Gary Sinise was in town the last couple of days to help raise funds to build a smart home for wounded warrior US Army SSG Rusty Dunagan. Dunagan lost both legs and part of an arm to a land mine in Afghanistan. Since he came home to Oklahoma he and his family have been living in a rent house that is not handicapped friendly. Sinise came to Oklahoma City to host a screening of Forrest Gump and to host a fundraising banquet at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum to raise the proceeds to build the smart home. Sinise has been a supporter of veterans for almost two decades now and he formed the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011 to further his mission of serving and honoring our nation’s defenders. One of the Foundation’s programs, R.I.S.E. (Restoring Independence & Supporting Empowerment) builds custom smart homes for the most severely wounded veterans.
KFOR – Rusty overcame serious infections & endured nearly 40 surgeries only to face a new battle at home. Suddenly, those daily chores, like changing daughter, Rosa Lee’s diaper, became a challenge.
But Rusty has a new ally in his fight for independence.
Gary Sinise, best known for his role as “Lieutenant Dan” in Forrest Gump, is a voice for our nation’s war heroes.
Playing a double amputee gave him new perspective and appreciation for wounded warriors.
Sinise told us, “I wanted to play the part accurately so I looked into it and what it would be like. I met hundreds, maybe thousands of injured vets.”
Sinise is hosting a huge fundraising banquet in March at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and a special screening of his Oscar-winning film, Forrest Gump.
The proceeds will be used to build a custom “Smart Home” for Rusty Dunagan.
Each house is specially designed to ease the day-to-day challenges.
Sinise said, ”Getting down the hall, into the bathroom, turning on the lights; we want to make their life more independent and manageable so we build these smart technology homes that offer a lot of features for the vet and family.”
Despite the trials, this father of five says he WILL adapt and overcome.
The triple amputee said he loves his country and will always be a defender of freedom.
“And given the chance, there would be no doubt I would serve again,” Dunagan said.
While the Obama administration and Congress remove benefits from veterans and seemingly forget the sacrifices these men and women have made in service to our country, it is very refreshing when people like Gary Sinise use their time, fame and abilities to provide our veterans with entertainment, comfort and support. Wounded warriors such as SSG Dunagan deserve nothing less from all of us. As the saying goes, we sleep soundly in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. The men and women who suffer wounds, both physically and emotionally, while voluntarily providing us with peace and security are owed more than they get from our nation. I’m very pleased to be able to make a donation to The Gary Sinise Foundation in support of their efforts to help wounded warriors. If you would like to make a donation you can do so here.
What Gary Sinise is trying to do is help a worthy group of veterans with the very real problems they have after they have sacrificed so very much for our country. It is a very worthy cause and I appreciate him taking the time to help one of our fellow Oklahomans.
It used to be that most of Hollywood was pro-American and pro-military. A lot of them served during World War II. Now it's a shame that entertainers like Sinise seem to be few and far between, with the rest of them spewing leftist dribble.