My grandmother and mother used to cut articles out of the newspaper and send them to me. Nowadays, my sweet mother-in-law sends links instead. I received this link from her recently and it coincided with a dear friend’s dad being honored as a veteran of WWII.
As I watched the video below, tears streamed from my face and I was so touched to learn about all the work, actor Gary Sinise has done to support our veterans. Coming from a military family he had always done work for Veteran’s causes going back as early as the 1970s. After September 11th, 2001 Gary decided to focus all his efforts on helping those who serve our country, whether first responders or members of our military. In 2011, Gary decided to establish the Gary Sinise Foundation, with a mission to continue to “spread the word about the importance of service and sacrifice.”
The actor’s most recent focus has been to collect and preserve the oral histories of our WWII veterans. He has been bringing soldiers to WWII museum in Louisiana, to collect these stories before they are gone.
Since the foundation has been established in 2011 they have:
- Served and provided for over 5,775 children of fallen families
- Served over 83,000 veterans meals
- Collected over 8,000 oral histories from WWII Veterans
- Provided over 5,800 veterans nights out for art and theater
- Performed over 365 concerts for veterans
- Adapted 51 veterans homes and counting to be handicap accessible
This work in service of those who have given their life to serve and protect us, is beyond inspiring. As Gary Sinise said, “While we can never do enough to show our gratitude to our nation’s defenders, we can always do a little more.” Thank you Gary Sinise for showing us what service is all about.
Charity Matters.
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