For Veterans Day 2026: Twenty years burnin' down the road, Bruce still stands w/ Stand Up For Heroes

photo by Tim Julius - used with permission

November 11, 2026

On Monday night, Bruce Springsteen delivered the closing performance at the 2026 Stand Up For Heroes event, which took place inside David Geffen Hall's Wu Tsai Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It was the twentieth anniversary of The Bob Woodruff Foundation's annual evening of comedic and musical performances to raise funds for military veterans, current service members, and their families. After Springsteen's closing solo-acoustic performance, which featured public-premiere performances of "Hello Sunshine" and "Moonlight Motel," Bob and Lee Woodruff hugged him and Lee Woodruff noted emphatically to the audience, "Twenty years... He was here from the very first year..." Bob Woodruff then added that this year's Stand Up For Heroes event had raised another $5.9 million in funding for veterans-focused services. That brings the total amount of funds generated from all twenty years of annual Stand Up For Heroes shows to more than $122 million.

Our friend and faithful reader Tim Julius was there on Monday, and noted in his report to us about the event, "Earlier in the night I had seen where [after opening the evening,] the color guard had taken their seats in the last row of the floor-level seats. During Bruce's final song of the evening, 'Dancing in the Dark,' at the appropriate times, they chimed in with the 'whoah-oh-oh" crowd-portion of the song and seemed to lead others in doing so.

The 2026 Stand Up For Heroes' color guard - photo by Tim Julius - used with permission

(L-R:) Bob Woodruff, The Resilient's Tim Donley, and Lee Woodruff - photo by Tim Julius - used with permission

"What a wonderful event, from the opening sound of the pounding drums of all-military-vets band The Resilient (formed and supported through the Woodruff Foundation-funded MusiCorps program) and through the closing notes of 'Dancing in the Dark,' the 2026 Stand Up For Heroes night was a success for fundraising and - just as important - for recognizing, remembering, thanking, and honoring those who've fought to protect our liberties and democracy."

In the fan-videos embedded below, you can see and hear Bruce Springsteen's entire 2026 Stand Up For Heroes performance, dirty jokes and all.

Best wishes to all of our military veterans and their loved ones for the most peaceful, pleasant, and rewarding Veterans Day 2026 possible.