Charlie Daniels Patriot Award recipients announced
The Charlie Daniels Patriot Award recipients for 2023 have been chosen for their ongoing support to veterans and to the late musician's Daniels non-profit, The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project.
This year's recipients are Lee Greenwood, Hunt Brothers Pizza and Operation Song founders Bob Regan, Don Goodman (who also co-founded Freedom Sings) and John Taylor, entertainment director at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.
David Corlew, who co-founded the The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project with Daniels, told The Tennessean that nominees each year are selected by the organization's board of directors based on who they feel has gone above and beyond to support the organization's mission.
"We look for companies and individuals who have helped support the return, rehabilitation and reintegration of veterans back into civilian life," Corlew said. "The last few years since Charlie passed, we have had a few names on a short list he suggested and we've been working off of some of those people that impacted him personally."
Previous recipients include Gary Sinise, Chris Young, Darryl Worley, Mike Huckabee, Jude Seale, William Horton, Donnie Mingus and The Shepherd’s Center among others.
"Each year we try to honor a company that has donated money or time toward working with programs we feel are making an impact," Corlew said. "We look for a company, an individual and then in the past years we began to look to entertainment for folks that use their career to help accomplish what we're all trying to do which is serve those who have served us."
The award recipients will be honored at the fifth annual Charlie Daniels Patriot Awards Dinner Sept. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at Nashville’s City Winery. Proceeds from the evening will benefit The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project.
Chris Young and Darryl Worley, both previous recipients of the Patriot Award, will perform live. Special guest speakers will include former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik and decorated military veterans Major General (Ret.) Max Haston, Master Sergeant (Ret.) Joel Pruitt (a previous Patriot Award recipient), Master Sergeant (Ret.) Steven Nisbet (co-founder of Shields & Stripes) and Sergeant Major (Ret.) Jesse R. Horsley. Storme Warren of The Big 615 Radio will co-host the event with Young. The dinner ceremony will also include a silent and live auction.
Information on reserving a table at the dinner can be found at https://thecharliedanielsjourneyhomeproject.org/events/
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Patriot Awards recipients 'serve those who have served us.'
