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We can never do enough to support and honor our veterans, whose service, sacrifice and willingness to give their lives for something greater than themselves humbles me every day. On the Fourth of July this year — America’s 247th birthday — we celebrate our nation and the patriots who gave their all to make it great.
A few days before that, on June 30, my staff and I will be reflecting on the 12th anniversary of the Gary Sinise Foundation. With four program pillars and an expanding set of initiatives, our mission — to serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need — is broad and wide ranging.
Our hands-on approach is designed to meet people where they are and ease their journey. For example, we help restore independence to severely wounded heroes through modified transportation and accessible housing. We bring together families of our fallen heroes to help them build community with others who have experienced similar losses, and provide them with resources and tools to help them navigate their new normal.
For first responders in communities all across the nation, we provide essential equipment and state-of-the-art training to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe and protected. We do all of this and more. It’s been quite a journey, and one that has enriched my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
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But the journey did not begin in 2011 or even in 2001, when the 9/11 terrorist attacks prompted me to begin devoting much of my time to supporting the men and women who were deployed. It did not begin in 1994, when I began supporting the Disabled American Veterans after playing the wounded Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor, in a movie you might have heard of, Forrest Gump.
Certainly, these were all key moments. But I now realize that I was on this journey from childhood. I was not aware of it at the time, but it was at the core of my family.
I grew up in Chicago and my grandfather, Daniel Sinise, worked for the railroad on the South Side. At 17 years old, he had served in the U.S. Army as an ambulance driver on the front line in France in WWI during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
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