Memorial Day, Lt. Dan and Why He's a Grateful American

A Visit with Gary Sinise: Memorial Day, Lt. Dan and Why He's a Grateful American

Military.com
By James Barber
21 May 2019

In many ways, and not only the career. I had done only two or three movies before I did "Forrest Gump." That was certainly a career changer, for sure. It also led to a long, 25-year relationship with the Disabled American Veterans organization because, within weeks of the movie coming out, they invited me to come to their national convention.

Gary Sinise as Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor in "Forrest Gump" (Paramount)

Gary Sinise spoke with us when he was scheduled to co-host the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C. He's had to cancel, but the show will go on, airing at 8 p.m. Eastern on May 26 on PBS stations. Mary McCormack will fill in for Gary as co-host with Joe Mantegna.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Memorial Day Concert, and Sinise has been involved with the event since 2005. We had a great conversation and decided to share the interview even though he won't be able to attend the event.

Sinise spoke to us about his experiences with the concert, what the role of Lt. Dan Taylor has meant to his career and his life, and his recent memoir "Grateful American."

I brought up his father Robert's own movie career, which he started as editor for the drive-in gore schlockmaster Herschell Gordon Lewis in the early 1960s. Gary enthusiastically displayed his own knowledge of deep cuts from one of the trashiest filmographies of all time. He truly is a renaissance man.
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NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT | Charles Durning | PBS

Gary Sinise Foundation gave Veteran and family new place to be welcomed home

Wounded North Texas Army Veteran, Family Get Free Home: ‘I Can’t Say Enough How Great This Place Is’

CBS 11 News
By J.D. Miles
March 14, 2019

ARGYLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – There were tears of gratitude in Argyle where a wounded veteran and his family moved into a new home.

It was donated by the Gary Sinise Foundation which creates more accessible homes for deserving veterans and first responders.

A parade of veterans led the escort to where Jake Murphy and his wife raised the American flag outside their new home.

“As years pass I’ll be able to live comfortably in a place that is customized to my specific needs,” said Ret. Army Captain Jake Murphy.

Murphy lost both of his legs in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan more than seven years ago.

His previous home was inaccessible for a wheelchair which he sometimes uses.

The new home has wider doorways, lower racks and faucets as well has tablet controlled lights and other home environment functions. “I can’t say enough how great this place is for me, Lisa and our children,” he said. The home is one of 71 gifted to wounded heroes across the country through the Gary Sinise Foundation. read more here

Marine veteran inspiring fundraising for Gary Sinise Foundation

The Entrepreneur Who Died 3 Times, Became Homeless And Outran His Destiny

FORBES
Dan Murray-Serter
Contributor
Entrepreneurs
March 3, 2019

"So, what next?" I asked the ex-marine. "I will break the current Guinness’ Book of World Records for the 'fastest marathon completed while carrying a 100 pound pack' in less than 6 1.5 hours. To do so I need to complete 1,100 Miles with 100lbs on my back but aim to raise $1,000,000. Proceeds will go to the Gary Sinise Foundation later this year", he replies determinedly.

Giving Arnie A Run For His MoneyTSHANE JOHNSON

For most, the lowest point in your life would arguably be when you had a near fatal accident robbing you of your career, dreams and use of your legs. In TShane's case, when your life has had many flavors of lows, there's a wide array to pick from.

"There I was, freezing in 20 degree weather at a bus stop, homeless, and watching other homeless people fighting over a six pack of beer". That was the turning point for TShane Johnson, an entrepreneur who'd hit rock bottom.

After realizing he was only one or two decisions away from being in that exact spot - the only thing keeping him from it was the good fortune that he didn't drink.

A far cry from that bus stop, TShane now spends his time running across America raising money for veterans, sharing his inspiring story of determination to prove nothing is impossible.

A Marine With A Stolen Dream

Before he was an entrepreneur, TShane joined the Marine Corps in 1998. "It was my lifelong ambition to become a bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger" he tells me. So even as a Marine, he did regular personal training sessions and spent extra hours in the gym building up the specific physique required to compete. Given his lifestyle, he was in peak mental and physical shape when his whole life changed.
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Gary Sinise brought to tears while being thanked for his service to troops and veterans

Make sure you watch the video!

Forrest Gump Star Gary Sinise Opens Up About Raising $30 Million Annually for Veterans

PEOPLE
KARA WARNER
February 13, 2019

"Service is a great healer," says Gary Sinise of his four decades of service work for military veterans and first responders.

Although Gary Sinise didn’t initially set out for a career in service, after four decades of making a difference for military veterans and first responders, he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

Sinise, 63, who reflects on his journey from “self to service” in his new book Grateful American, details the major turning points in his life, which include learning the details of his family connections to the military, playing Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump and feeling “broken” after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

“I’ve found that service is the best way to heal,” he tells PEOPLE in the latest issue. Sinise’s foundation The Gary Sinise Foundation now raises now raises $30 million annually – 90% of which goes toward the organization’s programs, like building specially adapted smart homes for severely disabled vets and bringing military families to Disney World.

“If every person in every neighborhood around the country took a little bit of responsibility for patting these folks on the back, all the problems that we hear about with regards to veterans not getting services or falling through the cracks would disappear,” he says. “If citizens would look at their freedom providers in a little bit different way.”
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Wounded Navy Seal Land Hawaii Five-0 Acting Gig

Gary Sinise Helps Wounded Navy Seal Land Hawaii Five-0 Acting Gig: He's Someone 'I Admire Very Much'
PEOPLE
KC BAKER
December 15, 2017

Wanting to help others wounded in combat, in 2009 Redman founded the non-profit Combat Wounded Coalition, inspiring vets to move past their physical and mental challenges and go on to live successful lives.

Retired Navy Seal Jason Redman is getting ready for his close up.

Severely wounded in Iraq in 2007, the highly decorated special ops vet – and winner of the American History Channel’s 2017 Red Bandanna Hero Award — will be making his TV debut on Friday’s episode of the hit CBS series Hawaii Five-O – thanks to his longtime friend, actor Gary Sinise.

Jason Redman in Afghanistan in 2007.Courtesy Jason Redman

“Peter Lenkov, who runs Hawaii Five-0, used to be one of our top writers and producers over at CSI:NY,” Sinise tells PEOPLE.

“He contacted me saying he was looking for a veteran for a part,” says Sinise, who has spent the last 40 years helping wounded and active members of the military and veterans, as well as creating the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Lenkov told Sinise he was looking for a veteran with a scar on his face for the role in question.
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Gary Sinise Foundation Starts Veterans Day With New Home

Disabled veteran gets new home from Gary Sinise Foundation

FOX 35 News

Noelle Newton

November 10, 2017

"Thank you for all you've given on behalf of this nation. It's a great honor to say ‘welcome home, my friend.’ May God bless you and your beautiful family always, and may God bless the United States of America you so faithfully served,” said Sinise.

A disabled veteran will spend this Veteran's Day in a brand new home. With that home comes a sense of independence he has not been able to enjoy since being shot on the battlefield.

A day before Veteran's Day, Alan Babin Junior and his family arrived to their new home.

Babin nearly lost his life in 2003 trying to save the life of another solder in Iraq. He endured more than 70 abdominal surgeries and five brain surgeries.
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Gary Sinise honors military in Melbourne

Actor Gary Sinise honors military in Melbourne -- with music 
Florida Today 
Jennifer Sangalang 
October 1, 2017

"Lieutenant Dan, certainly, when I played that I got more involved with our wounded through the Disabled American Veterans Organization and started supporting them," he told FLORIDA TODAY. The group contacted Sinise three weeks after the movie opened in 1994, inviting him to a convention.

Actor Gary Sinise, left, met some fans before his Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band performance, in conjunction with the USO, at the King Center in Melbourne. Sinise is best known for his role as Lieutenant Dan in "Forrest Gump" and Detective Mac Taylor in "CSI: NY." (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX PREISSER)

"I was so fortunate to be able to go and attend this event," she added.

"It was awesome, beyond any expectations I had," John Carrigan of Melbourne said of the show. "The band was great, they covered lots of different music genres, but made it their own."

He was especially moved "when Gary talked to the audience and shared his family story and how he came to appreciate veterans. It was moving when he gave a shout-out to Vietnam vets and asked them to stand up."

In "Forrest Gump," Sinise wowed audiences with his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor. In the film, his character becomes a disabled veteran. Sinise's work led to an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.
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Triple Amputee Gets Keys to New Home and Future

Triple amputee veteran receives home through Gary Sinise Foundation

Oregon Live

Samantha Swindler

August 12, 2017

As the ceremonial unveiling of his new home concluded Friday, retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Wade Mitcheltree exited the stage with his wife and two sons. He paused at the stairs, decided against them, and instead sat on the raised platform.

Sarah SilbigerTriple amputee veteran receives smart home in TigardU.S. Army veteran Wade Mitcheltree and his family are presented a new smart home from the Gary Sinise Foundation Friday morning in Tigard. The home is specially designed to accommodate Mitcheltree's needs as a triple amputee. (Sarah Silbiger/Staff)

He used his left hand and his right prosthetic arm to scoot to the edge, lifted his legs, rolled on his side, and in one fluid motion planted two prosthetic feet on the ground below.

"Improvise, adapt and overcome!" someone called from the crowd.

That's what Wade Mitcheltree, a triple amputee veteran, has been doing his whole life, but the work just got a bit easier thanks to the specially-designed, wheelchair accessible, 3,000-square-foot Tigard home he and his family received through the Gary Sinise Foundation.

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Gary Sinise Honors WWII Veterans "They saved the world from tyranny"

Actor Gary Sinise flies veterans to New Orleans' WWII Museum
KSLA 12 News
October 28th 2016

Two dozen World War II veterans from Texas and Louisiana joined Gary Sinise this week for the flight of their lives.

(Source: KSLA News 12)

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA)
Two dozen World War II veterans from Texas and Louisiana joined Gary Sinise this week for the flight of their lives.

The actor best known for his roles on "Criminal Minds:Beyond Borders" and as Lieutenant Dan in "Forrest Gump" sent 8 veterans from Tyler, Texas, and 16 veterans from Shreveport, La., to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans on Wednesday.

"They deserve everything. They saved the world from tyranny," Sinise said Wednesday before their flight out of Shreveport Regional Airport. "That was the most horrible conflict in human history. and the amount of devastation that happened during that time in the world is unthinkable."
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Virginia Iraq Veteran's New Home Comes With Many Blessings

Messages of love posted on Iraq war veteran's new smart home in Virginia
ABC7
BY RICHARD REEVE
SEPTEMBER 7TH 2016

STAFFORD, Va. (ABC7) — The laughter of children, a barking black lab, and animated snippets of conversation:

It was almost as if Marine Corps veteran Garrett Jones and his family had already moved in to their new smart home.

“It's filled with love,” says Chris Kuban, a spokesperson for the Gary Sinise Foundation. “It's filled with love from the community.”

On a sunny Wednesday morning, Jones, his wife Allison, and their three children attended a ‘wall of honor’ event at the specially-built home in Stafford.

“A lot of good has come from an unfortunate circumstance,” Jones says.

On July 23, 2007, just two weeks before he was scheduled to return home from Iraq, Jones, a Marine corporal, stepped on an IED.
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Altamonte Springs Car Show for Heores

Great way to spend a Saturday morning with good friends getting together for a good cause with music, cars, food and yes, Ker's Wing House Girls for the veteran readers. I knew you'd like all on the list equally. (Oh sure!) This event was to support the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Third Place

Second Place

First Place

Iron Revenge

It says do not tailgate?