N.Y. police officer will add patriotic spirit

By EVELYN GANDER
Staff Writer

Nine months after Sept. 11, the Great American Brass Band Festival this year sounds a deeper note of patriotism as it prepares to "Celebrate America."
From the first note of music on Friday to the last round of applause on Sunday, this 13th annual event shines with All-American sights and resonates with All-American sounds.
In a tenor voice as clear as the high notes of a trumpet, Daniel Rodriguez will sing songs of the American spirit. With The Advocate Brass Band on Sunday, the New York City police officer who was at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 will punctuate the air with music that shines with hope.
Born in Brooklyn, the seven-year veteran of the police department has brought the songs of America to its national stage -- from the White House and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to network television programs.
Nine months ago, Thanksgiving was two months away. On the morning of Sept. 11, the White House was evacuated and networks pre-empted programs to show a gash in the side of the Pentagon, a fire near the top of one of the towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and an airplane flying into the second tower.
The 38-year-old officer of Manhattan South was on a bridge when he saw fires at the Twin Towers. He got to his car and joined an army of police and fire and rescue workers heading for Manhattan to do their jobs.
"I jumped on the back of an emergency vehicle caravan," he said. "That day, we had responses throughout the city."
At 1 Police Plaza, Rodriguez joined his counterparts from across New York to plow through gray dust to find survivors. "I didn't go home for three days." 
But then, no one did, he emphasizes. "There were emergency people that wouldn't leave."
Nine months later, they have gone home. On the 16 acres where once there were two 110-story buildings, there are no more emergencies to stay for. The dust has cleared. The rescue work that became recovery work is over. The cleanup is complete.
Rodriguez has never been to Kentucky. When he comes for the first time to the state -- and to the festival that has become a state tradition -- he will sing "God Bless America."
Acclaimed across America for songs that include "The Star Spangled Banner," Rodriguez describes the national anthem as a rallying point for Americans. It "always gives a sense of pride," he said. 
"It's always been a song of victories."
After Sept. 11, if "The Star Spangled Banner" summons the resolve of America, "God Bless America" calls to its heart. "God Bless America," with its introductory words of prayer, has become "a new anthem," he says, "to the men and women who perished." 
Nine months after Sept. 11, Rodriguez on Sunday joins the Great American Brass Band Festival that, especially this year, will "Celebrate America."
In a "moment of remembrance" Saturday, the festival will honor those who have given their lives in service to the United States. In addition, there will be recognition of the service of veterans of war.
Seared by the fires of Sept. 11 in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, America's spirit comes to the 13th Great American Brass Band Festival -- with deeper sounds of resolve and higher notes of hope.
Rodriguez's favorite part of "The Star Spangled Banner" is the line that describes America -- "the land of the free and the home of the brave."
And in the new anthem that looks with hope across America, the New York City police officer most loves "just the line itself" -- "God Bless America."