Wars & Remembrances : MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT AIRS ON PBS FROM THE CAPITOL STEPS

Memorial Day may be viewed by many as the beginning of the summer movie season, the running of the Indy 500 or just a chance for a three-day weekend. But for many it is a time to remember those who have died in the service of this country. This year, nearly 400,000 people are expected to gather on the steps of the U.S. Capitol for the live broadcast of the fourth annual “National Memorial Day Concert.”

“The concert is not praising or exulting war,” insists host E.G. Marshall, “but shows our gratitude for those who served. It’s not a joyful celebration like the Fourth of July, but a fond remembrance.”

Remembrances are vital to those who lost loved ones in the war.

“We got a letter from a lady last year who said that she had lost her husband in World War II and her son in Vietnam and it meant so very much to her that the show honored them,” says the show’s producer, Jerry Colbert.

“Those heroes should not be forgotten, no matter what war they were involved in,” adds conductor Erich Kunzel, who will lead the National Symphony Orchestra, as he has for previous Memorial Day concerts. “Everyone who defended this country and the principle of freedom for the whole world deserves to be recognized. I know I sound like a preacher, but it’s the truth.”

This year’s concert is being planned to draw attention to the history of Memorial Day, which originally commemorated those who died in the Civil War. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Korean War and the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial, documentary footage will be shown on a giant screen above the orchestra. There also will be film segments on Civil War veterans and a salute to soldiers in Somalia. The concert will be simulcast over National Public Radio and carried in more than 135 countries over Armed Forces Radio and Television.

“After the Civil War,” Kunzel says, “Southern women decorated the graves of both the Union and the Confederate soldiers.” The commemoration was later extended to “remember and thank those who had fallen. It’s a very important day in the history of our country,” he adds.

Previous broadcast concerts have demonstrated that patriotism still abounds, the conductor says.

“It’s such an explosion, the patriotism that’s dormant or latent completely comes out,” Marshall says. “There’s the Capitol and the flag is flying and the music is playing and those people are drawn together in a common bond. There’s nothing like seeing them singing and applauding.”

The concert will include Civil War-era music, as well as selections from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and more recent overseas assignments--from Desert Storm to Somalia.

At press time, the musical selections included “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Amazing Grace,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” “Salute to the Services” and “God Bless America.”

Also featured will be readings by James Earl Jones and James Whitmore and performances by Judy Collins, Gladys Knight and Mac Davis, jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain and the Boys Choir of Harlem. Ray Charles is music arranger.

A live show is not without its surprises.

“It rained last year,” producer Colbert recalls. “We were still able to go on. We took 25 musicians and hunkered them down in tents, covered the cameras. Perry Como was there, set to sing and he stood in the wings and looked out on stage and said, ‘I don’t like to sing in the rain at my age, but I’ll do it,’ and he did. If anything goes wrong, the local PBS stations are set to run the previous year’s show simultaneously so we can cut directly to it. But I think we’re prepared for most things.”

“It’s a very moving, very powerful use of film, drama, orchestra and television,” Colbert says. “It’s more like a Broadway show than it is a standard television show. It’s live, it’s the moment and it’s Memorial Day weekend. All those factors make it a powerful format.”

“The National Memorial Day Concert” airs Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on KVCR, 6 p.m. on KPBS and 8 p.m. on KCET.