WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:16.039 Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is 2 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:21.079 award winning actor and director Gary Sinisee. In addition to his outstanding work in 3 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:25.399 film, television, and on stage, mister Cinese is widely known and highly 4 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:30.320 respected for his tireless work in support of veterans, active duty military, and 5 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.799 their families. For many years now, he's been the co host of the 6 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.560 PBS National Memorial Day Concert and he's also the founder of the Gary Sinies Foundation, 7 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:43.759 which does tireless work on behalf of our nation's veterans and their families. 8 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.840 And Gary, it's an honor to have you with us. Thank you, 9 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.759 Thank you so much. Where were you born and raised? Sir? I 10 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.200 was born in Chicago, on the south side of Chicago, little town called 11 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:59.119 Blue Island, Illinois, and grew up there. Started a theater company there 12 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:04.000 when I graduated from high school called Steppenwolf. Spent many, many years they're 13 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.799 doing theater, and then moved to California and have been living there for about 14 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:14.239 thirty five years. And there was some military service previously in your family, 15 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.519 correct, So my grandfather, let's go back to World War One. My 16 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.920 grandfather served in World War One in the US Army. He was an ambulance 17 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:29.040 driver during the Battle of the muse Argon, which you know, that's the 18 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:36.280 most devastating battle I think that the United States has ever faced. Twenty six 19 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:42.400 thousand were killed and many more wounded, and my grandfather was driving in an 20 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:48.239 ambulance back and forth, you know, carrying the wounded from the front lines, 21 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.760 and he didn't talk about it much when he was young. I didn't, 22 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.280 unfortunately, get to ask him. I wasn't paying attention when I was 23 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:05.319 when he was still alive. But thankfully my uncle, who was also in 24 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:09.400 the US Navy during World War Two, he became a writer after World War 25 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:14.360 Two, and he picked my grandfather's brain a little bit and got him to 26 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:19.000 tell some stories. And there was one story about him driving an ambulance with 27 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:23.560 a line of ambulances and at that time, for whatever reason, they had 28 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:29.159 a red cross painted on every single ambulance, and the Germans decided to target 29 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.159 all the ambulances, and the one in front of him was destroyed and the 30 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:38.680 one behind him was destroyed. For whatever reason, he escaped that, you 31 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:43.400 know, went right back at it after that. He was only seventeen eighteen 32 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.520 years old at that time, and then he had three sons. As I 33 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.360 said, my uncle Jerry was on a ship in the Pacific during World War 34 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.919 Two, my uncle Jack, the oldest of the three brothers, who was 35 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:59.879 a navigator on a B seventeen over Europe. And then my dad, Sir 36 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.560 in the Navy during the Korean War. Wow, that is an incredible legacy 37 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.680 of service. You know. I will say that by the time I was 38 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:15.240 old enough to kind of really understand, you know, that my family had 39 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:20.680 served in these devastating wars, all of them had put it behind them and 40 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.840 they never talked about it. It was only later that when I got very 41 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:29.719 involved with supporting veterans. My uncle Jerry had passed away he was on this 42 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:32.400 ship in the Pacific, but my uncle Jack was still alive. So I 43 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:37.759 started picking his brain and taking them around to all kinds of things, including 44 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.400 bringing them here to the National Memorial Day concert. Every year. I'd get 45 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.080 them together with Joe's uncle who served in World War Two as well, and 46 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.199 you know, every year it would be a great thing. And then, 47 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.759 you know, my dad served in the Navy during the Korean War, but 48 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:58.479 he wasn't deployed overseas, but it was really on my wife's side of the 49 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:03.039 family when I met her and she introduced me to her brothers, who all 50 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:10.159 served in the Army during Vietnam. That did more in some ways to affect 51 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:14.599 me and affect what I'm doing today than even the veterans on my own side 52 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:18.319 of the family, because Vietnam was so I mean, it was so close 53 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:25.279 to me. I was eighteen years old nineteen seventy three when combat operations ended. 54 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.800 Had I been just a little bit older, who knows, I could 55 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.199 have been drafted or whatever. And her brothers were just a little bit older 56 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:38.040 than I was, and they really gave me a strong education about what it 57 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:42.480 was like to serve in Vietnam and then come home to a nation that had 58 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.000 really turned its back on our veterans at that time, and that was a 59 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:49.279 motivator for me. It really motivated me back in the eighties to get involved. 60 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.720 It was supporting, especially at that time, our Vietnam veterans. But 61 00:04:54.920 --> 00:05:00.360 all that has kind of snowballed into just a full time mission with the Gary 62 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.319 Soneeze Foundation, and I look forward to getting into that very much detail. 63 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:08.160 A little bit later, you were still a teenager when you founded your theater 64 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.480 company, correct, I mean that takes quite a bit of initiative. Eighteen 65 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.439 years old, graduated from high school. I graduated late, actually, because 66 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:24.839 I was a troubled teenager in some ways academically and just didn't go well for 67 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.920 me. But I did find something that I was good at, which was 68 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:32.680 getting on stage and clowning around and spinning out lines and acting in plays and 69 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:35.879 that kind of thing. And I was good at it. And when I 70 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:42.439 graduated from high school, I considered should I try to go to college? 71 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:48.680 But high school had been so difficult that I just didn't do that and just 72 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:53.439 got some kids together and we started doing plays. And that was in nineteen 73 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:57.839 seventy four, and we started finding spaces and we would do plays in these 74 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:00.839 spaces and it would just be for fun, you know. I love doing 75 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.759 it in high school and wanted to keep doing it, but I was now 76 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:08.879 out of school, so we found ways to do it. And that all 77 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:15.839 turned into the creation of a theater company that's been around now for fifty years 78 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:23.800 called Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. It's it started with nothing but little kids wanting 79 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:29.279 to do plays, and it has grown over the years into a giant theater 80 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:35.560 complex on North Halsted Street in Chicago, multimillion dollar theater complex. Lots of 81 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:40.959 great actors and writers and directors and people have come out of there. And 82 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.879 it all started fifty years ago with just some kids who wanted to do plays. 83 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.240 It really is a great kind of American theater story, the sort of 84 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:54.680 the American dream. You just think of something and you put your heart into 85 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.759 it and go for it and keep at it, and who knows, you 86 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.040 know, fantastic American story. You mentioned that you started to get involved in 87 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.199 veterans causes, specifically related to Vietnam. That's in the eighties. What kind 88 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:11.199 of activism were you doing then, Well, it was after getting to know 89 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.199 my wife's brother, her two brothers, and her sister's husband all served in 90 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:23.480 Vietnam, and getting to know them a bit in the seventies and early eighties 91 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:29.399 was an eye opener for me, and I felt a lot of compassion for 92 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.040 what happened to our Vietnam veterans when they came home, and I started to 93 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.680 think about it when I was in high school, they were off in the 94 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:41.519 jungle and they were fighting in Southeast Asia and I was, as I said, 95 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:46.240 doing my high school plays and playing in a rock band and just you 96 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:49.199 know, doing the high school thing. And then I really started to think 97 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:55.079 how how just oblivious I was to what was going on, even though it 98 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:59.879 was on television all the time. The casualty reports coming home from Vietnam were 99 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:05.079 devastating. And then when I met my wife and she introduced me to her 100 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:11.800 brothers, combat veterans, all of them, and they started to describe what 101 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:16.800 it was like to serve and and what it was like when they came home. 102 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:20.279 And I remember my brother in lawn Jack, he was a combat medic. 103 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:22.560 He was married to my wife's sister, who was also in the army. 104 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:28.079 That's how they met. He started to tell me about coming home from 105 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:35.279 Vietnam and he got out off the plane and in the airport, he's walking 106 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:41.639 through the airport in his uniform and people are screaming at him, and you 107 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:46.279 know, he's spitting on him, And I mean, can you imagine he 108 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:50.480 just two days ago, he's in the jungle fighting a war and finally he 109 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:54.279 gets to come home. And that's the reception he received. Well, that 110 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:58.879 was that was not an unusual reception for our Vietnam veterans at that time, 111 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.559 and so he went into the bathroom, took his uniform off and put his 112 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:09.799 clothes on, you know, civilian clothes, and he was in shock coming 113 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:13.399 home. He stayed in the army for quite a while after that, and 114 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:18.000 I think that was a good thing my other, you know, because he 115 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:22.559 was still around a lot of fellow veterans who had served in Vietnam, and 116 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:28.799 it was a community of people that had understood each other. Whereas my wife's 117 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.039 the younger of the two of my wife's brothers, who was a combat helicopter 118 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.840 pilot, he got out of the service after Vietnam and he struggled. He 119 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:46.320 struggled a lot. He didn't have that community. He went back to his 120 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.159 town. He was a Vietnam veteran. That was not a good thing to 121 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:52.840 be at the time, and it was a difficult time for him. So 122 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:56.159 I learned a lot, quite a bit from the Vietnam veteran side of my 123 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:01.039 family, and I felt a lot of passion for them. I felt terrible 124 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:07.039 for them, and so I wanted to try to do something to help support 125 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.320 our Vietnam veterans back in the early eighties. So that's when I started to 126 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:15.639 look for as a director in the theater, I started to look for material 127 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:20.120 that would speak to the Vietnam veteran experience, and I found a play that 128 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:24.320 was written by a group of Vietnam veterans. They were actually performing it on 129 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:28.039 stage. You know, all these veterans like doing a play about their lives, 130 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.799 and it was so powerful. I convinced them to let me do it 131 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:39.559 in Chicago. And that really was a galvanizing moment back in the early eighties, 132 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:50.440 with you my focus on Vietnam veterans and engaging with a community of veterans 133 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:56.240 in Chicago that I still with some of them. I still stay in touch 134 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:01.919 with them today because of that play and because what that play did for them 135 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:05.399 was it was helpful, it was healing. It was very positive for me. 136 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:11.080 And that's an early seed that was planted that grew into, you know, 137 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:16.279 a full on mission years later. That's a claimed actor and director Gary 138 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:24.600 Sineese explaining how he became involved in veterans causes decades ago. Another critical factor 139 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:30.360 in his devotion to active duty military veterans and their families was his life changing 140 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.720 role as Lieutenant Dan in the hit movie Forrest Gump, and we'll hear all 141 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.960 about that part of his story in just a moment. I'm Greg Corumbas, 142 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:46.360 and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbas. 143 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:50.320 Our guest in this edition is actor and director Gary Sinze, who was also 144 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.279 extremely well known for his decades of tireless work on behalf of our military, 145 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:01.440 our veterans, and their families. In the previous seg Cinesse explained how the 146 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:07.000 Vietnam War service of his wife's brothers greatly motivated him to help our veterans. 147 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.120 The next big step in his advocacy work grew out of his role as Lieutenant 148 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:16.279 Dan in Forrest Gump, and we continued the conversation with Cinesse explaining how he 149 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.799 got that role and why it made such a profound impact on his life. 150 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:26.240 I remember right after I did the play, and the play was called Tracers. 151 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:31.399 It was very powerful, very moving. It was unlike anything I'd done 152 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:37.120 because it was speaking so specifically to real life people who had lived this thing 153 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:43.759 and wrote these experiences down and then they were performing them. That was impactful 154 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.320 for me at that time. And I remember just gosh, you know, 155 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:52.559 months later, I remember going to we took one of our plays, not 156 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.240 this one, but we took another one of our plays from Chicago to New 157 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:01.360 York. And I heard when I was in the play in New York performing, 158 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.919 I got an agent and you know that kind of thing, and they 159 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.080 told me about a Vietnam movie that was being made by Oliver Stone. They 160 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.720 got me an audition for it, and it was Platoon, and it was 161 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:22.679 back in nineteen eighty four. So I auditioned for Platoon, and I felt 162 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.799 like, I've got to do this. I've just spent all this time with 163 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:31.600 Vietnam veterans back in Chicago, engaging with that community. I'm trying to help 164 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:37.519 them. I'm trying to do what I can to support them. Along comes 165 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:41.440 this movie that's being made about Vietnam. I've got to do it. And 166 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:46.399 I remember I think I was pretty close to getting a part in it in 167 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.320 Platoon in nineteen eighty four, but then the money fell out, and I 168 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:56.120 remember Oliver Stone had a kind of a setback with the money, like his 169 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:00.519 main producer dropped out or something, and so it just kind of and flat 170 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.639 and nothing happened to it. But I felt like, you know, so 171 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:11.080 passionate about the Vietnam experience, and for the next you know, ten years, 172 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.519 I kept trying to do what I could to support them in various ways, 173 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.879 especially in the Chicago area because that's where I was from, and engaging 174 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:26.799 with them. Well ninety I move out to California later on, start doing 175 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:30.600 a little bit of movie work and that kind of thing, and along comes 176 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:35.279 another opportunity to audition for a Vietnam veteran and as Forrest Gump. I went 177 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:39.519 in in nineteen ninety three audition for it. I felt like, you know 178 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.399 this, I gotta get this. I just really wanted it. But then 179 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.879 I remember not hearing anything. You know, you go in an audition. 180 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.440 Then the first thing you do when you get out of the auditions you call 181 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.960 your agent and say, did you hear from them yet? Did they say 182 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.080 anything? You know what they say about me? And they said, well, 183 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:01.639 they said it did great, but they're still, you know, keeping 184 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.320 their options open. They're looking at this and looking at that. So I 185 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.159 didn't really hear anything for a while. So I went on audition for other 186 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.799 things, and but three weeks later I get a call that I got the 187 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:18.720 part. I mean, it was a career changing because the movie was so 188 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.519 good and so many people saw it, and it was you know, got 189 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:30.679 a lot of awards and all that, but it was also in as a 190 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:35.919 guy who was playing a double ampute Vietnam veteran, it introduced me to countless 191 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:45.480 organizations and people and individuals and the Disabled American Veteran Organization who represent at that 192 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:50.679 time, they represented one point five million wounded veterans going all the way back 193 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.519 to World War Two, and so I started supporting them, and Lieutenant Dan 194 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.080 continues to this day. It's almost thirty years since the movie is made to 195 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:04.080 play a part in this ongoing mission. As so many people have seen it, 196 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:08.799 so many wounded veterans have seen that movie. It's a positive ending to 197 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.559 that story when you look at it. Lieutenant Dan's okay in the end, 198 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:18.399 you know. And I tell this story because back in the late seventies early 199 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.799 eighties, there were a bunch of Vietnam movies that were made. If you 200 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:26.000 recall Coming Home and Casualties of War and Platoon as one of them, Apocalypse 201 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:32.120 Now, Deer Hunter, a lot of them, and it just always felt 202 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.440 I'm just not sure that that Vietnam veteran is going to be okay at the 203 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:37.720 end of the movie, you know, you weren't sure. In fact, 204 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:42.399 at the end of Coming Home, Bruce Dern takes off his clothes and swims 205 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:47.480 into the ocean and he's not coming back, you know. So it was 206 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:52.679 always a kind of telling and a truth telling, because there were a lot 207 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:57.240 of Vietnam veterans struggling and suffering at that time. But then there was also 208 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.399 the other side kind of the story, where where veterans could come home, 209 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:08.799 process their war experience and move on from it and be successful in life. 210 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:12.880 And we hadn't but we hadn't seen that story until fourst Come came along. 211 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:18.119 And what happens to Lieutenant Dan at the end of the movie. He's standing 212 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.400 up, he's moving on, he's married, he's making money, he's rich, 213 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.000 he's you know, he's successful in business, and he's doing okay. 214 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:30.599 And that's I tell this all the time because that is what we want for 215 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:36.160 every single veteran coming home from war. We want them to be standing up 216 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:41.559 again, moving on and to be okay. And that's why I guess Lieutenant 217 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.799 Dan has continued to play a role in my life. It's a very demanding 218 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.000 role, because, as you mentioned, there's really three different phases of Lieutenant 219 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:52.559 Dan. There's the one who's always on their case before he gets injured in 220 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.440 Vietnam, there's the guy who's spiraling downward after the injury, and then there's 221 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.640 the story of coming back. So how did that challenge you to really capture 222 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:07.680 those very different dimensions. It's a really nicely constructed, short little part of 223 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:11.359 the movie. When you look at it, you know, Lieutenant Dan's there 224 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.839 in the beginning, and he's you know, marching him around, and then 225 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:18.359 then they get blown up and he's in the hospital, and then he's gone 226 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.480 from the story for a while, and then he shows up again and he's 227 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:29.759 living on his own, isolated, abusing alcohol. You know, not an 228 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:37.039 untypical story for a veteran struggling from with post traumatic stress. He's got a 229 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.920 terrible guilt too. He's not only injured and feeling abandoned by the country, 230 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:47.720 but he's got a terrible guilt of that it was his fault that all those 231 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:49.880 people got shot, shot up and blown up because he walked him into an 232 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:56.039 ambush. And so he's dealing with a terrible guilt and having a hard time 233 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:03.000 processing that, but then things happen, find some shrimp, and all of 234 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.799 a sudden he's a rich guy and he's doing all right. All right, 235 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.799 So it's a beautiful it's a beautiful story, and it's a short little story, 236 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:15.480 but it's it's so well constructed that the moments that you have with that 237 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:21.400 character that it really resonated with a lot of veterans I know, and especially 238 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:26.119 Vietnam veterans who went through that time. Did they have military advisors on set 239 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.119 for you and Tom Hanks and Michael T. Williamson, did they guide you 240 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.599 through what it was like? Yeah, there's a Marine captain named Dale Due, 241 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:41.240 and Dale was actually the he started doing the military advising thing on platoon. 242 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:45.319 That was his thing with Oliver Stone. He knew Oliver Stone and he 243 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.119 did all the training of all the guys on that, and then he built 244 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:52.599 it into a business where he'd get hired by just about everybody who was doing 245 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.880 a military movie and they'd bring Dale in. And so Dale and I got 246 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.920 to be pretty good friends and have stayed in touch over the years. We're 247 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:06.440 still good, good pals, and I really give him a lot of credit 248 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:14.079 for helping to shape that first part of the story making Gary Sinise into a 249 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.039 military leader and somebody, you know. I kind of based the character a 250 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:26.240 little bit on my brother in law, who was a great west Point He 251 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:30.839 was Class of sixty six. It was a devastating year for west Point in 252 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.359 Vietnam. My brother in law, Mac, he went to Vietnam and had 253 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:42.240 had a couple of times. He went as a platoon leader, lieutenant and 254 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.200 then went back as a company commander, so he did two tours. And 255 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:52.319 I really sort of based even though Lieutenant Dan was we we figured he's from 256 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.640 the South, not the North. I kind of based a little bit of 257 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.480 the military leader on my brother in law a bit, and then Dale helped 258 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:04.119 me to shape sort of the you know, this is what you do in 259 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.240 the army kind of thing, you know. And by the time we started 260 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:12.039 shooting all the Vietnam stuff, I felt like Lieutenant Dan. I felt like 261 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:18.319 I was Lieutenant Dan wanted to be a great military leader. I have no 262 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.319 doubt that my brother in law, Mack, had he he lived, unfortunately 263 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:27.400 passed away of cancer in eighty three. If had he lived, I have 264 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:30.640 no doubt he would have been a four star general. I've met four star 265 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:37.039 generals who he taught at West Point who you know they and they went on 266 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:41.319 to have great military careers and you know, get their fourth star. And 267 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.559 there's no doubt in their mind that that Mac would have done the same had 268 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.160 he had he lived. He was, he was on his way in the 269 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:52.200 military. In fact, they give two great awards in his name. One 270 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:59.279 at Fort Leavenworth, an Excellence and Leadership Award at Fort Leavenworth in his name, 271 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:03.000 and same thing at West Point an Excellence and Leadership Award. You get 272 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:07.839 the mac Harris Award. And he was very significant to figure in the army. 273 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:14.319 He's part he's in the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame because of his contribution 274 00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:15.720 to the army. So I have no doubt he would have been a fourth 275 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:19.279 star. And I sort of based Lieutenant Dan a little bit on him. 276 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:26.920 Lieutenant Dan just wanted to be a great military leader or or he was going 277 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.079 to die in battle, like the rest of his relatives. Remember we see 278 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:37.119 all his relatives, and never for one minute did he considered the other alternative, 279 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:41.279 which was that he would be wounded, you know, and taken off 280 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:45.480 the battlefield, you know, not being able to finish his career. From 281 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.279 an entertainment perspective, what's it like being on the set and being part of 282 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.559 a film you know is going to be a huge movie. Well, you 283 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.880 don't know if it's gonna be successful. But you've got Tom Hanks who had 284 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:00.839 just won an Oscar for Philadelphia, Bob Zamkas obviously a very accomplished director, 285 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.839 So I was going to get a lot of attention at least. Right, 286 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.480 Well, here's what we knew. We knew we had a great script by 287 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:11.119 Eric Roth. It was a wonderful story. We had Bob and we had 288 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:17.240 Tom, and you know, it was a great, great cast. So 289 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.359 and we were having a ball making it. You know, Bob was probably 290 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:25.960 a little pulling his hair out from time to time. In fact, I 291 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:30.160 know he was. You know, the studio was always bearing down on you 292 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:33.720 on the budget and everything like that. But the actors, all of us, 293 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:40.599 were really enjoying working together. But I'll say this, you know, 294 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:45.799 like Robin Wright, for example, there I had one little moment with Robin 295 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:51.039 in the entire movie, so I didn't have a clue what she was doing 296 00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:55.880 when they were shooting all her scenes. So I didn't know what Robin had 297 00:23:55.960 --> 00:24:00.319 done. Same thing with Sally Field, I didn't really know. One little 298 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.920 moment was Sally at the wedding. I had a few moments with Bubba and 299 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:08.799 the rest of all my moments or with Tom, so I knew what we 300 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.240 were doing, but I really didn't know what everybody else was doing in the 301 00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:17.920 movie until I saw it for the first time. They brought us all together 302 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:21.160 in a small screening room and showed us a movie, and then we all 303 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:26.519 looked at each other at the end, and everybody who's a lot of smiles 304 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:32.200 because everybody knew it was good. And then just a week later it opened 305 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:36.279 in the theaters and it's still around. And then the very next year, 306 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:41.119 you're part of Apollo thirteen, playing Ken Mattingley, who did not get to 307 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:45.839 be on the mission, but ended up playing a critical role helping saving that 308 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.720 crew and bringing them home safely to the Earth. So a couple different questions 309 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:55.160 quickly about that. As opposed to Lieutenant Dan, who you based on several 310 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:59.440 real people, Ken Mattingley is a specific real person. I don't know how 311 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:03.400 directly and volt he was with coaching you. But what's it like knowing that 312 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:07.000 you are supposed to be this other person who's real and not some imagination of 313 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.799 a screenwriter somewhere. Right. That's a great I'm PAULA. Thirteen is a 314 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.759 great story. I mean when I read it, I thought, this is 315 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:21.640 just a great story for a Hollywood movie. I actually got the part in 316 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:26.640 it before Forrest Gump had come out. So Tom's going on from Forrest Gump. 317 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:30.960 He's going on next next thing. He's going into space. Right, 318 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:37.400 So he tells Ron Howard, Hey, you know you should you should meet 319 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:44.799 Gary, And so I I went in. Ron said, audition for any 320 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:48.039 of the astronauts except for Tom. Just pick one and come in an audition 321 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:53.400 for him. And I thought the story of t came Addingley was a really 322 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:57.079 good one, even though he doesn't go into space. I just thought, 323 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.640 you know, I'd like the story of the guy. He gets pulled, 324 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:07.319 he's out, you know, he's supportive and everything, but he wishes he 325 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:11.519 was up there with you know, he trained hard and he and all of 326 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.240 a sudden, because you know, he's been exposed to the measles, they 327 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:21.000 can't they can't put him on the ship. But then he gets called back 328 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:26.400 and he's needed again, and he plays a vital role in saving the day 329 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:30.400 bringing the guys home, and I thought that was a great story. So 330 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:34.160 I an auditioned for that one, and thankfully Ron Ron gave me the part. 331 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:38.640 And then I remember I remember seeing Ron at the at the premiere of 332 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:44.079 Forrest Gump, after he'd already cast me in Apollo thirteen. He goes, 333 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:48.119 I'm and he's just seen the movie and he said, I'm glad I cast 334 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:52.480 you. That that was really good. So he liked, he liked from 335 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:57.920 Forrest Gump and on to Apollo thirteen and we had just a wonderful time with 336 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.960 with Forrest Gump. We we did all that military training, going out with 337 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.319 Dale Dye and living in the woods and sleeping out there and everything, you 338 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.160 know, training and all that stuff. With Apollo thirteen, we did kind 339 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:15.200 of something similar where we would you know, we went to space camp in 340 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:19.000 Huntsville, Alabama. We went down to Houston to Johnson Space Center. I 341 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:22.880 went and saw one of the shuttles go up. We went on the Vomit 342 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:27.039 Comet, you know, the airplane that drops you into zero gravity and we're 343 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.799 all floating around up there. So we got to do a lot of really 344 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:37.319 cool things in preparation for that movie. And then once we started working on 345 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.440 it was just you know, again, it was just a great story, 346 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.319 great cast, cast is awesome. Yeah, I was really happy to be 347 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.480 in that one. Now you not only portrayed Lieutenant Dan, you created a 348 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:52.920 band with his name on at the Lieutenant Dan Band. How did that happen? 349 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:59.880 Well, it's funny. After so getting involved with all the veterans work 350 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:06.799 the eighties and nineties, and those years weren't full on like I'm doing now, 351 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:11.039 but they were steps, you know, they were laying the foundation for 352 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:18.319 something that would take take a big step forward into a full time mission. 353 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:25.119 After September eleventh, two thousand and one, and having been involved with veterans 354 00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:30.440 and then seeing okay, now we're deploying to Afghanistan. People are getting hurt. 355 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:36.720 We're deploying to Iraq. People are getting hurt. Families are losing loved 356 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.440 ones. It's a painful time, especially for our military. I just wanted 357 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:48.480 to do something to support them. So I volunteered for the USO and started 358 00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:57.240 going out and visiting the war zones and military bases and hospitals and just you 359 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:07.359 know, walking in and and shaking hands and and just visiting with people and 360 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.000 nine times out of ten they didn't know what my name was, but they 361 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:17.559 knew Lieutenant Dan walked in the room. So there would say, Lieutenant Dan, 362 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:22.359 what's your name, you know, and so I'd introduced myself and they 363 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:26.240 want to talk about the movie and it'd be Lieutenant Dan this and Lieutenant Dan 364 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:32.319 Dan. So when I after doing several of those tours, I finally, 365 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:34.640 you know, I had musicians I played with for fun, and I, 366 00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:37.960 you know, I thought it'd be really cool that, you know, to 367 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:42.720 do what Bob Hope did, which was go out and entertain play music and 368 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:49.359 have a show. Because I'd been on several USO tours where there were performers 369 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:53.000 and I was Lieutenant Dan, you know, waving the crowd, but there 370 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:57.039 were performers, singers and you know, cheerleaders doing their thing, and it 371 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:02.200 was entertainment. You know, that's what the provides. And I thought, 372 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:04.920 well, I want to be a part of that. So I kept bugging 373 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:10.160 the USO and eventually they set up a tour where I could take my musician 374 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:14.240 palace with me, and I thought, okay, what am I going to 375 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:18.000 call this? Well, most people know who Lieutenant Dan is, but they 376 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.160 don't know Gary. So I'll just call the Lieutenant Dan Band and they'll go, 377 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:27.279 what's that and then they realize Lieutenant Dan is actually in the band, 378 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:32.799 So it was it was kind of cool. And you know now it's uh, 379 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:37.680 I you know, I've had a two television series since then. You 380 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:44.319 know that. You know, we've played hundreds of shows on military basis all 381 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:48.480 over the world. I think our team has been counting the military basis and 382 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:55.640 that I've been to us. It's something like one hundred and seventy military basis 383 00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:00.200 over the last twenty years. That's a lot of military basis and some of 384 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:03.559 them multiple times. So I mean there's been you know, hundreds of tours 385 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:10.640 and trips and stuff. And now within the military they know who Gary Sneeze 386 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:12.599 is because I'm you know, I've been supporting them a long time. But 387 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:18.960 so it's Gary Sineese and the Lieutenant Dan Band. Now it's not just the 388 00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:22.720 Lieutenant Dan Band. It's like, okay, we'll combine the two because they'll 389 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.240 know somebody will know one of them anyway. That's actor and director and tireless 390 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:33.400 veterans advocate Gary Sineese explaining his memorable roles in two classic films and how they 391 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:38.160 changed his life. Up next, his devotion to veterans and their families ramps 392 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:44.000 up after nine to eleven and eventually leads to the creation of the Gary Sinees 393 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:49.279 Foundation. That's straight ahead. I'm Greg Corumbas and this is Veterans Chronicles. 394 00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:56.359 This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is 395 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.880 award winning actor and director Gary Sineze. For decades now, he's been equally 396 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:07.240 well known for his devotion to our veterans, their families and the families of 397 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:12.720 our fallen heroes. And we pick up the conversation as Sinese explains how the 398 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:16.440 Gary Sonese Foundation came to be. Well, the foundation grew out of all 399 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.480 that. The Gary Sonese Foundation came after, you know, several years of 400 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:30.599 working with the USO, with multiple other charities military nonprofits. One way that 401 00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:36.799 I found that I could support more people was by supporting a lot of different 402 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:43.839 military and veteran and first responder nonprofits. So I would hear about something and 403 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:46.079 call him up and say, Hey, can I come and help raise money 404 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:51.480 for you or do some PSAs for you, or you know, bring my 405 00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:54.799 band for an event or whatever, I want to help you so that you 406 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.960 can raise more money to keep doing your good work. And I ended up 407 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:04.319 doing that was many, many things, I think twenty five or thirty different 408 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:09.240 organizations over a long period of time, and you know, it just became 409 00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:15.200 clear that this was this was a game I was in. I was going 410 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:21.359 to keep playing, and the next thing that I would do would be to 411 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:30.839 create my own nonprofit. So having done that for a long time, you 412 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:31.480 know, you think, well, what are you going to call it? 413 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:38.079 And by that point twenty ten, twenty eleven, I had been doing it 414 00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:44.000 for so long and people were recognized that I was serious about it, and 415 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:51.039 I had a fairly strong reputation within the community and within the nonprofit military world 416 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:55.240 and all of that that the name of the foundation was clear. I'm just 417 00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:59.799 going to put my name on it, and I'm going to make sure that 418 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.039 people know if I'm putting my name on this, it's serious and they can 419 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:08.039 trust it. And I have a tremendous team of people that's that's out there 420 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:13.199 every single day. Now. We're doing so much everywhere, I mean, 421 00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:17.800 in so many spaces for veterans and older veterans, younger veterans, active duty 422 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:23.840 families wounded. We're entertaining. You know, my band goes out and my 423 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:30.559 band's a program of the Foundation. We you know, I just call up 424 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.679 people and say can I come and help you. I'll bring the band and 425 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:37.880 we'll do a show for you, and we do that every month. You've 426 00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:42.280 listed so many different areas that the Foundation serves, and there's obviously countless ways 427 00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:45.320 to help veterans and families. So how do you prioritize where your time and 428 00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:51.760 your resources go, well, my personal time and reason or the foundation or 429 00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:58.039 both. We have four programmatic pillars within the Foundation. We have our RISE 430 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:01.039 program, our relief and resilien see, we have first Responder outreach, we 431 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:07.079 have community and education, all these all these things and within within those pillars 432 00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:13.400 you've got all these different initiatives and things, and it all comes from things 433 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:16.880 that I was doing before I created the Foundation. So when I created the 434 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:22.719 Foundation, uh, you know, we we sat down, We're drawn up 435 00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:24.960 the papers and everything like that. We're like, like, what are you 436 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:32.159 going to do? And having been involved with so many military and first responder 437 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.559 nonprofits who are doing all kinds of things, that's what I wanted to do, 438 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:39.320 just all kinds of things. I want to be in as many spaces 439 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:45.239 as possible to help as many people as we can who need it, who 440 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:51.000 you know, we can deploy resources. And I want the American people who 441 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.360 donate to the Foundations and to know that they can rely on us, that 442 00:35:54.400 --> 00:36:01.159 we will place their contributions, their donations in the proper place and make sure 443 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:06.760 that people get helped. So we're in so many different areas right now, 444 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:10.000 and it all comes from just all these different areas that I was in before 445 00:36:10.039 --> 00:36:15.840 I started the foundation. So does it take a pretty big team of people 446 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:22.039 to operate. Yeah, yeah, we have to because I want to do 447 00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:25.480 a lot of different things and I want to be us supportive and I want 448 00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:35.800 to be flexible to change with the needs as time evolves. Maybe there's one 449 00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:38.559 need that you know, we don't need to be in that space as much 450 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:45.440 now because there's not as much There is not as many problems in that area 451 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:50.400 as there used to be. We can then, you know, revert some 452 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.320 of that that generosity of from the American people and take it and put it 453 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:59.159 put it somewhere else. But we're always going to be evolving and changing, 454 00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:01.880 and I hope that the Foundation, The Garrison East Foundation is here for a 455 00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:07.519 long time. I have a very busy team. They're always busy. We're 456 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:14.039 doing something every single day somewhere, you know. And then we're you know, 457 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.400 we're giving you know, we're giving grants. We can't do at all. 458 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.639 I can't have a thousand people working at this nonprofit to do all these 459 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:29.320 different things. But in our mission statement it says that we create programs and 460 00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:32.519 we support programs. And I made it that way so we'd be flexible enough 461 00:37:32.599 --> 00:37:37.199 to say, hey, we're not doing this particular kind of thing right now, 462 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:39.840 but you are, and you're doing it well. And the American people 463 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:44.519 trust us that we're going to do good things with their funds, and so 464 00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:47.840 we're going to support that work. You're working in mental health and you're trying 465 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:53.320 to help people to get over some of the things that they've been through in 466 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:58.840 military service. We're going to help deploy some of those funds so that so 467 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.400 that you can do that good work. And so we support unique programs as 468 00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:07.199 well as create them at the Garysonees Foundations so that we can help a lot 469 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:09.679 of people. Perhaps the most well known project of yours, as the Snowball 470 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.199 Express. Tell us a little bit about that one. Well. Snowball Express 471 00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:20.679 was started back in two thousand and six. Some folks on the West Coast 472 00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:28.039 in California wanted to help some children who were going through a grieving process having 473 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:32.679 lost a parent in military service, and they wanted to help them at Christmas 474 00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:37.559 time and a tough tough time for a child who's who's lost a parent. 475 00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:44.400 So they pulled some money together and they got some airplane tickets and whatever, 476 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:51.920 and they brought a bunch of families to Anaheim, to Disneyland and they filmed 477 00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:54.400 it, and you know, the kids were having fun and it was a 478 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:00.280 It was also a very healing thing for all those children to be around other 479 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:07.320 children that were going through the same thing, all military children who had lost 480 00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:12.400 a mom or dad, and it was it was very positive, very healing. 481 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:15.800 They and they filmed, they made some video of it and then called 482 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:22.159 me about gosh, I don't know, three weeks after it and they approached 483 00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:29.920 me. They knew I was doing a lot in the military support space and 484 00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:31.679 they called me and told me about that event, and I said, well, 485 00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:37.559 come come and see me to my office. So they came to my 486 00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:42.199 office on the CBS lot I was shooting CSI New York. They showed me 487 00:39:42.239 --> 00:39:45.480 the video. I was I was very touched, very moved by it. 488 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:52.159 I had actually been trying to just prior to that, not maybe maybe a 489 00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:57.480 year or two prior, I was trying to work with some other organizations that 490 00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:00.960 we were trying to focus on the children of their fallen UM did a little 491 00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:06.119 bit, but it never took on a big It wasn't a big effort. 492 00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:09.960 It was small. And then along comes this thing that where they took these 493 00:40:10.039 --> 00:40:15.440 kids to Disneyland, and so I said, and they said, we want 494 00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:17.480 to do it again next year, and I said, okay, I'm in 495 00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:22.320 and I'll bring my band. I'll donate, I'll donate all the production and 496 00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:27.519 fly my band in and you know, you won't have to worry about those 497 00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:30.159 costs, and I'll come and we'll play for the kids. And so I 498 00:40:30.199 --> 00:40:37.840 did that in two thousand and seven. It was documented in a documentary called 499 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:44.719 Lieutenant Dan Band for the Common Good. And that very first event is documented 500 00:40:44.920 --> 00:40:51.199 on that documentary where you can see me there with the kids and talking to 501 00:40:51.239 --> 00:40:54.320 the band about what we're doing here with these children. And after that first 502 00:40:54.320 --> 00:41:00.639 event, I was. I was in so two years later, or Airlines 503 00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:07.119 were very involved providing all the transportation for the kids. They provide charter airplanes 504 00:41:07.159 --> 00:41:13.239 to bring the kids, and pilots would volunteer and flight attendants would volunteer to 505 00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:16.000 do it, and you know, they'd provide all the transport to get the 506 00:41:16.039 --> 00:41:20.400 kids there. Well, they got so involved that they decided to move the 507 00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:25.960 event to Dallas because that's where American Airlines, that's their hub, right, 508 00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:30.039 And so we were there for quite a while. I brought the band there 509 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:34.039 and just kept doing and doing it for a long time. And then after 510 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:39.480 nine years in Dallas, I had this great relationship with Disney and you know 511 00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:46.079 from movies and narrating at Disney World and being a part of stuff there that 512 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:50.599 I said, you know, we get we should bring the kids to Disney 513 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:52.840 World. That's the next step. It was going to cost a lot more 514 00:41:53.159 --> 00:42:00.760 to bring all those kids Disney World in the hotels and everything. So we 515 00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:06.519 decided that we would fold Snowball Express. It was his own five O one 516 00:42:06.599 --> 00:42:10.920 S three, we would fold it into the Garysoneese Foundation as U and one 517 00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:15.719 of our initiatives under our relief and resiliency program. We were able to make 518 00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:21.679 Disney World happen. We did our first event there in twenty eighteen. You 519 00:42:21.719 --> 00:42:23.840 know, you're taking eighteen hundred people there, you're taking over a hotel, 520 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.519 you got all the volunteers, everybody that's a part of it. Now, 521 00:42:29.239 --> 00:42:35.760 many companies and corporations and you know, just so much involved in this gigantic 522 00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:42.400 event that we do there. But we also expanded. We wanted to you 523 00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:45.519 know, at that time, Snowball Express was just kind of a one once 524 00:42:45.559 --> 00:42:51.519 a year thing, and these are families that go off and you know they 525 00:42:51.559 --> 00:42:55.960 have to wait one year for for a healing event like that. We want 526 00:42:57.159 --> 00:43:00.880 we want to be in their space every single day. We want them to 527 00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:06.079 know that they're they're loved and not forgotten, and that we're here to support 528 00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:10.280 them. So we do community events all over the country every month with Snowball 529 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:17.079 families all over the country. So it's a big program designed to specifically wrap 530 00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:22.079 our arms around the families of our fall and and make sure that they're they're 531 00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:27.159 doing okay and they know that we don't forget. What's it like when you 532 00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:31.239 know that the work you've done has brought such joy into a child's life who's 533 00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:36.760 obviously going through a horrifically difficult time, or you're helping a wounded veteran, 534 00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:40.039 or the many different areas that you do that to see the work that you're 535 00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:45.760 directly doing benefit and improve people's lives, it's a good feeling. There's there's 536 00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:50.079 no question why would you come back over and over and over if if you 537 00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:54.639 weren't feeling like you're making an impact. And from the from the get go, 538 00:43:54.840 --> 00:43:59.320 from the beginning, I saw that just being there, just showing up, 539 00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:04.320 just wrapping my arms around these kids, was making an impact on them 540 00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:10.400 and their families, the surviving spouse um And you know, I've been a 541 00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:16.159 personal touch sort of person, go you know, put the boots on and 542 00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:20.719 get them on the ground and get going. And so I've been, you 543 00:44:20.760 --> 00:44:22.480 know, going to the war zones and going to the hospitals and going to 544 00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:27.440 the you know, places where the families are and engaging with them. And 545 00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:36.079 I've I've gotten a lot of spiritual personal enrichment from from knowing that I can 546 00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:43.000 do something to help somebody. And so my staff at the Garysonese Foundation, 547 00:44:43.079 --> 00:44:45.639 they know me, and they know where it operates from and they see I'm 548 00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:51.400 a hugger, and and I tell them to go out there. Okay, 549 00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:53.559 if I can't be there, you're my arms, and you need to go 550 00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:58.880 out there and hug these kids and hug their their moms and you know, 551 00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:05.360 hug these wounded folks and and just make sure that they know that you're you're 552 00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:07.960 getting a hug hug from Gary. If I can't be there, and and 553 00:45:08.280 --> 00:45:13.039 most of the time I can now, I mean that we're doing so much. 554 00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:15.079 I can't. I can't can't be everywhere. So but my team is 555 00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:21.760 I have a great group of people that they're dedicated. They seem to understand 556 00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:27.400 me pretty well, and uh know how how I think about things and how 557 00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:31.519 I operate, and and where this has all come from. It's come from 558 00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:38.639 a long history going way way back, of trying to put my hands on 559 00:45:37.880 --> 00:45:45.119 on on people who serve our country and who make tremendous sacrifices in defense of 560 00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:50.840 our freedom. And I don't take that for granted. Uh, you know, 561 00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:57.239 I want everybody in my foundation understand that all our ambassadors. We have 562 00:45:57.280 --> 00:46:01.760 ambassadors, like thirty ambassadors that go out there and represent the foundation, our 563 00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:07.159 advisory board members, our our board members. These are all people that volunteer 564 00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:12.199 at their time. And then you know, again, one of the one 565 00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:15.079 of the things I wanted to do by by creating a foundation was expand what 566 00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:20.920 I could. I'm only one person, but I wanted to expand the reach, 567 00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:25.920 you know. I wanted to create an entity, an organization that the 568 00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:32.199 American people would feel they could trust send us their generous donations so that I 569 00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:42.000 could build an army of dedicated, passionate people who were whose job it is 570 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:47.239 is to carry that mission forward. And we've recently moved to the Nashville area 571 00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:53.400 from California, and our staff has changed up a bit. We have some 572 00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:58.360 people, one of them's right over there, who's been with the Foundation for 573 00:46:58.360 --> 00:47:00.079 for a long time, and then we have, you know, a whole 574 00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:04.639 other group of people that are just getting started with the Foundation. But I 575 00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:09.199 really feel like, you know, they're they're getting it, They're they're they're 576 00:47:09.360 --> 00:47:14.079 understanding it. I don't do it for a living. I mean, I 577 00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:17.000 make my living as an actor. The music I play is all for free. 578 00:47:17.159 --> 00:47:24.679 The traveling, all the work for these folks is all out of the 579 00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:30.360 service mission. But you can get so much more done if you if you 580 00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:32.920 have an organization and a team backing you up, and I've got a great 581 00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:37.199 team doing that. How did you first get involved with the National Memorial Day 582 00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:39.800 Concert and why does it mean so much for you to be part of that 583 00:47:39.840 --> 00:47:45.519 every year? I started doing, as I said, USO tours back in 584 00:47:45.800 --> 00:47:52.039 two thousand and three and going to the basis, and then I started taking 585 00:47:52.039 --> 00:47:57.719 my musicians with me in two thousand and four, and I was doing several 586 00:47:57.760 --> 00:48:02.360 tours and going out as off as possible. I've known Joe Montana, you 587 00:48:02.360 --> 00:48:08.679 know, since Chicago days. We both grew up there. Joe got involved. 588 00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:13.119 He was asked to come to the National Memorial Day Concert in two thousand 589 00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:19.079 and two of the year after September eleventh to do some segments that we focused 590 00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:24.440 specifically on firepop fighters and and he, you know, he'll tell you he 591 00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:29.159 didn't know about the National Memorial Day Concert until I think it was Ozzie Davis 592 00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:31.800 might have mentioned it to him, and so he came, and he was 593 00:48:31.840 --> 00:48:36.559 hooked in two thousand and two and then two thousand and five, and he 594 00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:39.679 kept doing it, and then two thousand and five I was getting ready to 595 00:48:39.719 --> 00:48:45.360 go on a USO tour overseas. I was going to military bases and playing 596 00:48:45.360 --> 00:48:50.239 with my band, and I get a call from Joe and Jerry Colbert, 597 00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:55.079 producer, and they said they were going to do a USO segment on the 598 00:48:55.159 --> 00:49:00.800 National Memorial Day concert. Night said, what's that. I've never didn't know 599 00:49:00.920 --> 00:49:04.599 we were doing a National Order to Update concert and they said, yeah, 600 00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:07.840 yes, in front of the Capitol. It's on PBS. You know, 601 00:49:07.880 --> 00:49:12.800 we're going to feature this segment on the USO. You're doing USO work. 602 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:15.280 Will you come and be a part of the concert and bring your band and 603 00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:20.280 we'll have your band on the show. And I said, well, yeah, 604 00:49:20.599 --> 00:49:23.519 this sounds great. So I started looking at looking it up and you 605 00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:27.719 know, big, big show and everything. This sounds great. So we 606 00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:34.159 went over to Germany and the UK and the Netherlands and we were doing shows 607 00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:38.880 over there and then. And that was in May of two thousand and five, 608 00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:44.079 and then we flew directly from I think the UK right to Washington, 609 00:49:44.159 --> 00:49:46.440 d C. To be a part of the National Memorial. Dick gunser I 610 00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:52.239 got my band. These are like band people, you know, it's it 611 00:49:52.280 --> 00:49:57.679 was like a garage band for almost and here we are on the stage in 612 00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:00.119 front of the Capitol and looking up at the Capitol, there's one hundred thousand 613 00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:05.880 people out there, and I'm playing music in front of one hundred thousand people. 614 00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:10.440 I mean, I never imagined then, but here we were. And 615 00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:15.800 they also asked me to narrate, you know, a couple of segments while 616 00:50:15.840 --> 00:50:19.280 I was there, So I did that, And then the next year, 617 00:50:19.599 --> 00:50:22.719 two thousand and six, they called me and asked me to co host with 618 00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:27.039 Joe, and of course I was in and wanted to do it and been 619 00:50:27.079 --> 00:50:31.480 coming ever since. It's magnificent. And then right around that time they were 620 00:50:31.679 --> 00:50:39.000 they were starting up the Memorial Day parade again, and I think they had 621 00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:44.280 done one parade, and then the next year they asked me to come and 622 00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:46.679 be a part of the parade after the Memorial Day concert, So I started 623 00:50:46.679 --> 00:50:50.800 doing the parade after that as well. What does it mean to you last 624 00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:55.159 question? To be part of two of the biggest Memorial Day celebrations and being 625 00:50:55.199 --> 00:51:02.360 able to highlight the sacrifice of ourlitary men and women. It's a tremendous national 626 00:51:04.039 --> 00:51:14.440 opportunity to speak to the nation on national television, to highlight these stories of 627 00:51:14.519 --> 00:51:22.559 service and to remind people what Memorial Day is for the reason we have it. 628 00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:29.280 And you know, for all the families that have a loved one buried 629 00:51:29.519 --> 00:51:36.599 in Arlington or any other military cemetery or back at home who serve their country, 630 00:51:38.239 --> 00:51:44.400 they remember each and every day. That's what we're trying to do with 631 00:51:44.480 --> 00:51:49.440 the Garysonese Foundation, with our gold Star initiatives, is to remember each and 632 00:51:49.519 --> 00:51:53.599 every day those sacrifices. But at the National Memorial Day Concert, we get 633 00:51:53.639 --> 00:52:01.440 this tremendous opportunity to speak to the nation and to tell stories and to honor 634 00:52:01.800 --> 00:52:07.320 the people that the stories are about. It. It's a tremendous moment each 635 00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:14.760 year, something that I really value and feel is critically important to attend and 636 00:52:14.920 --> 00:52:17.159 to be a part of. I just feel privileged to be a part of 637 00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:23.320 it. Every year. Capital Concerts folks do a fantastic job pulling the stories 638 00:52:23.320 --> 00:52:32.079 together and creating the show, and it's something I I've only missed two since 639 00:52:32.119 --> 00:52:38.559 I started family reasons, but I wouldn't miss it for any anything else. 640 00:52:38.760 --> 00:52:43.519 We thank you so much for your time today. You've been very generous with 641 00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:45.480 your time and thank you. Thank you on behalf of so many people in 642 00:52:45.519 --> 00:52:50.559 this country for all the selfless work that you and your team do to help 643 00:52:50.599 --> 00:52:52.800 our military community. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Gary 644 00:52:52.840 --> 00:52:57.719 Sineese i claimed actor and director. He's also the founder of the Gary Sineese 645 00:52:57.800 --> 00:53:01.679 Foundation. He's the host of the National Memorial Bay Concert. I'm Greg Corumbus 646 00:53:01.719 --> 00:53:15.320 and this is Veterans Chronicles. Hi. This is Greg Corumbus and thanks for 647 00:53:15.400 --> 00:53:21.760 listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the American Veterans Center. For more 648 00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:27.320 information, please visit American Veterans Center dot org. You can also follow the 649 00:53:27.360 --> 00:53:32.760 American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter. We're at AVC update. Subscribe 650 00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:37.840 to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full oral histories and special features, 651 00:53:38.280 --> 00:53:44.000 and of course, please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast wherever you get your 652 00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:49.480 podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please join us next time for Veterans Chronicles.