Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service(89)
Luis served five combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. On December 27, 2011, Luis’s vehicle ran over an IED. Luis lost his left leg, then suffered two strokes and two heart attacks, resulting in traumatic brain injury. Ultimately, he was left almost completely paralyzed. Today Luis continues to heal while maintaining an incredibly positive attitude and a sense of humor. His wife, Claudia, is his full-time caregiver and never leaves his side. She is one of the fierce fighters for the needs of our wounded service members and reminds us of the importance of also supporting our caregivers.
Each smart home is given to the veteran free of charge. The mortgage for the house and land is completely underwritten. The veteran can select what part of the country he or she wants to live in. When needed, we also provide adapted vehicles and mobility devices such as wheelchairs, Trackchairs, and Segway personal transporters. Our director of operations oversees all aspects of the foundation’s home-building process. We average ten to twelve houses per year, sometimes more. From the beginning of my support of home building, on that first home for Brendan Marrocco prior to the creation of my foundation, to our most recent homes created through the Gary Sinise Foundation, I have been blessed to have supported the building or refurbishing of more than seventy smart homes to fit the needs of wounded veterans. Thankfully, we’re not the only organization in America that does this. Several of these homes were built in partnership with other organizations. But about fifty of them were built solely by my foundation and our great team.
Supporting our nation’s wounded veterans is close to my heart. Though it is in no way comparable, I remember the challenges of being in a wheelchair on the set of Forrest Gump. I found it difficult enough to have my legs bent underneath me, but of course, I could always stand up and walk again. Being able to provide these supportive services for our many real-life Lieutenant Dans is an incredible honor.
We have another program called Serving Heroes. I’ve always held great compassion and empathy for someone who serves his country by going off to war, who perhaps is wounded or sees his brothers and sisters in arms lose their lives or become wounded, then comes home and is mistreated or ignored. Sometimes the simplest gestures can remind our veterans and active-duty service members how much we appreciate them.
Before the foundation was created, Moira and I drove to LAX one day to pick up Ella, who was flying home from university. We arrived an hour early, so we walked over to the USO building to see if we could say thanks to any veterans or active-duty service members there. I signed some autographs and took a few pictures; then I got to talking with the USO representatives on duty. I asked if they had any upcoming days where a lot of troops would be coming through the USO, and they did, so I simply volunteered to buy lunch for them as a way of saying thanks.
When the day of higher traffic arrived, we bought a bunch of barbecued ribs with all the fixings for the troops, and USO reps and volunteers passed out the food. I continued to do this each month until it eventually became the foundation’s Serving Heroes program. We’ve expanded to serve free lunches not only in USOs but in VA hospitals and different travel hubs wherever high numbers of troops pass through. We do this both domestically and overseas, and we’ve now served more than one hundred thousand meals to the troops. Buying lunch is simply one more way of telling the troops, “We appreciate you,” and “We haven’t forgotten about you.” The idea came from those times when I’ve seen a service member in a restaurant and secretly picked up the check, leaving a little note of thanks behind. Anyone can do it, and I hope more people do. But I love those rare moments when I am able to pop in and serve up some baked beans for the troops in person. It’s a great feeling.
The foundation is now the sole sponsor of Steppenwolf’s Veterans’ Night through our Arts and Entertainment Outreach program. For every play Steppenwolf has performed since the early 1980s, the final dress rehearsal is set aside as Veterans’ Night and includes free dinner and a free show for anyone who has ever served our country. Since the creation of the Gary Sinise Foundation, we have supported more than sixty-four hundred veterans attending these special nights. It’s been a wonderful way to help our entertainment community extend a supportive hand to our defenders and it’s gratifying that all these years later, through the support of the American people who donate to the foundation, I can still be a part of this work.
From the beginning, I wanted the foundation to support our first responders. The seeds for our First Responder Outreach program were planted after 9/11 when I was introduced to members of the FDNY and became involved with the Fire Family Transport Foundation in New York and the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance. Like our nation’s defenders, our police and firefighters work hard to protect our cities. It’s dangerous work, and we want to do everything we can to make sure they’re not forgotten.
Through our First Responder Outreach program, we reach out and support police, firefighters, and EMTs in any areas of specific need. For instance, Green Beret Edward Cantrell and his wife, Louise, had two young daughters, Isabella and Natalia. During Edward and Louise’s eight years of marriage, Edward completed six combat tours and received four Bronze Star Medals and a Purple Heart. After he returned home for good, they lived in a house built in the 1920s, and in the early-morning hours of March 6, 2012, their house caught fire. Edward wanted to get Louise out quickly, so he helped Louise jump from the second story of the house, and they made it out safely. Edward wrapped himself in a blanket and ran back into the blazing home to rescue their daughters while Louise ran to a nearby nursing home and dialed 911. Tragically, Edward and the girls never emerged. Firefighters found all three inside the home, killed from smoke inhalation. Edward was thirty-seven, Isabella six, and Natalia four.