Greenwood relives harrowing moments of Gulf War

Friday, Sept. 14, 2001 | 8:56 a.m.

On Jan. 16, 1991, America attacked Iraq and the Gulf War began.

Lee Greenwood, already a popular country singer, reached superstar status when his 1985 hit "God Bless the USA" became the unofficial theme song for the war that was ordered by President George Bush.

Flash forward 10 years to Sept. 12, 2001.

Greenwood was sitting in a San Francisco hotel room after completing a concert at the Moscone Center. He should have been en route to Knoxville, Tenn., where he was to have performed at the Tennessee Valley State Fair the following day.

He should have, but all airport civilian air travel had been halted.

President George W. Bush had just vowed to hunt down and punish the terrorists who were responsible for the monstrous destruction of the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the murders of thousands of people who were inside.

"I'm just kind of numb, like the rest of the country," Greenwood said during a telephone interview.

Americans were still in shock after witnessing one of the most heinous acts of terrorism in history.

People were trying to comprehend the magnitude and the meaning of the event. They were experiencing a jumble of emotions: anger, fear, hatred, uncertainty.

"I don't like the word 'kill,' but I like what the president said: 'We will hunt them down and punish them,' " Greenwood, who is scheduled to perform at Boulder Station on Sept. 21, said. " 'Punish' was a great word to use. You think about that as two fighters in the ring, with one punishing the other."

Greenwood is taking up touring again after a six-year hiatus. In 1995 he opened the Lee Greenwood Theater in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and performed 220 shows a year there for five years.

He closed the theater in December.

"I would rather work on the road 300 days a year than perform 220 Broadway-sized productions a year at one place," Greenwood said.

Sept. 21 will be his first performance in Las Vegas in many years. He was based here from 1961-80, until mega-hits such as "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" and "Inside Out" ignited his touring career.

"It's my re-entrance into the city," he said.

Greenwood lives in Tennessee with his wife, Kim, and their sons, Dalton, 6 and Parker, 3. A daughter, Kelly Center, lives in Las Vegas. She is the director of advertising and marketing for Ameristar Casinos.

"I would like to work in Las Vegas on a regular basis," he said.

Greenwood will have had about 90 performance dates this year and expects to have 120 next year.

He also has taken the plunge into motion pictures -- he recently completed co-starring roles in two films whose release dates have not yet been announced: "Elvis is Alive" and "Silver and Gold."

And he is recording again -- a single, "Out of Style," will be released in the near future and a CD, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," will be released in December.

As a wave of patriotism sweeps the country (the way it did in 1991), Greenwood could see a resurgence in the popularity of some of his earlier recordings. That would be fine with him, but not for monetary reasons -- he is a genuine patriot.

"As a singer, entertainer, writer, my job is to most of all express the thoughts and feelings of our culture," Greenwood said. "We (performers) represent what the American culture is, that's why we become popular.

"I wish I could just take my music, in a patriotic sense, and spread it like a veil across the whole United States so that everybody would feel more secure and strong -- that's pretty much what I do as a person as I do my shows coast to coast."

Greenwood says he always offers his support in times of national crisis.

"I sent a telegram to Mayor (Rudolph) Giuliani and asked if there was anything I could do, anything at all -- a concert or whatever," Greenwood said. "That's what we're here for. As a member of the human race, and certainly as an American, we want to represent everything of value that we are as a people."

Greenwood said walking around San Francisco gave him pause after the horrendous attack in New York City and Washington, D.C.

"Yesterday morning," he said, "I woke up still stuck in California and found myself walking around looking at every passerby, looking at their faces and thinking, 'That's an American, but who are they? What's their background? What do they represent?'

"It's odd, you know? You pass so many people every day and you don't know exactly who they are ... we just accept the fact that they are an American citizen loyal to the United States and they are here because they love this country. But that's not true. A lot of people are here who do not like this country.

"As we find out more and more facts about the terrorists who flew those planes, we find out they were in our midst.

"We are a powerful country. We could not be taken from without, but we could be taken from within."

Greenwood isn't in favor of massive retaliation to exact revenge for the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., but he says strong military action is called for against those who are responsible.

"We have to find them and eradicate them," he said. "Militarily is the only answer. (Bush) says to take out the terrorists and the country that harbors them. That could mean we have to take out a country or two, but I'm confident that we will fight back, surgically, and take out the terrorists.

"But we have to shoot to kill and make sure the terrorism doesn't come back. We have to get it right the first time. We can't just throw our net out there and come back empty. We have to make sure we are attacking the right people and do it right the first time and be done with it."

Greenwood says he doesn't think most Arab nations favor terrorism.

"They probably would step aside," he said. "They understand our resolve for revenge, that's the way they think. They understand revenge. I don't they would necessarily be our allies, but they would get out of the way.

"We have to take out the terrorists' threat. We have to be secure in our nation again. We can't have our children afraid, we can't be afraid. As the governor of New York said, we will get back to a normal society and we will not walk afraid in this country."

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