Lee Greenwood recalls surviving enemy fire in Panama after White House sent him to entertain troops

Country singer Lee Greenwood recalled being sent to Panama by then-President George H.W. Bush to entertain U.S. troops during the mission against Manuel Noriega, revealing he came under fire before reaching Marines in the jungle.

“I’m going to send you to Panama,” Greenwood recalled Bush telling him on the “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” podcast. “Take your band down there. I’ve already taken out the dependents. We’re going to take [Noriega] out… I want you to entertain our troops.”

The “God Bless the USA” singer said his band left first by Chinook helicopter, while a courier handed him a letter from Bush for Marines stationed in the jungle.

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Lee Greenwood said President George H.W. Bush sent him to Panama to entertain U.S. troops before the mission to remove Manuel Noriega. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

“And a courier had given me a letter from the president to 200 Marines in the jungle,” Greenwood said. “So, the band’s gone. I jump in a jeep with a sergeant and we… come under fire and the bullets are whizzing through the jeep.”

Greenwood said he was not hit, but the sergeant driving the jeep was wounded.

“[It] took my driver’s finger off right there in the index finger,” Greenwood said. “So fortunately, I didn’t get hit. We got to the compound where the Marines were, and I showed them where we were, and they went out, and they took out these guys.”

Operation Just Cause began in December 1989 when nearly 26,000 combat troops were deployed in a mission the U.S. Army says was aimed at neutralizing Noriega’s forces, restoring elected democratic government and protecting American lives.

Greenwood said he later reunited with the wounded sergeant who drove him through the Panama mission, saying they hugged over the moment they “could have both been killed.” (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)

Greenwood said the Panama mission came back to him years later when the same driver showed up backstage after a concert in Ohio.

“I said, ‘Is he missing a finger?’” Greenwood said. “He said, ‘Yes.’ I came out, and we hugged each other, you know, for the moment that we could have both been killed.”

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He said the episode was one of many military visits that shaped his career.

“I remember it was 140 degrees in the jungle … and addressing 150 Marines that are about to go to war,” Greenwood said. “It’s been like that all over my career whenever I visit military, and that makes me a very proud patriot.”

The interview focused on Greenwood, his wife, Kimberly, and the 40-year-old legacy of “God Bless the USA” ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

Kimberly Greenwood said their relationship began through USO tours and service members.

“Really, our beginning of our relationship started with patriotism and serving our military,” she said. “And that’s what we’ve done for our entire time together.”

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Greenwood said “God Bless the USA” was written out of love for the country and respect for those who died serving it.

“I’m so proud to know that I wrote it because I love the country,” he said. “I didn’t write it for any other purpose.”

The full interview is available now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.