Country singer Craig Morgan, a U.S. Army Reserve warrant officer, says he is willing to die for his country to preserve America’s freedoms.
“I am willing to go wherever they send me and do whatever it takes to ensure that we maintain the freedoms,” Morgan, who reenlisted in the Army in 2023 after previously serving for nearly two decades, told Fox News Digital. “And not for me, but for my family, for my friends, for my friend’s kids, and for the kids that I don’t even know.”
He said he thinks every American service member feels the same way he does.
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“Listen, like the [Toby Keith] song ‘American Soldier’ says, ‘I don’t want to die, but if dying is asked of me, I will.’ And I believe that more people, even those that don’t serve, feel that way.”
The “Redneck Yacht Club” singer, who lives in Tennessee, said, “That’s what we celebrate.”
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“But absolutely, I am willing to die for my country and to die for the freedoms that I get to celebrate. I want my grandchildren and their children and their grandchildren to celebrate those same freedoms.”
Morgan released a new 11-song album, “My Country,” on Nov. 6, which features a cover of “American Soldier.”
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“We’re celebrating our 250th,” he said. “I just felt like it was most appropriate as we celebrate that as a nation that I’m able to do it in my genre, in my format, in my occupation.”
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He said he feels like he’s always celebrating America, “but we took it, I feel like we took it a step further with this actual project, a physical project, celebrating our nation, hence the name ‘My Country,’ but for me, it had a dual implication.”
At the risk of sounding biased, Morgan said he thinks country music “celebrates the love and passion for our freedom and for our nation much more than the other genres.”
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“We don’t shy away or steer away from our belief in God, family, and country,” he added, “and this project really kind of hits at both of those, both of my worlds, my military world and my music world.”
The 62-year-old is especially proud of the original track “Long May You Wave,” which he called “extremely personal” and emotional.
“Having served in the military for over 20 years now, that flag represents something that I think — there was a time in our nation that it had been taken for granted. I do believe that we’re back in a place where we respect that flag, we respect what it stands for. And I’m not saying that we didn’t, but I think generally we lost sight of what it is that flag represented and the many, many men and women who have sacrificed in order to ensure that that representation is not tarnished.”
The song is about middle-class America — “the people that really built this country and the people whose backs we stand on,” he said.
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The cover of “American Soldier” is in honor of Keith “and in honor of what he stood for,” he explained.
“For me, that song again is extremely personal,” he said. “I am an American soldier and I love my country and I love what this song says about us.”
Morgan said service members don’t “stand out there and wave our flag, so to speak, but this song is a testament to, in my opinion, the moral fiber that makes up those people who serve our nation. And I’m grateful to have the honor to be able to record that song.”
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He added that country music offers listeners a “sense of reality, a sense of truth. Also, all of this wrapped up in humility, grace, and gratitude.”
“The general populace of the country music format, including the artists, come from a place of humble beginnings, come from a place of Middle America,” he said. “We talk about, sing about, and represent, and live the lifestyle of the people that build America, as I alluded to earlier. And I still live that lifestyle. A lot of people don’t believe it. I mean, you know, I don’t always cut my own grass, but I do sometimes, but I still take off my own garbage when I’m home.”
Speaking about his own family, Morgan said he hopes his grandchildren “inherit the attitude towards our nation that my grandfather had and that I feel like I have.”
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“One thing that I see now that I did not see four years ago is a sense of pride in our nation, a sense of pride in their jobs,” he said.
He said he doesn’t preach his politics, “but here’s what I tell every one of them: If we are not a safe nation, all of the other stuff that you celebrate will not matter. It’s that simple.”
Morgan also held a Veterans Day 5K in Nashville on Veterans Day this year to bring attention to the charities he supports and raise money for them and to celebrate veterans.
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Equally important to Morgan is his faith.
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Morgan said he’s faced pushback in the entertainment industry over it, “but when it comes to my faith in my God, I do not care. I can’t. I focus solely on my relationship with my God through my church and allow that to dictate. Whatever happens outside of that is on them, not me.”
He’s fine with people disagreeing with him, and he doesn’t want to convert everyone, “because that’s God’s job. I just live my life in accordance with the word as best I can, focus on my relationship with him and hope that I’m doing the things that he would have me do so that people can come to know him through me.”