“America has a history of making miracles.” John Ondrasik reminded everyone about that after his performance on the USS Nimitz for Independence Day, in which he partnered again with former Israeli hostage Alon Ohel to sing Superman. The carrier concert didn’t just involve Ohel and the sailors in New York City’s harbor, but also first responders and families of 9/11 heroes.
America’s semiquincentennial landed flat this year, unlike the Bicentennial that John and I remember. Now that John has a short break in his Five for Fighting schedule, we caught up yesterday to discuss how he answered the call for the America 250 celebration, why others opted out, and what it says about our sense of American culture and achievement.
John explains how he came to be involved in the NYC celebration of America’s independence, a process that began as the Freedom Concert fell apart. "I don't really know what happened with the Freedom Concert,” John tells me. "I was never asked to play that. Of course, I would have,” he adds, but explains that the US Navy celebration was a separate effort quarterbacked by UN Ambassador Mike Waltz.
“The Navy reached out to him,” John says, “and said, we have this huge international naval review, Fleet Week, which hasn't been done since the Bicentennial and ships from 50 countries and ... they were looking for somebody to entertain the sailors.” Waltz had seen John’s emotional duet with Ohel in February, after he had recovered from his captivity well enough to join John in a performance.
Waltz asked John to join the effort, which John called a “no-brainer.” It took more effort to arrange for Ohel to come to NYC, a story John shares with us as part of the discussion.
Also, John spent the night on the Nimitz in officer quarters. I asked John what that was like, and he quipped, “Noisy.” It also sounds pretty darned cool, as John goes on to explain the experience, especially in the major storm that not only nearly canceled the performance but also did some damage to the equipment.
The proximity to 9/11 and the lack of intensity in the America 250 celebration weighs on John’s mind as well as my own. One incentive for performing on the Nimitz, John says, was being in NYC and the upcoming 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. "I could bring 9-11 families. I could bring Gold Star families. I could bring in New York firefighters, which we did,” John says. "So that to me really made it special. And it kind of had that 9-11 vibe."
John will return to NYC this September to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary, shortly before he returns to touring with the Five for Fighting string quartet. The events will be connected to the charity Tunnels to Towers Foundation, with which John has partnered on several occasions and which builds homes for the families of 9/11 heroes lost in the destruction. He’ll play at the FDNY’s primary 9/11 anniversary event, which he considers a unique honor. “There'll be thousands of firefighters, families there, of course, families who lost loved ones at 9-11,” John says. "On the Nimitz, I met a son of a New York firefighter who ran into those buildings and was killed. He's 25 years old now working for Tunnels to Towers. So you have all these kind of great stories."
Unfortunately, the stories we tell ourselves and our children about America have turned sour, particularly in education and popular culture. The terrorist attacks of October 7 accelerated that process, I note, and John replies that this is what inspired his song “We Are Not Okay.”
We are not ok.
— dr Đuro Trkulja (@DrTrkulja) January 19, 2024
Grammy nominated singer/songwriter @johnondrasik
(aka Five for Fighting) has created this haunting music video about October 7.
It truly captures the heartbreak of Israelis and Jews 💔 pic.twitter.com/rOm3PIoKFI
John notes the irony of commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in a city and region that are electing and nominating politicians who express sympathy with the perpetrators of October 7 and the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. “You see the polls, particularly from the left, where very few people have a positive opinion of America,” John says. "You see candidates in primaries who are happy to say, I hate America, and they're getting votes. … We can talk about the mayor of New York City, that’s – the fact 25 years later, after 9-11, we have a mayor of New York City who, to be kind, is sympathetic to the people who committed those atrocities."
"And in New Jersey, nearby New Jersey, right across the harbor,” I point out, "you have a nominee now who was affiliated with the Blind Sheikh that conceived the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and worked for an al-Qaeda affiliate in Bosnia."
“Our college campuses have been rampant with this kind of Marxist, anti-Semitic wokeism for decades,” John replies. "And maybe we shouldn't be surprised. And of course, if you look at New York, and you look who elected Mondami, those are people who've come to New York in the last 10 years."
A lot of this comes from those who were born and raised in America, though, as we both discuss. The educational system has failed to form boys and girls to appreciate the American experiment. However, John takes heart from his experience on the Nimitz. “You go on the Nimitz and you talk to our troops and our soldiers, and you talk to young people who are so honored to be members of our armed forces,” he says, “and there's two Americas, you know, and you see it."
John has a lot more to say, especially about the role of the arts in forming people to appreciate the American experience and our unique history of ordered liberty. He also talks about his upcoming Five for Fighting tour with the string quartet, and I briefly discuss his Arlington gig with Edwin McCain, where I took the photo for this post. Be sure to watch or listen to it all.
Here’s the July 4 duet of “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” with Alon Ohel.
On the historic USS Nimitz, on our 250th bday, I performed Superman for our amazing @USNavy, @FDNY heroes, and Gold Star Families with former hostage Alon Ohel. Alon is a miracle, alive because of the President, @SecRubio & others. America has a history of making miracles. 🇺🇸❤️ pic.twitter.com/pV3puYxLlF
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) July 5, 2026
And this morning, John shared another lovely moment from his performance on the Nimitz:
What a Joy to sing GOD BLESS AMERICA w USS Nimitz captain Joe Furco, @AmbUNReform Jeff Bartos, and our wonderful sailors to close the @USNavy International Review program on our 250th Birthday! Shout Out to my wingman Musician 3rd Class Tamra Martinez and her Golden Voice! 🇺🇸🫡 pic.twitter.com/KsIO4Wo5B1
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) July 16, 2026
God Bless America, indeed! Our full conversation is below.
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