THE CONCERT

20 Years As The Nation’s Memorial Service

Join Us As We Honor the Service and Sacrifice of Our Men and Women in Uniform

The 2009 National Memorial Day Concert
Live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol
Sunday, May 24, from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET (check local listings).

The 2009 event commemorates 20 years of offering viewers a time to remember, heal and bring our country together. The concert features uplifting musical performances, documentary footage and dramatic readings that honor all Americans who have served or made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. This year’s special features tribute families of disabled veterans, Abraham Lincoln’s Legacy and the community of Americans who have participated in the National Memorial Day Concert over its 20 year history.

The program is co-hosted for the fourth 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 to supporting our troops in active service. Joining co-hosts Sinise and Mantegna is an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists.

The top-rated show will be broadcast live 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 Radio and Television Network to the approximately 1 million U.S. Armed Forces, Department of Defense civilian employees and their families stationed overseas in 176 countries and territories and aboard more than 200 U.S. Navy ships at sea.

Program Sponsors

The National Memorial Day Concert is sponsored by Disabled American Veterans and Golden Corral Restaurants and is made possible by grants from the National Park Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department of the Army, the National Endowment for the Arts and public television stations nationwide. All travel is provided by American Airlines.

Acclaimed actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise will reunite for a fourth time to co-host the 2009 National Memorial Day Concert.

REFLECTIONS

“I was a Department of the Army Civilian American Red Cross “Donut Dollie” in Vietnam, later the wife of a Vietnam Army Veteran and a mom of a Veteran of the Iraq Conflict. THANK YOU for the moving Memorial Day Concert. It is a family tradition to watch it wherever we are in the world.”

Maggie Connor
FL