Gary Sinise honors wounded vets at SC's Lt. Dan Weekend

Sinise honors wounded vets at SC's Lt. Dan Weekend
By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press
BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — Ever since playing Lt. Dan — the character in the movie "Forrest Gump" who lost his legs fighting in Vietnam — actor Gary Sinise has devoted time and treasure to helping the nation's military personnel and first responders.

This week he returned to South Carolina's Lowcountry, where much of the 1994 film was shot, for the second annual Lt. Dan Weekend, a gathering of military personnel and vets who were severely wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Volunteers raise donations so the vets have a chance to get away. Sinise's Lt. Dan Band scheduled a benefit concert on the Beaufort waterfront Friday night.

"We have a lot of folks who are banged up out there and need our help," said Sinise, the star of "CSI-New York," during a Thursday reception for the 65 wounded personnel, their caregivers and families attending the four-day weekend. "I always remember this great Calvin Coolidge quote that the nation that forgets its heroes will itself be forgotten."

The cover band, formed in 2004, plays about 40 shows a year, most of them for charity and many for military personnel and veterans. Sinise has also formed a foundation to support the military and first responders.

The idea of the Lt. Dan Weekend came from Steve "Luker" Danyluk, who in 2007 founded the Independence Fund which provides support for those who suffered severe wounds in the war on terror.
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