Well Done-Gary Sinise

This is actor Gary Sinise. You may recognize him as Lt. Dan, a severely wounded veteran who befriends Forrest, in the classic movie Forrest Gump.

Gary Sinise hasn’t just used his role, or his career, to further his own status, and benefit himself.  Instead, in gratitude, he has chosen to give back and has started The Gary Sinise Foundation which supports our military and first responders and their families.

According to its website, its mission is to serve and honor our nation’s defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need, by creating and supporting unique programs that entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen and build communities. Of its many outreach efforts, the Gary Sinise Foundation is building custom Smart Homes for severely wounded veterans, serving hearty meals to deploying troops and hosting spirit-boosting festivals for patients, families and medical staff at military hospitals.

According to Sinise, “Freedom and security are precious gifts that we, as Americans, should never take for granted. We must do all we can to extend our hand in times of need to those who willingly sacrifice each day to provide that freedom and security.”

Last week the Foundation sent 1,722 Gold Star children and family members from around the country on an all expense paid trip to Disney World via American Airlines.  These are the children of fallen soldiers who died in service to their country. What happened in the American Airlines terminal in Nashville, Tennessee last week was something to behold.  An entire terminal of travelers and passersby all came to a complete stop as someone began to sing our National Anthem just prior to these children and their surviving parent boarding the plane. It was captured on video and shared on Facebook.

“I witnessed an international airport come to a complete stop today …,” Tringale wrote in her Facebook post. “At the Nashville airport, I walked out into the concourse to this scene @americanairlines was flying a plane full of children who had lost a parent in combat to Disneyworld on an all-expenses-paid trip and they threw a party for them at the gate.”
She said in the post that when they announced them over the loudspeaker, and the families lined up to board the flight, the “whole airport literally stopped and sang the national anthem with military present in salute.”

In the video, everyone on the busy airport concourse stops and stands still as a man performs the National Anthem. Many of the people in the audience place their hands over their hearts and sing along.

“Most every person standing around, myself included, was bawling at the sight of these kids and spouses who have paid so great a price for our country,” Tringale wrote in her post. “To see all of this at Christmas time was so humbling. Seeing the general public in an airport stand still to honor these kids was simply beautiful.”

If you are thinking about giving back this holiday season and haven’t yet decided where to do that, this might be just the place to send that donation.

“These service members and first responders have already done their part. They have already given of themselves. And it is our great privilege, through the trust of the American people and the support given to us, to do our part to give something back to them. While we can never do enough to show our gratitude to our nation’s defenders, we can always do a little more.” -Gary Sinise

The Gary Sinise Foundation makes possible little and large things that ease the lives of our returning injured soldiers and first responders and their families.  These are things you might not be able to do for someone on your own but by giving a donation of any amount, no matter how small, it becomes much more when added to all the other gifts made, and allows for big things to happen for those who have given so much for us.  It is an act of love and kindness to someone whom you will probably never meet, but whose life you can touch. To donate click here

For using his celebrity to call attention to our country’s true heroes, and for serving and making better the lives of so many others who have served us, we salute you, Gary Sinise and we say “Well Done!”