grandchildren to be proud Americans~
God Bless America and God Bless Our Troops!!
Memorial Concert Program Sponsors were:
The National Memorial Day Concert is sponsored by Disabled American Veterans and Golden Corral Restaurants and is made possible by the National Park Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department of the Army, the National Endowment for the Arts General Dynamics, and public television stations nationwide. All travel is provided by American Airlines.