
Episode #32
Lee Greenwood: The Untold Story Behind "God Bless the USA" | Live Free TV
Everyone knows the song. Almost nobody knows why he wrote it. In this special episode of Live Free TV, Lt. Col. Allen West sits down with country music legend Lee Greenwood for a conversation that goes far beyond the stage. Greenwood shares the real story behind "God Bless the USA": the shot-down airliner that lit the fire in 1983, why he insisted on putting God first in the title, and the one lyric he wrote to make sure America never forgets the men who died. But the song is only part of it. Greenwood opens up about a childhood shaped by his father's World War II Navy service, selling fruit to buy his first bicycle, working bars at 14 to pay for his own socks, and the night in Los Angeles when he had $2 to his name. He explains why that experience shapes how he sees the socialism debate today, what "Live Free" means to him, and why fewer than 1% of Americans now serve in uniform, and where that willingness to serve actually comes from. Also in this episode: • Greenwood's wife, former Miss Tennessee USA Kim Payne Greenwood, has been nominated by the President as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados • Reflections on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and whether America still remembers • His take on wealth, envy, and the "gospel of envy" • Why "God Bless the USA" now plays at U.S. naturalization ceremonies • A look ahead to Veterans and Valor, November 11 in Bonita Springs, Florida, where Greenwood will perform alongside ACRU and the Committee to Support and Defend Recorded the day before the 239th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, during America's 250th year of independence. ️ Join us for Veterans and Valor on Veterans Day, November 11, at the Marriott in Bonita Springs, Florida. Tickets and details at theacru.org and supportanddefend.org. Live Free TV is brought to you by the American Constitutional Rights Union and the Committee to Support and Defend. If this episode moved you, hit like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.




