Gary Sinise Helps Wounded Veterans: ‘I Just Couldn’t Not Do Anything’

Gary Sinise knew that he had to do something to help wounded veterans who were in desperate need of financial assistance. So he set up the Gary Sinise Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at offering support to veterans.

Sinise spoke recently in an interview with ABC about his role as Lt. Dan in the classic movie, Forrest Gump. He even mentioned in the interview that he still embraces that role today: “There’s something different about this part. I’ve walked into so many hospital rooms and they look at me and they think I know what they’re going through.”

He spoke about the way he wants to help other people in need and how he can’t just stand aside idly: “I just couldn’t not do anything. I’ve seen a lot of need and I’ve become very committed to [being] somebody who can try to make a difference,” he said.

Gary Sinise related how the end of Lt. Dan’s story is a hopeful one, one he wants to make a reality for other people: “There’s a hopeful ending to the story of Lieutenant Dan and all our wounded veterans want that story, that they can be standing up again and moving on with life and doing alright. The whole purpose is to send them home smiling. They should know what I’m trying to do here,” he said.

Last month, Sinise took 50 wounded veterans from Walter Reed Bethesda in Virginia to Hollywood on a private jet which he personally chartered from American Airlines. That group even received a police escort as they drove through L.A.

On a trip like that where would you expect the first place to be that they visited? Of course, Disneyland was their first port of call where they were welcomed warmly and enjoyed free admission to the park.

One of the wounded veterans on the trip, Staff Sgt. Michael Irish, spoke about the trip: “After the injuries and all that, it feels like you can’t go out in the world anymore. All you want to do is be in a dark room and just sleep it off… and now with Gary and his organization helping us… to have fun and be yourself, that’s very important to all of us.”

It seems that these days Gary Sinese is more interested in helping others out than he is in his acting career. Is this a good thing? I’m sure you will it agree it is, but feel free to offer your comments on the matter in the feed below.