Lt. Dan

 Usually one only hears of the ditzy actors and actresses who are busy moaning and virtue signalling on the Issue of the day.

But some actors work behind the scenes with little publicity to actually do something: and one actor, Gary Sinese, best known as Lt Dan in Forest Gump, is one of them.

Interview in the Knoxville paper LINK 

 He has been working with veterans since 1994 but became more active after 911.

I remember after Sept. 11, 2001, I just found this aching, this terrible feeling, this broken heart, this sadness, and I remember going to our little Catholic Church on the Friday after the Tuesday. And the priest, I don't even know if he said this, but I heard it, that service to others can be a great way to heal your broken heart. And I don't know if he said it, but I heard it, and I tried to turn that into action.

again from the knoxville interview:

the Lt. Dan story for a wounded veteran, is the exact story that we want for every wounded veteran. Maybe not so much the post-traumatic stress side of it and the isolation side of it. We don't want that. But quite often because of what they've been through in trauma in getting blown up or getting shot up or something like that, they're going to go through that. That's a natural response to a traumatic event. But what we also want is the ending of that story of Lt. Dan, where they're standing up there making peace with God. They're making peace with themselves for for the guilt that they may may hold.

 

GetReligion blog has more thoughts about the story.