Gary Sinise on Lt. Dan, helping wounded veterans and moving to Tennessee

He plays an angry, wounded Vietnam War combat veteran in the beloved 1994 movie "Forrest Gump," but in the late 1960s, actor Gary Sinise was a high school kid playing in rock bands and thinking about girls.

"The Allman Brothers, Dave Mason, Santana," he said. "We wanted to rock out."

Sinise, 69, said he didn't start to connect to military service and sacrifice until several years later when he started dating his wife, Moira, and met her two brothers, both Vietnam combat veterans.

In 1994, disabled veteran organizations embraced Sinise after he played Lt. Dan Taylor in "Forrest Gump," getting him more active with serving wounded veterans.

But it was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. that served as a turning point, sending Sinise into hyperdrive in helping with veterans and first responders.

"The painful memories from the awful stuff that happened that day," he said in an interview. "I just wanted to be more involved in supporting those who were deploying. That was a moment where I raised my hand."

Ten years later, Sinise started the Gary Sinise Foundation, best known for building 91 "smart homes" adapted for the needs of wounded combat veterans. A handful of those have been built in Middle Tennessee.

Two years ago, the foundation moved from California to Cool Springs.

Sinise sat down with The Tennessean recently about that move, his service to veterans and first responders and the Grand Ole Opry's upcoming July 28 celebration of the 30th anniversary release of "Forrest Gump."

Finding his granddad's World War I Army uniform

Sinise comes from a military family, something he first felt connected to when he was a 10-year-old boy snooping in his grandfather's basement in suburban Chicago.

The boy opened a trunk and saw a full Army uniform. "There was a hat in there, and I remember being fascinated by it," he said.

Sinise later found out that his grandfather was an ambulance driver in World War I, and he met his wife, an Army nurse, while serving. But Sinise never asked his grandfather, who could be "a scary Italian guy," about serving in the Army.

Sinise's dad and two uncles served in the U.S. Navy, but he wouldn't speak with them about serving until decades later.

In his 20s, Sinise had two brothers-in-law who served in the Vietnam War, and those were his first meaningful conversations with family members about military combat — and about returning to a country where many people opposed the war and didn't appreciate military members' sacrifices.

Sinise said one brother-in-law, Jack Treese, told him that when he got back to the U.S., he changed out of his uniform into civilian clothes in the bathroom at the airport.

"That’s hard to go to war and come home and you can’t wear your uniform and people are spitting on you," Sinise said.

After those conversations, Sinise started volunteering with a few organizations that served Vietnam War veterans.

Sinise said he wore Jack Treese's dog tags while he filmed "Forrest Gump."

'Hey, you're Lt. Dan'

After "Forrest Gump" came out, the national nonprofit Disabled American Veterans (DAV) gave Sinise an award for his portrayal of Lt. Dan Taylor. And that got Sinise much more involved with helping veterans' organizations.

When 9/11 happened, Sinise stepped up his service.

"I think a lot of that was out off a need to change what happened to Vietnam vets when they came home and the shameful way they were treated," Sinise said. "I didn’t want that to happen to folks deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan."

Sinise found out quickly that his "Forrest Gump" role would open doors for him with real-life wounded military veterans, something that became evident during a 2003 visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C.

"I met wounded a Marine, missing eye, missing leg and arm, and he didn’t know what my real name was, but he knew I was Lt. Dan," Sinise said. "I talked to that Marine for 45 minutes, and he wanted to talk about Lt. Dan. I realized Lt. Dan was going to be a part of my life in a different way."

In 2009, Sinise met a U.S. soldier who survived losing both arms and legs in combat, Brendan Marrocco, wounded after his armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. Sinise became involved in raising money to help build an adapted home where Marrocco could more easily live.

After that, Sinise started fundraising for new homes for other wounded veterans, and that became a main focus of his foundation after he started it in 2011.

See ya later, California

About 10 years later, Sinise, grateful for 35 years of success in Hollywood, started looking for another place for him and his kids and grandkids to live, one without a state income tax.

"I didn't want to keep throwing money away," he said.

Tennessee won out — it's centrally located, he'd enjoyed his gigs with his Lt. Dan Band at nearby Fort Campbell, and Sinise had made friends with some folks in the country music industry. So Sinise's two daughters, who both work for the Gary Sinise Foundation, moved first to Williamson County.

Sinise himself stayed behind for a while, in part to care for his son, McCanna "Mac", who was battling a rare form of cancer.

When Sinise did move here last year, he spent much of his time traveling between his new home in Franklin and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

His son died Jan. 5 at age 34.

"It's heartbreaking, and it's just damn hard," Sinise posted on his foundation's website. "While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it."

Sinise said the Nashville community reached out after that tragedy and has welcomed him since he and his family and foundation moved here.

The latest iteration of that: Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band will play at the Grand Ole Opry on Sunday as part of a 30th anniversary celebration for the movie "Forrest Gump."

"Who would’ve ever thought Lt. Dan would be playing at the Opry," Sinise said with a big smile, "but we’re doing it."

Sinise will be joined by actor Mykelti Williamson, who played Bubba, and one of the movie's producers, Wendy Finerman. While movie star Tom Hanks is a regular visitor to Nashville, he won't be there, Sinise said, because Hanks is working on a movie overseas.

Regardless, Sinise said, "it's gonna be a fun night."

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.

Gary Sinise Foundation activities in Middle Tennessee

• Donated $100,000 in April of 2024 to Maury County fire department to buy a rescue boat

• Built a smart home in 2024 in Nolensville, Tenn., for retired U.S. Army Sgt. Josh Hargis

• Built a smart home in 2022 in Cumberland Furnace, Tenn., for retired Sgt. Bryan Anderson

• Built a smart home in 2021 in Adams, Tenn., for Sgt. Christopher Kurtz

• Built a smart home in 2019 in Adams, Tenn., for retired Army pilot Gary Linfoot

Gary Sinise Foundation in Cool Springs at a glance

• Annual budget for programs, homes and other initiatives and gifts: $64 million

• Employees: 67, with about half of those working in Tennessee

• Workspace in Cool Springs: 12,934 square feet

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gary Sinise on Lt. Dan, 'Forrest Gump' and helping wounded vets