Country music singer Lee Greenwood, known for his patriotic hit "God Bless The U.S.A.," told Newsmax on Memorial Day that the song, written 40 years ago, "was never meant to be a record," but just "suddenly took off."
Greenwood, appearing on "Wake Up America," recalled how he and his family were in Normandy last year and "paid our respects to the soldiers that died there on the beaches of France."
"And for anyone [who] hasn't been there, you need to go there at least once and see the enormous amount of sacrifice that our soldiers made to free the country," he said. "So take a moment. Thank our soldiers."
That led to Greenwood remembering that the iconic song he wrote "was never intended to be a record."
"We were touring 300 days a year in every doghouse, outhouse, and roadhouse and trying to find our country fans," he said. "And some somehow I got the inspiration to write the song. 'God bless the USA' — or 'Proud to be an American' a lot of people call it, and that's fine with me — it just suddenly took off.
"It hit the nerve of people. Of course, as you know, the history of the song through the Gulf War, through the attack on America and lots of other things that added to the USA being the forefront, it's … a privilege for me to still be able to sing it, and I've sang it, as you know, for 10 different presidents — and it's always a privilege for me to do that."
Greenwood added: "As a footnote, it's also used in the immigration film when people become a United States citizens, and that is also an honor for me."
The singer said the high point of this year's "40-year salute to my career by 40 different artists who can all fill up arenas" — broadcast exclusively on Newsmax — is providing two homes to veterans through Helping a Hero.
"I can't tell you how much of an honor that is for me to do that," he said, adding that when wounded veterans "get a home, it changes their life."
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