The 37th annual PBS National Memorial Day Concert will air live on Sunday, May 24, featuring a spectacle designed to honor military service while obscuring the material conditions and class interests that drive imperial conflict. The event, co-hosted by Gary Sinise and Mary McCormack, will take place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, presenting narratives of individual sacrifice that reinforce the state's military apparatus.
Gary Sinise, co-host, stated that the event is "not a political thing" and that it "doesn't matter who is in the White House, the Senate or the House," asserting that "everyone can recognize that we have a responsibility to recognize the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us." This framing de-politicizes the military's role, presenting it as a neutral defender rather than an instrument of capital accumulation and power projection. The concert is described as a nonpartisan event, having never hosted the sitting U.S. president, including President Donald Trump this year.
The State's Narrative
The concert will commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, featuring the story of 102-year-old Navy veteran Chuck Kohler, one of 11 remaining survivors. Kohler, who convinced his father to sign his enlistment form at age 16 on April 3, 1941, represents the working-class individuals recruited into military service. He witnessed the surrender of a Japanese imperial garrison in August 1945 after being deployed to the Marshall Islands Pacific campaign, a theater of imperial competition.
Other segments will highlight stories from past conflicts, including the 1776 American Revolution, with Noah Wyle bringing militiaman Joseph Plumb Martin's story to life. Oscar winner Melissa Leo will recount the actions of retired Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho during the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. These narratives serve to legitimize the state's historical and ongoing use of military force, presenting it as a defense of abstract "freedom" rather than concrete economic interests.
The concert will also include musical acts by Mickey Guyton, Jamey Johnson, a Marine Corps Reserve veteran, and Alan Jackson, with the National Symphony Orchestra performing under conductor Jack Everly. Two pieces written by Sinise's composer son, McCanna Anthony "Mac" Sinise, who died 2 years ago, will be performed, adding a personal dimension to the spectacle of remembrance. Producer Michael Colbert, whose late father Jerry Colbert started the concert in 1989, emphasized the importance of remembrance, stating, "Chuck was part of the Greatest Generation that saved the world."
Who Pays the Price
The human cost of these conflicts is acknowledged through tributes to Vietnam War veterans and Gold Star families, who represent more than 1 million men and women who have given their lives. These are the families of the working class who bear the ultimate burden of wars fought for the benefit of capital.
Opinion pieces surrounding Memorial Day reinforce this ideological framework. A Washington Post opinion piece states that Memorial Day "truly represents a day set aside to honor the men and women who never made it home, those who gave their lives in service to the country so the rest of the country could live in freedom and security." This piece, while acknowledging the human cost, frames it within the context of defending abstract "freedoms" without interrogating the material conditions that necessitate such sacrifice.
Rob Maness, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and Fox News opinion writer, further articulates this perspective, stating that Memorial Day is about "those who did not come home." Maness, who served for more than three decades and survived the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon, wrote that those lost "did not die for political parties or fleeting causes. They died for the idea that this nation, imperfect as we are, remains the greatest force for freedom the world has ever known." This rhetoric serves to valorize military deaths as a defense of an abstract national ideal, deflecting scrutiny from the economic and geopolitical drivers of conflict. He urged Americans to "honor them not just with parades and cookouts, but with the quiet resolve to live lives worthy of their sacrifice."
The concert and associated commentary function as an ideological apparatus, channeling collective grief and remembrance into support for the state's military ventures. While individual acts of bravery and sacrifice are highlighted, the underlying structural realities of class conflict and imperial expansion remain unaddressed. The event is available for streaming and Video on Demand, ensuring broad dissemination of this state-sanctioned narrative.