Service members enjoy Defenders of Freedom Appreciation Day

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Dion Dawson | The crowd goes wild as members of the band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, perform for service members and their families during the Defenders of Freedom military appreciation day at Six Flags recently.  

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES

09.22.2012

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dion Dawson 

Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling

WASHINGTON, D.C. - With more than 5,000 personnel and their family members playing games, riding roller coasters and having fun, Naval District Washington's Morale Welfare and Recreation program recently held the Defenders of Freedom Appreciation Day for all military and Department of Defense employees at the Six Flags of America theme park.

With a concert by legendary southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd for the first 5,000 ticket holders and a reduced rate at the ticket gates, service members really enjoyed the experience and was thankful for the opportunity.

"This is my first time ever visiting Six Flags and it was worth the wait," said Seaman Dewaylon Farr, a member of the Navy Ceremonial Guard marching platoon at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. "MWR always has something for service members and our families. This event was amazing. I got on rides, relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it."

Gary Rossington, founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, expressed the band’s love for the military and looked forward to the audience enjoying the music and taking a little time to forget about daily stressors. "I hope [the audience] gets a lot out of us playing for them. We hope that they just like the music and forget their blues and troubles, and forget war for an hour and a half and just listen."

"None of us had to go serve overseas or be on the front lines, so we feel blessed that way," said Rossington. "We try to help anyway we can, we've played for a lot of benefits for them and try to help the wounded warriors. We are just behind our troops, we think the best thing that this country has is the military."

According to Lee Bell, MWR regional program manager, MWR wanted to put together a large scale event that impacted a greater number of personnel within the region. His staff worked together with Navy Entertainment, which provides quality live entertainment to military members and their families, to book Lynyrd Skynyrd.

For more information on events within the region visit http://ww w.facebook.com/NavDistWash.

• Date Taken: 09.22.2012
• Date Posted: 10.11.2012 08:50
• Story ID: 95978
• Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US
• Hometown: CHICAGO, IL, US