Gary Sinise and his Foundation were honored Wednesday, October 23 at a small lunch at the Park Hyatt Hotel hosted by Capitol File magazine, which was also the 30th anniversary of the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut. The Gary Sinise Foundation honors our Nation's defenders, veterans, first responders, and their families by "creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communities."

As part of The Foundation's work, Gary Sinse and the Lt. Dan Band (named after his character in the famous award-winning movie Forrest Gump, who was a Lieutenant in the Vietnam War and then disabled veteran) travel across the country and deliver entertaining and inspirational live shows for military veterans. The Foundation also partnered with Tunnel to Towers Foundation to create Building for America’s Bravest™, "a program designed to construct custom Smart Homes for our nation’s most severely wounded veterans," and established the Gary Sinise Foundation Relief & Resiliency Outreach program "to provide complete support to military and first-responder families recovering from trauma and loss during times of urgent need."

The Gary Sinise Foundation is already doing the type of work that we at Americans for the Arts hope arts agenices and organizations across the country will engage in with members of the military and their families and caregivers across the country. The United States Conference of Mayors recently issued their Proclamation in support of the National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military, linked now on our ArtsAcrosstheMilitary.org webpage.