Nearly 25 years ago, Gary Sinise played the role of Lt. Dan Taylor — a platoon leader who loses his legs in the Vietnam War in the movie Forrest Gump. Since then, Sinise has dedicated his life to giving back to people who didn't just strap on combat boots in movies, but did so in actual war zones.
During a recent sit-down interview with TIME, Sinise explained that supporting military members and veterans is not a partisan matter. Instead, it's an American one.
“How have our defenders become a political issue? They defend us all. They are us all,” he argued. “There are Democrats who serve our country, there are Republicans who serve our country.”
In 2004, Sinise formed the Lt. Dan Band, which has played hundreds of shows in front of active-duty troops and veterans, both at home and abroad. In 2011, he founded the Gary Sinise Foundation, which has adapted 70 smart homes for severely wounded troops. And in February 2019, he published Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service, a deeply personal book that chronicles it all.
