By Mallory Mattingly
Veteran advocate Gary Sinise shared with Kirk Cameron what he appreciates most about being an American.
“We are free in this country,” the FORREST GUMP actor said on Cameron’s TBN show. “When you go to places that don’t really understand what freedom is and you’ve been there, and it’s hard for us to conceive that.”
He shared a personal story that really opened his eyes to the freedom we often take for granted.
“[I’m] standing on the border between North and South Korea. You go up to the DMZ, and you can stand as close as I am right here, as you and I are, and there can be a North Korean guard staring me in the face right there,” Sinise recalled. “And there’s a little barrier. There’s a little thing on the ground. I could step right over into North Korea if I want.”
“And he’s on that side, and he’s a slave. He’s enslaved. He has no concept of what freedom is. And everybody behind me on this side, they’ve lived free because the United States of America has been there defending and supporting the Republic of Korea. This guy’s a slave over there. He has no concept of what living in a free society is,” he explained.
“So you value your freedom, you know, when you go to places that don’t really understand it,” he continued. “That’s one of the great things I love about our country is we are free. We may be divided. We may have problems with all that. There’s no country on earth that doesn’t have problems, but we’re free here.”
Sinise has devoted his life to serving those who make our freedom possible. Through the Gary Sinise Foundation, he and his team honor our “defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need” by “creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communities.”
The foundation’s latest project is supporting WWII veterans by organizing a trip to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans later this summer to “honor their service and share their stories before it’s too late.”
Sinise is also saluting vets from the Greatest Generation with a commemorative concert at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, America’s WWII aviation battlefield, on Aug. 30.
“Honoring the heroes of the Greatest Generation, our nation’s World War II veterans, has always been close to my heart,” the actor, who’s also the frontman for his Lt. Dan Band, said. “My Uncle Jack, a B-17 navigator in WWII, played a big role in inspiring my deep respect for those who served during that time. Through the Gary Sinise Foundation, we’ve worked to make sure their legacy, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom, are never forgotten. As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, it’s a true privilege to bring the Lt. Dan Band to Hawaii on August 30th to honor, salute and say thank you to these incredible men and women. We owe them so much.”
We as Americans have so much to be grateful for, especially the hard-fought freedoms we enjoy.
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