God Bless America accompanied by the UCLA Band at the 1976 Rose Bowl. During the Super Bowl LI halftime show, a pre-recorded intro, recorded by Lady Gaga, who headlined the halftime show, was played featuring this song and "This Land is Your Land". The Indianapolis 500 is traditionally held at the end of May, and "God Bless America" has been sung there since 2003. The song "America the Beautiful" was sung before, but it was switched to "God Bless America" in the post-9/11 era. The song for many years was performed by Florence Henderson, a native Hoosier, and a friend of the Hulman-George
Woody Guthrie wrote songs about his experience in the Merchant Marine but was never satisfied with them. Longhi later wrote about Guthrie's marine experiences in his book "Woody, Cisco and Me". The book offers a rare first-hand account of Guthrie during his Merchant Marine service. In 1945, the government decided that Guthrie's association with Communism made him ineligible for further service in the Merchant Marine; he was drafted into the U.S. Army. While he was on from the Army, Guthrie married Marjorie. After his discharge, they moved into a house on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island and over time had four children: