Posted on 10/20/2012 12:15:32 PM PDT by jazusamo
Advocate for wounded troops performing at Naval Medical Center San Diego
Some of actor Gary Sinise’s most memorable roles have been public servants injured in the line of fire who found solace in the healing power of relationships.
As Lt. Dan in the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump,” he played an angry Vietnam War veteran whose friendship with the title character helps him make peace with life as a double amputee. In the television series “CSI: NY,” Sinise is a police detective who leans on his girlfriend to recover from a gunshot wound.
His interactions with real-life men and women on the front lines or struggling at home to overcome disability inspired another major role — globe-trotting fundraiser, entertainer and advocate for military and law enforcement personnel.
On Saturday, the 57-year-old actor from Los Angeles and his “Lt. Dan Band” will jam at a party for service members in treatment at Naval Medical Center San Diego. The event caps a weeklong observation of the five-year anniversary of C5, the medical center’s Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care rehabilitation program.
Sinise said he has great respect for veterans, beginning with those in his family. He became involved with Vietnam War veterans in the 1980s in Chicago, long before his Academy Award-nominated supporting role alongside Tom Hanks.
“Along came Sept. 11th and we started deploying our troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. They started getting hurt and killed. There was a role I could play, I felt, in supporting them,” Sinise said. “I started volunteering to visit and go overseas to the hospitals and doing what I could to show my appreciation for what they were doing, trying to give back to them as an entertainer.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Gary Sinise may live in Southern California, but he’s originally from Chicago (northern suburbs). Yes, believe it or not, there are conservative, patriotic Americans that still reside in Illinois and would love to decimate the Democrat Party’s stranglehold on this state (now the worst economically in the whole USA). The sad part is most conservatives of any means are fleeing the state given we’ve been so badly beaten by democrats and a Republican Party that doesn’t do enough to fight (or there moderates or RINO’S). We haven’t given up hope, yet.....
I have no idea why the RNC surrender’s states, and doesn’t compete for them. I think the answer rests mainly with the truth that they have also surrendered Conservatism.
You can’t beat Leftists, with Leftist ideology. You walk away, because you have nothing to sell that hasn’t already been bought.
Here we are talking about needing to win 4 electoral votes in New Hampshire, and there are 55 in California and 20 in Illinois.
Conservatism is worthy of be hawked. Capitalism is worthy of being defended. I sure wish the RNC would evidence more belief in that.
You’re not the only one.
I have nothing but nice things to say about Sinise and what he’s been doing. I have a lot of respect for him. There is only one Bob Hope.
With regard to what he is doing with our troops, he has taken Bob Hope’s place, and I’m glad he has.
All the more power to the guy.
Thanks for the link.
Ran into him (very briefly) at Kandahar Airfield. Cool guy. Got to meet Oliver North, too!
They had a Lt. Dan Band concert on TV sometime during the past couple of months. They did a segment about Gary Sinise. I was surprised to learn that his support for the military veterans went all the way back to his youthful “long hair” days when he was helping returning Vietnam veterans. IMHO, “Lt. Dan” is the real deal. A great American who really cares about helping returning veterans. God bless him. I was fortunate enough to catch a Bob Hope USO show while I was in uniform. I agree, Gary is the “new Bob Hope”. I’m still PO’d that he didn’t get the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Lt. Dan. Hollyweird ripped him off.
I’d love to meet both of them and like you say, I’ve read that both are great guys.
There is a Memorial to Bob Hope here in San Diego. I've been there several times. That's the USS Midway in the background.
If I had a list of people I could meet —sort of a bucket list—before I die, Gary sould be on that list.
Also Benjamin Netanjahu.
No, I did not think you were slighting Sinise at all. I was trying to let folks know that I didn’t want to slight him by making it clear he’s just not Bob Hope.
He’s doing a very admirable job of taking Hope’s place though, and he deserves kudos for it.
BTW: That Hope Clip is so apropos right now.
In “The Stand” he played a leader on the side of God against the devil.
Isn't it though? I posted it on Facebook and have since been unfriended by a brother and a niece. C'est la vie.
In “Ransom” he was the psycho cop.
Yeah he did a few real flop movies too. One that’s been running a lot lately is about a rescue trip to mars.
That one did have the redeeming quality of letting us watch Tim Robbins kill himself by opening his helmet in the vacuum of space.
He’s not the new Bob Hope, he’s the same Gary Sinise that he’s always been. I saw Hope in the Med back in the 70’s. He was arrogant, un-funny, and basically went around with a “Look at me! I’m Bob Hope and I do this every Christmas. Ain’t I great?” attitude. Sinise, from what I’ve heard, is actually in awe of the veterans he visits and has nothing but respect for them. He does it out of a sense of service to those protecting our country. Hope did it so he could tape his Christmas special.
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