Rob Riggle Hosts 'American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes' for Veterans Day

Marine Corps veteran and Hollywood actor Rob Riggle hosts the 2018 edition of "American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes" television special, airing all over the country this weekend. Check out the list of stations and times here. It's also airing on the American Forces Network's AFN|prime, Sunday, November 11th at 4:00 p.m (local time).

Rob is joined by Maria Menounos, Omar Epps, Sara Drew and Kellie Pickler as they pay tribute to our service men and women spanning from World War II to the present day. In addition, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Sinise, Scarlett Johansson, John Krasinski, Matthew McConaughey and Robin Roberts lend their voices to tell these amazing stories.

American Valor: 2018 Promo from American Veterans Center on Vimeo.

Both Sarah Drew and Kellie Pickler sing at the event and program highlights include the following tributes:

·      The Legendary Tuskegee Airmen (Narrated by Robin Roberts) – Featuring several surviving combat pilots of the first African American flyers in U.S. military history, marking the 75^th anniversary of the famed unit’s first missions in World War II, including:

o   Lt. Col. Harold Brown – Combat pilot of 30 missions, shot down over enemy territory on March 14, 1945.

o   Lt. Col. Robert Friend – Veteran of 142 combat missions with the Tuskegee Airmen, and wingman to the unit’s leader & the first African American general in the Air Force, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

o   Lt. Col. James H. Harvey III – Pilot with the 332^nd Fighter Group, flew on the team that won the military’s first ‘Top Gun’ contest in 1949. The first African American jet fighter pilot to fly in the Korean War.

o   Lt. Col. George Hardy - Combat pilot of 21 missions over Germany with the Red Tails; later flew 45 combat missions in Korea.

o   Lt. Col. Harry Stewart – Amassed one of the most distinguished records of any pilot with the ‘Red Tails,’ shooting down three German fighters in one day, and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

o   Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson – One of the few living Tuskegee Airmen to have survived being taken prisoner of war after being shot down over Europe.

·      Col. Charles McGee (Narration by Robert De Niro)– – Recipient of three Distinguished Flying Crosses, would go on to set an Air Force record of 409 combat missions flown during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

·      Lt. Colonel Richard E. Cole & The Doolittle Raid (Narration by Tom Cruise)– Co-pilot to Jimmy Doolittle on the famed Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942, and at 103 years old, the last survivor of the 80 Doolittle Raiders.

·      CDR Dean ‘Diz’ Laird (Narration by Matthew McConaughey)– The only U.S. Navy ‘Ace’ pilot to shoot down both German and Japanese planes during World War II.

·      SFC Ronald Rosser (Narration by Robert De Niro) – Recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in the Korean War.

·      Clinton J. Hill (Narration by Scarlett Johansson)– Army counterintelligence officer, and later Secret Service agent to five presidents, most noted for climbing aboard John F. Kennedy’s car to shield the president & Mrs. Kennedy after the president was shot.

·      Felix Rodriguez (Narration by Aaron Eckhart) – Cuban exile & participant in the ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion, would go on to become one of the most decorated CIA officers in history, receiving the CIA’s Intelligence Star and nine awards of the Cross of Gallantry from the South Vietnamese government.

·      SSG Shilo Harris (Narration by Gary Sinise) – Cavalry Scout with the 10th Mountain Div. in Iraq, grievously wounded by an IED, after more than 75 surgeries now a motivational speaker.

·      Maj. Katie Higgins Cook (Narration by Harrison Ford) – Marine Corps combat pilot and first woman to fly with the famed ‘Blue Angels.’

·      Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward C. Byers (Narration by John Krasinski) – U.S. Navy SEAL recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in Afghanistan, one of two recipients currently on duty.

For those who don't live in a city where the show will be aired or don't know how to work their DVR, check out these highlights below.

American Valor: Cold Open & Show Open (2018) from American Veterans Center on Vimeo.

American Valor: The Tuskegee Airmen (2018) from American Veterans Center on Vimeo.

American Valor: Kellie Pickler & US Army Chorus (2018) from American Veterans Center on Vimeo.