The Spirit of America Tour was created
in 2002 to bring headline entertainers to America’s stateside Military
Bases as volunteers with the intent of having their shows boost the morale
of the men, women and families of our fabulous Armed Forces. Since then
the tour has arranged over 90 concerts. These shows have been headlined
by some of America’s greatest artists. A complete list of who has
participated in Spirit of America Tour events can be found by clicking
Concerts on the left side of this page.
To hold these concerts the Spirit of
America Tour asks the Agents and Managers of the American entertainment
industry to urge their headline clients to volunteer their services and
appear at military installations with the understanding that the tour will
pay all of their reasonable expenses in making the appearance.
The Spirit of America Tour is a
project of the Robert and Nina Rosenthal Foundation, Inc., a California
non profit 501(c)(3) corporation. The tour accepts corporate
sponsorships, preferably as straight donations. The tour also accepts
contributions from foundations and other interested patriotic
contributors. For further information please see the
contributions page.
For the record no officer or director
of either the Rosenthal Foundation or the Spirit of America Tour receives
any remuneration, direct or indirect. They are pure
volunteers.
ROBERT ROSENTHAL IS THE CREATOR AND
PRESIDENT OF THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA TOUR
 |
Charlie Daniels and Robert
Rosenthal at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, in 2005.
|
When Robert Rosenthal retired from practicing law in
2000 he thought he and his wife, Nina, would simply remodel their house,
go to the movies, read good books and stay active in charity work. 9/11
changed all that. Robert decided that he had to do something for America
and he started off, just like he did during the rest of his life, like
Gangbusters!
He and Nina talked about what they could do and he started looking
around the internet. His research showed there was a true need: No one
in America was bringing headline entertainment to stateside Military
Bases. Stars for Stripes was doing a bang-up job overseas and the USO
was trying to fill in a couple of overseas gaps, but no one was covering
the Stateside bases. The Spirit of America Tour was created to fill that
obvious need.
As Robert knew he would need a professional partner in Nashville to make
the Tour work he teamed up with his friend Cathy Gurley, a major
Nashville publicist and manager.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England
(right) presents the Department of Defense Medal for
Distinguished Public Service to Robert Rosenthal (center),
founder and financer of the "Spirit of America Tour," which
brings top entertainers to military installations around the
nation. Joining Rosenthal at the ceremony is Charlie Daniels, of
the internationally acclaimed Charlie Daniels Band, one of the
principal groups involved in the Spirit of America Tour. Defense
Dept. photo by R. D. Ward
|
|
Nothing in Robert’s background educated him towards the concert
industry, but he is the book definition of a "quick study" which is why
he was so successful in his pre retirement life. Robert jokes that he
never fit the mold of a "typical Jewish boy from New York." As a young
teenager he worked as a cowboy at a cattle ranch in Arizona. "The best
three Summers of my life, even with the outdoor plumbing." He even rode
broncs in the Snowflake, Arizona, rodeo. "Snowflake’s Pioneer Day’s
rodeo was really not ready for a New Yorker." After that he was all
ready to go to the University of Arizona and study Ranch Management, but
his father put a stop to that, "Robert, Jewish boys do not study Ranch
Management!"
So it was off to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
At graduation he got his commission in the Army through ROTC and served
two years of active duty making movies at the Army Pictorial Center in
New York and as Pictorial Officer, 1st Signal Group, in Orleans, France,
followed by four years in the New York State National Guard's 101st
Signal Battalion.
After the Army Robert spent some time as a broker at Merrill Lynch and
helped make a few movies. The financial markets weren’t his cup of tea
so he started his own documentary production company garnering many
awards including the Cannes Film Festival’s prize for documentary
pictures.
Finally Hollywood called and he moved there in 1970. Determination is
Robert’s middle name and within a year he had produced "Been Down So
Long It Looks Like Up To Me" for Paramount. His friends in the music
industry were called upon and Jim Morrison wrote the song "Been Down So
Long" which The Doors performed.
A realistic view of life served him in good stead because when he
completed "Been Down So Long" he gave himself two years to get another
picture in production or he was going to get out of the movie business.
Well, deals were made, but nothing came of it. "I looked at the money
that the studios paid me to develop projects and realized this was the
nuttiest business in the World. I had the niftiest office on the lot,
the great secretary, the projects ‘in development,’ the invitations to
all the parties, but nobody would give me a go. So off I went to law
school."
Robert graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in Los
Angeles in 1976. He waited until he got his first case, opened an office
and never looked back. He practiced litigation until his retirement in
2000.
During the successes in his life Robert never forgot that the mark of a
man is based on his attitude to his fellow man and his community so
philanthropy was always a major part of his life. Robert has served on
numerous Boards including Public Counsel, the Lawrence Academy in
Groton, Massachusetts, Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel (The Jewish
Olympics), the Professional Bull Riders’ Resistol Relief Fund, the
Valley Community Clinic and the Western Music Association.
Robert was also appointed to the California Athletic Commission,
California’s Boxing Commission by the Governor of California.
Now, though he considers himself a retired attorney, Robert spends 100
percent of his time on the Spirit of America Tour. "It’s amazing that in
a country of 300 million people, so few truly understand that our great
freedoms are protected by an underpaid, understaffed and under
appreciated standing Armed Forces. I’ll do anything I can to make sure
we never lose them and the fabulous members of the entertainment
community who perform at our concerts agree with me. Thank God for these
great Americans."
CATHY GURLEY IS ONE OF THE TOP
PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS
IN THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY
 |
Cathy Gurley (r), National Liaison of the tour,
enjoys the show with Lt. Gen. William R. Looney III, Commander,
Aeronautical Systems Center.
|
During the past 20 years Cathy
Gurley has headed her own public relations company in Nashville,
Tennessee. She has represented numerous prominent members of the
Country Music Industry including stars like Garth Brooks, Tanya Tucker,
Tammy Wynette, Patty Loveless and Marty Stuart. Prior to starting her
own firm Cathy was head of creative services for Capital Records. While
at Capital Cathy helped create the campaign for Garth Brooks, thus
launching his meteoric career which made him the biggest selling artist
of all time.
Cathy has been a member of the Academy
of Country Music since 1989 and served a term on its Board of Directors.
She is also a member of the Country Music Association.
Cathy has been involved in numerous
non profit organizations including the prestigious Country in the Rockies
which benefits the T.J. Martell Foundation at the Frances Williams Preston
Labs at Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Cancer Center.
|
