Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service(85)
As we were planning a fund-raising concert for Brendan to be held in Staten Island in August 2010, I received another call. On March 26, 2010, while leading a squad of marines on a security patrol in Afghanistan, Corporal Todd Nicely, twenty-six, had stepped on an IED buried at the foot of a bridge. His fellow marines quickly wrapped tourniquets around his wounds and administered morphine. A rescue helicopter arrived within six minutes. He became the second US service member to survive injuries as a quadruple amputee. I met Todd in the hospital, then simply said to the Tunnel to Towers guys, “He needs a house too. Let’s do another concert.”
Even before we played Brendan’s concert, we received a third call. On May 24, 2010, Sergeant John Peck had finished sweeping a compound with a metal detector checking for bombs when he stepped on an IED. He became America’s third surviving quadruple amputee.
We decided to raise funds to help build homes for all three quadruple amputees. Back before my foundation was created, it was no simple matter to raise about half a million bucks for each home project. It still isn’t a simple matter today. But I wanted to do everything I could to help. We did concerts for Brendan and Todd within a year or so of their injuries. They both attended their tribute concerts, and each concert was a great celebration of their service to our country and raised a portion of the money to get their building projects started.
For John, he decided he didn’t want to live in his home state, so his concert wasn’t able to materialize as quickly. A father had approached me about raising money to help the troops. His son, Specialist A. J. Castro, had been killed while fighting in Afghanistan, and the father, Hector Castro, wanted to do something to honor his fallen son. So I proposed doing an event to raise some money, donated my band, and with the support of my foundation, we put together the A. J. Castro Tribute concert held at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California. The concert raised $75,000, and with Hector’s blessing, we put the proceeds toward John’s house, along with a plaque eventually placed in the new home in honor of A.J. In 2012, my band performed at our seventh annual Rockin’ for the Troops concert in Wheaton, Illinois, in support of Operation Support Our Troops–America. John was originally from Illinois, so I asked the OSOTA organization if they would donate a portion of the funds raised at that concert to go toward John’s home. OSOTA generously agreed and donated $125,000. Finally, we raised an additional $100,000 for John from my pal Clint Eastwood, who quietly wanted to support my foundation’s efforts on behalf of our wounded.
In time, we built homes for all three quadruple amputees, and this new initiative steamrolled from there. The good news was that thanks to new, sophisticated lifesaving techniques on the battlefield, more soldiers started surviving these horrific injuries. The bad news was that after Brendan, Todd, and John, more soldiers were wounded similarly.
Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was our fourth quadruple amputee. A highly capable and resilient squad leader, he later joked that his injury in Afghanistan was only “a bad case of the Mondays.” Like so many of the wounded service members I’ve met, Travis is one of my heroes, and we remain close friends to this day.
Navy Petty Officer Taylor Morris, a member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, became our nation’s fifth surviving quadruple amputee from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Immediately after the blast that took his four limbs, Taylor lay on the Afghanistan soil, fully conscious, bleeding to death. But before medics attended him, Taylor ordered them to wait and make sure the ground surrounding him was clear of IEDs. He didn’t want any other service members getting wounded. Where do they find such men as Taylor Morris?!
We were able to raise funds to build smart homes for Travis and Taylor. But there would be more severely wounded service members to come. After the early concerts for Brendan and Todd, in 2012 and 2013 I would participate in another seventeen concerts to raise funds to build homes for our wounded through a program we called Building for America’s Bravest. There was so much going on during this period, but even more needed to be done.
From 2004 to 2013, the entire time I worked for CSI: NY, I jumped at every chance to help as many organizations as possible that honored our troops and first responders. I played concerts with my band, visited our troops, and raised funds wherever and whenever I could. It was a busy period, and these initiatives became the seedbeds that grew my own foundation, which I’ll tell you about soon. For now, let’s get back to the story about my disastrous dinner with Moira’s parents.
More than thirty-five years passed since my days as a young, scruffy-haired Steppenwolf cofounder. Over time, I developed a full-blown film career, was nominated for an Oscar, and received many other prestigious awards for acting and humanitarian work. I’d immersed the latter half of my life in charitable and philanthropic efforts, charging full steam ahead wherever I could to help the military. One effort I plunged into was raising money to build a memorial at the Pentagon, honoring the 188 people killed at that location on 9/11. I did two concerts for that initiative, and just as we were ready to launch the building effort, an event was planned for the same Union League Club in Chicago where I’d met Moira’s parents. Pentagon officials sent Brigadier General Vince Brooks to be part of the event, and I was set to talk about the memorial fund-raiser.
This time I arrived at the Union League Club in a suit and tie. This time the ma?tre d’ opened the front door for me and said, “Mr. Sinise, come right in.” This time, nobody brought me up the freight elevator.