FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2023

CONTACT:
Carly Colombo
484-385-2934 (office)
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Horatio Alger Association to Sponsor PBS’ Annual National Memorial Day Concert for Third Consecutive Year

Concert to honor our American heroes with all-star performances and tributes on Sunday, May 28 at 8:00 p.m. EST on PBS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 26, 2023) – Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, is pleased to announce that thanks to the generosity of Association leadership, the organization will be the lead underwriter of the annual National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. This beloved multi-award-winning television event honors America’s service men and women, their families and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

The Horatio Alger Association was established in 1947 to ensure the American Dream for future generations – a Dream that remains today because of the service and sacrifice of our military members. The achievements of Horatio Alger Members and the promise and drive shown by Horatio Alger Scholars and Alumni are possible because America’s freedoms are protected by service men and women. More than 200 Members and hundreds more Alumni Scholars are veterans of the U.S. military.

“On behalf of my fellow Members, we are thrilled to sponsor the National Memorial Day Concert for the third year in a row,” said James F. Dicke II, chairman of the Horatio Alger Association and 2015 Horatio Alger Award recipient. “Our organization holds deep reverence for qualities such as perseverance, integrity, bravery, and compassion. This special concert and the selfless men and women it honors, displays those values, which epitomize what it means to be an American. We’re proud to support this time-honored tradition.”

“Our continued sponsorship of this special event is something of which we remain incredibly proud,” said Terrence J. Giroux, executive director of the Horatio Alger Association. “Through our support of the concert, we not only honor our military members and their families, but also remind today’s youth that the American Dream is made possible by their bravery and commitment.”

Tony Award-winning actor Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winning actor Gary Sinise will once again come together to host the National Memorial Day Concert, which will feature performances by Trace Adkins, Yolanda Adams, Jo Dee Messina, Phillip Phillips, The War and Treaty and more. The evening will include the following special segments:

• Tribute to Gold Star Families with Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson (CHICAGO MED, LAW & ORDER); SAG Award-winning and Emmy nominated actor Dulé Hill (THE WONDER YEARS) and acclaimed actor and singer Chosen Jacobs (SNEAKERELLA, PURPLE HEARTS, IT). The concert will remember our fallen heroes and the Gold Star families who carry forever the pain of having lost their loved ones. This year the program will share the story of three generations of one Gold Star family and their poignant journey through grief when the beloved oldest child, Sgt. Anthony O. Magee, is killed in action while on deployment in Iraq. Every member of the family must face a new normal where every day is Memorial Day.
• 50th Anniversary Return of Vietnam War POWs featuring SAG Award-winning and Emmy-nominated actor and director John Slattery (MAD MEN, SPOTLIGHT) and Tony Award-nominated star of stage and screen Mary McCormack (HEELS, WEST WING). American POWs of the Vietnam War endured unfathomable conditions, abuse, and torture. Fifty years after their release, the concert will share the story of Col. Carlyle “Smitty” Harris (Ret.) who was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese for 8 years while his wife Louise stayed resilient and strong on the home front. The tribute to Vietnam-era Veterans will honor and feature courageous POWs who endured, resisted and remained unified in the face of horrific captivity, and remember the more than 58,000 American lives lost in the Vietnam War and those who remain missing and unaccounted for.
• 70th Anniversary Korean War Armistice will remember the more than thirty-six thousand American lives lost, and pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of our veterans who bravely fought to defend freedom and bring peace. Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop Hill, Outpost Harry and Chosin Reservoir are just a few of the epic battles etched in the memory of those who survived this fierce and brutal conflict. Veterans of the Korean War will be honored at the concert.
• World War II Remembrance with Broadway and TV star Megan Hilty. The program will honor and remember veterans of World War II, the over 16 million Americans who served in uniform, and the more than 400,000 who died and hundreds of thousands more were wounded. Veterans will tell the story of the war through their own reflections. This special segment will also feature a tribute to the contributions of the Merchant Marines in the war.

The National Memorial Day Concert airs on PBS stations on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. It will be broadcasted to U.S. troops around the world on the American Forces Network. The concert will also be streaming on Facebook, YouTube and http://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert.

The Association honors all our country’s courageous veterans and service men and women, including the following Horatio Alger Association Members:

Robert H. Abplanalp

Buzz Aldrin

Joe L. Allbritton

Wally Amos

Lee R. Anderson, Sr.

James R. Andrews, M.D.

Al Annexstad

George L. Argyros, Sr.

Roy L. Ash

Gene Autry

Barbara M. Barrett

Karl D. Bays

Sandy Beaver

Howard O. Beaver, Jr.

Robert Beyster

Michael Bongiovanni

John Bowles

Walter Brennan

Art Buchwald

Dean L. Buntrock

Sherian Grace Cadoria

James R. Caldwell

Wesley E. Cantrell

Lester W. Carter

Johnny Cash

Truett Cathy

Carl Chandler

Marvin Chandler

Arthur A. Ciocca

James H. Clark

William P. Clements, Jr.

James A. Collins

John W. Colloton

John B. Connally

William Alfred Cook

Delos M. Cosgrove

Thomas G. Cousins

Robert L. Crandall

John C. Crean

Trammell Crow

John F. Crowley

Henry Crown

Vance L. Cryer

Emmett J. Culligan

Raymond L. Danner

John H. Dasburg

Peter M. Dawkins

William E.C. Dearden

Michael E. DeBakey

Robert H. Dedman

John Paul DeJoria

Jerry E. Dempsey

Richard M. DeVos

Robert J. Dole

William J. Donlon

James H. Doolittle

Adron Doran

Michael E. Dougherty

Archie W. Dunham

Percy J. Ebbot

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Leonard L. Farber

Robert E. Farrell

Clarence C. Finley

Lee F. Flaherty

Sam M. Fleming

Robert S. Fogarty, Jr.

Hiram L. Fong

Gerald R. Ford

Sam Fox

Tommy Ray Franks

Alwin F. Franz

Foster Stephen Friess

Robert P. Gerholz

Terry M. Giles

Robert Blyth Goergen

Stedman Graham

Harry J. Gray

William E. Greehey

Jenard M. Gross

Edmund A. Hajim

George S. Halas

Michel T. Halbouty

Bruce T. Halle

Alexander G. Hardy

Thomas L. Harken

Leon W. Harman

Paul Harvey

James A. Haslam II

Robert Wayne Hawkinson

Walter J. Hickel

Clayton Paul Hilliard

Richard D. Holland

Dennis Franklin Holt

Louis L. Holtz

Clifford F. Hood

John A. Howard

Daniel K. Inouye

Russell L. Isaacs

Arthur G. James

Dean W. Jeffers

James Earl Jones

Earle M. Jorgensen

Ewing Marion Kauffman

Dee J. Kelly

Patrick C. Kelly

Donald R. Keough

Jeong H. Kim

James V. Kimsey

Henry A. Kissinger

Richard L. Knowlton

Thomas W. Landry

Kenneth G. Langone

Alfred Lerner

Gilbert E. LeVasseur, Jr.

Samuel H. Levinson

James J. Ling

Bernie Little, Sr.

Allen Ludden

John D. MacArthur

Walter S. Mack

James J. Maguire, Sr.

Frederic V. Malek

Vincent G. Marotta

Abraham Lincoln Marovitz

Harvey L. Massey

Warren E. McCain

John H. McConnell

Robert A. McDonald

Charles A. McKee

Rod McKuen

Ed McMahon

Howard M. Meyers

Alan B. Miller

Thomas E. Millsop

George P. Mitchell

George J. Mitchell

Joseph R. Moderow

Thomas W. Moore

Jim Moran

John A. Moran

Michael G. Morris

Charles Stewart Mott

Frank C. Nicholas

James Nicholson

John J. O’Connor

John G. Pappajohn

James A. Patterson

Allen E. Paulson

William T. Payne

Ross Perot, Sr.

Ann Person

Lewis H. Phillips

Carl R. Pohlad

Harold A. Poling

Colin L. Powell

Gwilym A. Price

James H. Pugh, Jr.

Ronald Reagan

Steven S Reinemund

D.B. Reinhart

Frank E. Resnik

Harold J. Richards

Edward V. Rickenbacker

Carl H. Ricker, Jr.

Harry S. Rinker

Joseph Robbie

Josue Robles, Jr.

Juan Antonio Rodríguez

Richard M. Rosenberg

Darrell Royal

Howard A. Rusk

William G. Salatich

Denny Sanford

Harold G. Scheie

Stephen C. Schott

Peter G. Scotese

Ray W. Scott, Jr.

Walter Scott, Jr.

John H. Scully

Tom Selleck

James M. Seneff, Jr.

Mark Shepherd, Jr.

Delford M. Smith

George V. Smith

Jack D. Sparks

Earl W. Stafford, Sr.

Harold E. Stassen

Roger T. Staubach

Herbert J. Stiefel

Carl B. Stokes

Peter W. Stott

Homer Surbeck

William B. Tabler, Sr.

Ronald Terwilliger

David Thomas

David A. Thompson

Charles B. Thornton

Henry B. Tippie

Harold Toppel

Monroe E. Trout

Fred L. Turner

R.E. Turner

Romeo J. Ventres

Sam M. Walton

Ronald C. Waranch

Herbert A. Wertheim

Kemmons Wilson

Huey J. Wilson

Sidney D. Wolk

Benjamin H. Wooten

Michael B. Yanney

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About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans: 

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, in 2022, the Association awarded more than $18 million in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships to over 1,800 students across the United States and Canada, and provided college support and mentoring services to its Scholars. By the 40th anniversary of the Association’s scholarship program in 2024, more than $247 million will be awarded in undergraduate, graduate, military veteran and career and technical education scholarships to more than 37,000 deserving students. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

About Capital Concerts

Capital Concerts is the nation’s leading producer of live patriotic television shows, including PBS’s highest-rated performance specials: the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT and A CAPITOL FOURTH, the premier celebrations of America’s most important holidays broadcast from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.  For over 40 years, these two award-winning productions have become national traditions, bringing us together as one family of Americans to celebrate our freedom and democratic ideals and to pay tribute to those who defend them.  The holiday specials have been honored with over 80 awards including the New York Film Festivals TV and Film Award, the Telly Award, and the Golden Cine Award, among others.