5 Questions With Gary Sinise

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Capital Concerts

Working with veterans is a year-round mission for Gary Sinise. It’s just that at the National Memorial Day Concert, viewers are reminded of the work he does through his eponymously named foundation.

Sinise (Forrest Gump, CSI: NY) hosts the live event from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol with longtime buddy Joe Mantegna. During the 90-minute show (Sunday, May 28, at 8pm ET on PBS, check local listings), honoring the true meaning of the holiday, bands from different branches of the military perform, interspersed with segments honoring Gold Star families, POWs, and other veterans.

Hey there, all Rolling To Remember Veterans & our patriotic folks in the DC area during Memorial Day Weekend, join me May 26th for a free “Welcome Home” Concert Celebration of our Vietnam Veterans at Constitution Hall with my pal @JoeMantegna! For ticketshttps://t.co/G8z4gjvzXz

— Gary Sinise (@GarySinise) May 6, 2023

Wearing a baseball cap with an American flag, Sinise answers our “5 Questions.”

1. How did you become involved with the concert?
Joe Mantegna got involved after Sept. 11, and then Joe started hosting. He knew that I was very, very active with military support, veteran support and doing USO shows. He asked me to the concert in May of 2005 and to bring my band [the Lt. Dan Band, named after his Forrest Gump character]. The timing worked out perfectly because we were doing our first USO tour to Europe, then we flew directly from the U.K. to Washington, D.C. It was magnificent, very moving and powerful. And they asked me to narrate a couple of segments during the show.

2. Why is this concert important?
I hadn’t seen the Memorial Day concert until Joe made mention of it to me. I didn’t know that there was a national concert to bring the country together to support the men and women who have sacrificed over these many years to keep us free. And when I started doing it, it became just a very, very important way to highlight these stories of sacrifice and to remind the American people who tune in and who show up on the Lawn of the cost of freedom.

3. What job did you have before you were famous that still influences you?
Artistic director at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company — just having to step up to a leadership position. I was one of the founders of the theater back when I was 18 years old. I was kind of a wild kid, so I just learned how to sort of take initiative. Over the years, I made some good decisions and some not-so-good decisions and probably learned as much from the not-so-good decisions as the good ones.

4. Tell us about a time you were starstruck.
Meeting Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 and Apollo 8 astronaut and a great American hero of the space program. I was doing the film Apollo 13 with Ron Howard. All of those great American heroes — legendary Americans who did something only a handful of people have done in the history of the entire world. Meeting them sort of stopped your brain, and you don’t know exactly what to say, but all of them were very down to earth.

5. What were your favorite TV shows growing up?
I remember coming home from school, and The Andy Griffith Show would be on every day after school. I grew up with Opie, and I became friends with Ron years later when we did a couple of movies together. Also, Combat! and Bonanza.