Photo: Filip Shobot
EXCLUSIVE: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning star Esai Morales to co-host National Memorial Day Concert 2025
Every Memorial Day weekend, the nation pauses to remember the men and women who answered freedom’s call and never made it home. For 36 years the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS has given those memories a platform, a soundtrack and a stage, wrapping stories of sacrifice in music, tributes and living history. This Sunday, May 25th, the tradition continues live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and it arrives with both a familiar spirit and a heartfelt change.
Due to last minute, unforeseen circumstances, long time co‑host Joe Mantegna will be unable to attend, but the baton is in compassionate and capable hands. Esai Morales, currently starring in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, will join the tireless Gary Sinise to shepherd the memorable evening. Morales brings a deep commitment to service and storytelling, so stepping into this role feels less like “filling in” and more like answering a new mission of his own.
Joe Mantegna’s decades long work has helped make the concert a Memorial Day touchstone and his absence this year will be felt. Yet Morales’ own record of championing worthy causes makes him a natural fit to step in to the spirit Mantegna and Sinise have fostered for so long together. Expect warmth, reverence and a gentle reminder that remembrance is an everyday responsibility and not a once a year ritual.
An Evening With A Purpose
Photo: PBS / Capitol Concerts
The National Memorial Day Concert weaves personal stories of our nations heroes with performances that lift the soul. This years special will be no different with powerful, purposeful segments that include:
Tribute Segments
- Gold Star Families - Gretchen Mol shares the journey of Krista Simpson Anderson, whose Green Beret husband was killed in Afghanistan.
80th Anniversary of the End of WWII - Robert Patrick honors Marine veteran Don Graves, a flamethrower operator at Iwo Jima.
Vietnam 50th Anniversary - Blair Underwood narrates the story of the “Dustoff” medevac crews, introduced by Col. Otis Evans.
Musical Performers
- Power house vocalists Loren Allred, Yolanda Adams and Angel Blue
Country artist, Army veteran, and Purple Heart recipient Scotty Hasting
The incomparable National Symphony Orchestra under maestro Jack Everly, now in his 16th season with the concert.
Photo: PBS / Capitol Concerts
When, Where and How To Watch
- Live Broadcast: Sunday, May 25, 2025, 8:00 - 9:30 pm ET on PBS (with encore at 9:30 pm)
Worldwide Stream: YouTube and PBS.org; Simulcast for service members via the American Forces Network.
On‑Demand: Stream free on demand from May 25th through June 8th if you can’t watch live or want to catch it again.
No matter if you've marched in uniform, waited anxiously at home for a loved one's call or have enjoyed the freedoms secured by our Military men and women, the National Memorial Day Concert invites you to stand in a grateful silence and then rise in song. This annual special is a reminder of who we are when we're at our very best: one family honoring all of those who have served to secure the freedoms we exercise every day.
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