FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – Gary Sinise & The Lt. Dan Band entertained more than 2,800 fans Saturday at Warrior-Sentinel Fields hosted by the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare & Recreation.
The show was the 566th show for the band in their 21 years together, and things just keep getting better, Sinise explained.
“Over the years the band has evolved,” he said. “Newer members got involved, and we’ve gotten better and better.”
But even though the band itself has changed some, the reason for the band has always remained the same, he explained.
“The mission has always been the same, which is to get out there and make sure our troops know that we care about them and that we appreciate what they’re doing,” Sinise said. “I want to bring them some joy and give them a good time.”
Sinise, famous for his roles on television and the big screen, has often explained how his role of Lt. Dan in the 1994 film, “Forrest Gump,” was an eye-opener for him. Playing a wounded veteran in the movie allowed him to meet real-life wounded vets and gave him a renewed respect and love for veterans and their families.
After 9/11, once troops started to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sinise teamed up with the USO and would tour with other celebrities and bands such as Kid Rock and Neil McCoy, to visit the Soldiers.
“I started going to visit the troops, and I would just shake hands and take pictures,” he said.
But as he observed the troops on those tours, he saw what an effect the music had on them, and he decided that there was more that he could do for them. He says he finally convinced the USO to let him bring a band along, and in 2003, the Lt. Dan Band was born.
“I just found that that was something I could do to help,” Sinise said. “I could use my celebrity to do some good for somebody, and kind of shine a spotlight on the folks that were serving our country. And the more I did it, the more I saw the impact it was making when you just show up and say ‘thank you’. So, I wanted to keep doing that. I saw that it was making a difference and that turned into [creating] my own foundation and raising a lot of money for the mission.”
In 2011, wanting to do even more for the troops, Sinise formed the Gary Sinise Foundation to serve the military, veterans and first responders. The foundation builds houses and provides vehicles for severely wounded veterans, serves meals, gives grants, takes veterans to the WW2 Museum, and sends military children who have lost a parent to Disney World. And of course, they play music.
“Music brings everyone together, it’s a universal language,” Sinise said. “And when you are playing songs that people are familiar with, they automatically start singing. And it just brings the crowd together. And that’s what I want to do, is to bring everybody together. I want everybody in the audience in great spirits. [I want] to boost morale and lift them up and let everybody go home smiling and feeling good.”
Judging from the smiles on the faces on Saturday night, the mission was a success.
(Editor’s note: The complete photo album is available online at 2024-04-27 Lt. Dan Band performs | Flickr.)
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Fort Huachuca is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Army Signal Command and more than 48 supported tenants representing a diverse, multiservice population. Our unique environment encompasses 946 square miles of restricted airspace and 2,500 square miles of protected electronic ranges, key components to the national defense mission.
Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca is an Army installation with a rich frontier history. Established in 1877, the Fort was declared a national landmark in 1976.
We are the Army’s Home. Learn more at https://home.army.mil/huachuca/.
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