Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band hits GI Film Fest, Memorial Day events

WASHINGTON — He’s found purpose turning “magic legs” into veteran hope.

Gary Sinise not only earned an Academy Award nomination as Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump” (1994), it provided the namesake for his music group, the Lt. Dan Band, a favorite at USO events.

Now, over the next couple weeks, Sinise brings his band to a series of patriotic events across the D.C. area in what has become an annual salute to our nation’s troops in the run-up to Memorial Day.

“We wanted to create something where we could go into the hospitals where people can be going through rehabilitation for several years, and their family members are there and the staff members are dealing with one wounded service member after another. It can be kind of a long haul,” Sinise told WTOP. “So somebody like me coming in with a band … it might help them through the daily grind.”

More