Country Singer Lee Greenwood To Appear At 9/11 Ceremony

TAMPA BAY, FL — The songwriter of what's become known as America's second national anthem, country singer Lee Greenwood, will help Tampa Bay residents pay tribute to the men and women who died 20 years ago in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, 1750 Curlew Road, Palm Harbor, will host the 20th anniversary 9/11 memorial service Saturday, Sept. 11, at 10 a.m. at the memorial monuments the erected on the grounds including the one-of-a-kind 9/11 Memorial, built in 2012.

The keynote speaker at the event is a first responder who was on hand that fateful day when two commercial planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City.

Now retired, Garrett Lindgren, spent 21 years with the New York City Fire Department, assigned to Rescue Company 3 in the Bronx and Harlem. In addition to being a state-certified fire service instructor for the Fire Department of New York, he is a certified emergency medical technician, rescue technician, hazardous materials technician, municipal rescue diver, apparatus accident investigator and safety technician.

After retiring from the F.D.N.Y. in 2002, Lindgren moved to Bradenton where he supervised a Department of Homeland Security team that maintained an equipment cache designed for deployment as a terrorism response resource.

Lindgren is on the board of directors and is a charter member of 941 Hero, a charitable organization that provides assistance to the families of firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice. He also serves as a member of the Manatee County Tribute to Heroes committee.

Best-known for the Country Music Awards 1985 Song of the Year, "God Bless the U.S.A," Greenwood has had seven No. 1 songs and 25 charted singles. He has won numerous industry awards including Male Vocalist of the Year and a Grammy for Top Male Vocal Performance.

Greenwood said he never expected the national acclaim he would receive when he wrote "God Bless the U.S.A." in the back of his tour bus in 1983.

The song has been in the top five on the country singles charts three times (1991, 2001 and 2003), giving it the distinction of being the only song in any genre of music to achieve that feat. It was also No. 1 on the pop charts after 9/11 and CBS News voted “God Bless the U.S.A.” the most recognizable patriotic song in America.

The song has also been featured in several movies and is now part of the film shown by the Department of Homeland Security when new citizens are sworn in to the United States.

“U.S.A. is the song I always felt the need to write," Greenwood said. "I wanted to have something that would unite Americans from coast to coast and to instill pride back in the United States. The song represents my family, my community and those men and women who have paid the price for the freedoms we all love and enjoy.”

Retired WTVT Fox 12 prime news anchor John Wilson, a singer in his own right, will serve as the master of ceremonies for the event. A U.S. Army veteran, Wilson is currently the vice president of Wilson Media in St. Petersburg.

In what's become a Palm Harbor tradition, Curlew Hills Memory Gardens will project two enormous beams of light into the sky, representing the Twin Towers, from the 9/11 Memorial on Sept. 9, 10 and 11 from 8 to 10 p.m.

The giant twin beams shine more than 1,000 feet in the sky each evening as a beacon of remembrance.

Curlew Hills Memory Gardens has gotten the community's youngsters involved in this year's 20th anniversary remembrance.

Pinellas County students in grades six to eight were invited to participate in an essay contest based on the theme "My 9/11 Hero." The first-place winner will receive $500 and read his or her essay at the 9/11 ceremony and the second-place winner will receive $250.

Additionally, fourth- and fifth-grade students at Curlew Creek, Ozona, Westlake Christian and Sutherland elementary schools were invited to create artwork based on the theme “My 9/11 Hero" with Curlew Hills Memory Garden donating $500 to the art department of each participating school. The artwork will be displayed at the 9/11 memorial event. In previous years, more than 500 pieces of art have been displayed.

Also planned for the event are honor guards and flyovers by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Attendance at the outdoor 9/11 memorial event is limited to 2,000 people so those wishing to attend are encouraged to arrive early. Once parking is full, admission will be closed.

For those unable to make the ceremony in person, Curlew Hills Memory Gardens will broadcast the event on Facebook Live starting at 10 a.m.

About The Curlew Hills Memory Gardens Memorials

Built in 2012, the one-of-a-kind 9/11 Memorial at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens features a twisted piece of steel “floating” in the center, 30 tons of American granite representing the Twin Towers and a bright eternal flame at its base. Surrounding the 9/11 memorial are large granite monuments with the engraved names of the firefighters who lost their lives at 9/11 – including the K-9 dog who perished that day. Many visitors to the 9/11 Memorial take pencil etchings from these monuments.

The Benghazi Monument is on the pathway leading to the 9/11 memorial. It's also a one-of-a-kind memorial dedicated to the four men who lost their lives in the Benghazi attack on September 11, 2012: Ambassador Chris Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith and two CIA operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy Seals. It is one of only three memorials in the United States honoring the men in the Benghazi attack.

The new Rescue & Recovery Workers Monument recognizes the rescue and recovery workers who died from inhaling the toxic dust and ash at Ground Zero in New York City following 9/11. Experts predict the death toll among those sickened by the toxic dust and ash of Ground Zero will exceed the number of people killed on the day of the 9/11 attacks this year.

This permanent memorial honors the firefighters, police officers, construction workers and volunteers who spent time in the rubble of the World Trade Center in the days and months after the attacks and have since died from illnesses related to their work. Each year, at the 9/11 event, Curlew Hills updates the number of people on the memorial.

The Memorial Bell, a large bell that sits adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial, has a significant history. It was originally on the last wooden ladder fire truck in New York City. Donated by retired NYC firefighter Joe Daly, the bell was refurbished and now holds a place of honor in front of the 9/11 Memorial. It is used during the ceremony for the Tolling of the Bell.