It was an evening of food, fun and pop music as the Gary Sinise Foundation and the USO hosted the Invincible Spirit Festival on Fort Belvoir's Long Parade Field, May 21. This was the 6th appearance of Gary Sinise's very popular LT Dan Band on post. The Foundation has provided extensive support to Service Members and 1st responders over the years. (Photo by Paul Lara, Fort Belvoir Public Affairs)

Actor Gary Sinise brings Lt. Dan Band to Fort Belvoir, highlighting nation's veterans

Actor, musician and veterans advocate Gary Sinise returned to Fort Belvoir with his Lt. Dan Band Thursday, telling service members and families their sacrifices remain at the center of his foundation’s mission.

“There’s an important mission here,” Sinise, who played Lt. Dan Taylor in Oscar-winning film "Forrest Gump," told InsideNoVa before the show. “I remember the first time coming here many, many years ago, and then I wanted to bring the band and do the festivals that we do at our military hospitals, and once I did that one time, I just wanted to come back again and again.”

The appearance was part of the Gary Sinise Foundation’s Invincible Spirit Festival, now in its 33rd installment nationwide at military medical centers.

The Lt. Dan Band performs concerts for troops, veterans, first responders and military families around the world.

Sinise said Fort Belvoir holds special significance because two members of the foundation’s board previously served there.

Sinise said the needs he sees in Northern Virginia mirror those of military communities across the country.

“It’s the same need as everywhere, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “We have men and women out there who are serving every single day. They don’t get a lot of pats on the back, so I try to do that whenever I can to make sure they know that they’re appreciated and that we remember.”

With Memorial Day approaching, Sinise pointed to nearby Arlington National Cemetery as a reminder of the cost of military service.

“All you have to do is go up to Arlington. You realize a lot of sacrifices have been made over the years. So we can never do enough, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

Sinise described the Gary Sinise Foundation as having a “very, very broad mission,” ranging from housing and mobility assistance to support for wounded service members, first responders and their families.

He said the foundation recently helped a local veteran working at the Pentagon secure housing after she struggled because she lacked a credit history following years of overseas military service.

“That’s one of thousands of grants or particular efforts that the foundation has,” Sinise said. “She needed a little extra help to get started ... We provide that kind of support ... making sure that the American people who support us know that we’re deploying those resources to help people.”

As the foundation marks its 15th year, Sinise said it is expanding education initiatives he envisioned early on but could only support on a limited scale before the organization grew.

“In the beginning we had more limited resources than we do now ... as the foundation has been able to grow, we could expand all these various objectives ... one of those is education,” he said.

One program pairs high school students with World War II veterans for visits to the National World War II Museum. Another connects students with Pentagon first responders from Sept. 11, 2001, who share firsthand accounts of their experiences that day.

“We want people to know that it’s a good thing to support the men and women who are serving our country… We want them to know not only that they should do that, but why they should do it,” he said, adding that the initiatives emphasize service, volunteerism, character, sacrifice and selflessness.

Sinise said his role as Lt. Dan was “life-changing” and ultimately shaped the mission of the foundation.

“Little did I know that Lt. Dan would be more than another job or just another role. It tied me into the military community, especially the disabled veteran community, in a way that I couldn’t have predicted,” he said.

He said wounded veterans often approach him because they identify with the character’s journey.

“You could tell that the happy ending of Lt. Dan’s story was the happy ending they were all seeking,” Sinise said. “That’s what we do, we’re trying to provide these happy endings at the Gary Sinise Foundation.”

This article was published by InsideNoVa Prince William May 24, 2026, and re-published with permission.

Cameron Delean, InsideNoVa