Remembering Our Nation’s Wounded

WASHINGTON -- Approximately 1.5 million American service members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 100,000 have come home with disabilities. Now, a familiar face from Hollywood is fighting to honor their sacrifice with a permanent tribute in the nation's capital. Oscar-nominated actor Gary Sinise has landed a new role in a real-life drama, supporting the men and women of America's armed forces. A Fisher House benefit helped support families of recovering injured Veterans with homes away from home. Between shoots on his hit television series "CSI: New York," Sinise and his Lieutenant Dan Band are U.S.O. volunteers, performing for the troops from Guantanamo Bay to Baghdad. "We've played about 40 concerts for the troops in the past three years," said Sinise to cheers from the live audience. Sinise has appeared in blockbuster films like "Apollo 13," but his most memorable role is "Forrest Gump's" Lieutenant Dan Taylor, the soldier who lost his legs in Vietnam. Here are some lines that he had with Tom Hanks, who played Forrest Gump. They are communicating during a battle in Vietnam. Sinise: "We got Charlie all over this area. I gotta have those fast movers in here now, over!" Hanks: "Lt. Dan, Colman's dead. I know he's dead!" Sinise says Lt. Dan's tragedy is being repeated today with the thousands of permanently injured now returning from Iraq. After Sinise's character, Lt. Dan loses his legs, he tells Hanks from the floor in a dramatic scene, "Look at me. What am I going to do now? What am I going to do now?" Sinise says 9-11 jolted him to the reality of terrorism, and moved him to serve the nation's defenders, "That really shook me up and changed me, I think, and propelled me into active service in a way I'd never been before." "It was clear to me that this president, the next president and the next president after is going to have to make hard decisions with regards to the troops and where to send them and how to deal with these issues we face, and this enemy that will not go away for many many years," added Sinise. Tapped as spokesman for the Disabled Veterans for Life Foundation, Sinise addressed Washington's National Press Club to call for the nation's first memorial to honor the physical sacrifices of those on the front lines. "Look, if your house is on fire, and the firemen show up, and they're going to try to put out the fire and save some people inside, you back them up and you tell them you're grateful for what they're doing. There are fires that are raging all over the world, and we're going to be having to deal with some of them for many, many years to come. The troops are the firefighters , and they're going to be deployed, and we've got to back them up," asserted Sinise. Retired Sergeant Christian Bagge is a double-amputee. His legs were shattered by a road-side bomb in Iraq, "I knew it was terrible. I had seen my injuries, and they were bad. But I guess I never really thought they would take them off... That they would just have to throw them away." During his stay at Walter Reed Hospital, Bagge told his Commander-In-Chief he'd like to jog with him at the White House. After 13 surgeries and painful rehabilitation, his wish came true. President Bush commented on Bagge's request, "He was in bed. He had lost both legs. I looked at him, like you know. There's an optimistic person. But I could tell in his eyes that he meant it." "For me to run alongside him was amazing. And hopefully, it served as an inspiration to other amputees and wounded veterans," commented Bagge. Bagee says a memorial near the nation's capitol would remind Americans of the true cost of war... And of lives forever changed, "People congratulated me and say, 'Wow, you've really done it. You've carried on and gotten through this.' I don't think they really understand every day is a battle in itself. Every day I wake up. I put on legs. Every day at the end of the day, I go to bed and take them off." Like Sergeant Bagge and Lieutenant Dan, Sinise says the vets he has met are uncomplaining heroes, moving on with their lives against overwhelming odds. As debate rages over the future of Iraq, Sinise is urging Americans to set aside politics, to honor the men and women who defend America's freedom, "One of the hard lessons we learned from Vietman is how we should not blame our troops for the political situation they might find themselves in the middle of, or for just doing their job, which is, they sign up and they go where they're told to go. And they serve and they do what they're told. And they fight the battles they're told to fight." As fellow actor Tom Hanks lent his fame to promote the World War II Memorial, supporters hope Sinise's celebrity will focus a national spotlight on the cause of disabled veterans... in hopes a grateful nation will give wounded warriors a tribute of their own.