Gary Sinise on supporting veterans and remembering his son Mac

Joe Rogan welcomes Gary Sinise and recalls seeing him in films including Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and The Green Mile. Sinise says he worked with Tom Hanks on the films in different years.

Sinise says his first memoir, Grateful American, grew from an effort to document visits and support for veterans and first responders. It follows his family connections to military service and the creation of his foundation.

A book agent encouraged Sinise to document the trips and hospital visits. What began as a record of that work became an autobiography reaching back through generations of his family.

His wife’s brothers served in Vietnam. Conversations with them about returning home, he says, led him to support Vietnam veterans in the 1980s, before he played a wounded veteran in Forrest Gump.

After September 11, Sinise increased his visits to wounded service members and participation in USO tours. He says that work eventually led him to establish the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011.

He recalls hearing from relatives how difficult returning from Vietnam had been. As Americans debated the Iraq war, he wanted returning service members to know that people cared about them regardless of political disagreements.

For Sinise, memories of Vietnam-era divisions became a reason to welcome the next generation home. He describes reaching out as Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returned.

Sinise calls support for those who served a long-term mission. He says military personnel and first responders take on risks, and he wants them and their families to know they are not forgotten.

Rogan recalls a teacher who sometimes reacted with intense anger and whom he later learned was a Vietnam veteran. He is uncertain whether the experience was in eighth grade or high school.

Rogan says the teacher could be frightening, but later knowledge of his military experience changed how he thought about those episodes. He reflects on how little students knew about an adult’s life.

The two discuss how films shaped their understanding of Vietnam. Sinise contrasts darker war films with the fictional Lieutenant Dan’s eventual recovery in Forrest Gump, a story he says resonated with some veterans.

Rogan says returning to civilian life after combat can be difficult. Sinise agrees that transition can be challenging and later emphasizes that support services and nonprofit programs exist for veterans and families.

The speakers return to the isolation that can accompany a major change in life. Sinise says staying connected to other veterans can help people find a community that understands their experience.

Sinise says his foundation tries to reach out proactively when it hears that someone is struggling, rather than waiting for a request. Mental wellness and opportunities to share experiences are among the areas he discusses.

He compares the experiences of his wife’s two brothers: one remained in the military community, while the other left service and struggled to adjust. Sinise sees community and continued contact as important forms of support.

He does not present the two brothers’ paths as identical: their different circumstances illustrate why he believes ongoing community matters after military service.

The conversation turns to the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Both criticize the way it was carried out and discuss the effect on veterans and Afghan allies; these are their assessments of a contested policy and its consequences.

Sinise describes friends involved in efforts to help Afghan allies leave, including Operation Pineapple Express. He says some people were helped, while those involved were distressed about people they could not reach.

Sinise says people involved in the evacuation effort kept trying to help allies and their families amid uncertainty. He describes the experience through the accounts of friends who took part.

He recalls visiting Iraq twice in 2003 on entertainment tours. On one visit, soldiers showed him a school they had helped refurbish, and he describes seeing children greet them.

At the school, he says, the encounter made the needs of local children visible to him. The experience became a practical starting point for collecting and sending supplies.

After seeing the school, Sinise says he helped start a supply program that sent paper, pencils, toys and other materials to service members for distribution. The effort expanded beyond Iraq under the name Operation International Children.

He recounts letters from service members who believed the supplies helped build relationships with local communities. One account, he says, described children warning a convoy about danger on a road.

In his telling, the letters showed another side of what service members were doing: building trust while trying to support schools and children.

Sinise felt that news coverage often emphasized violence over the aid work he witnessed. He recounts a convoy delivering school supplies that was attacked afterward; in his account, the attack was broadcast while the delivery did not make the report.

Rogan asks about the effect of repeated exposure to conflict. Sinise reflects on the difference between seeing a short news segment and hearing directly from people involved.

He says he saw his public profile as a way to tell people what he had witnessed during trips and hospital visits. Rogan asks how celebrity can be used in service of others.

Sinise remembers repeatedly calling the USO to volunteer for a trip. He says he received a response after identifying himself as the actor who played Lieutenant Dan, a character service members recognized.

He explains that the Lieutenant Dan character gave him an immediate connection with many military audiences. He used that recognition to open conversations during visits.

On an early Iraq tour, he recalls traveling with entertainers and meeting thousands of troops. He describes an improvised performance after arriving at an aircraft hangar.

A smaller group later traveled into Baghdad. Sinise describes visiting palaces and meeting service members while moving with military protection; he calls the experience surreal.

The visit mixed entertainment with unfamiliar surroundings and security precautions. Sinise recalls the people he met as well as the strangeness of the buildings.

Rogan and Sinise discuss accounts of abuses under Saddam Hussein and his sons. They react to stories and images of the regime; the conversation moves between personal impressions, reported history and speculation.

Sinise describes visiting a palace under construction and the contrast he perceived between lavish buildings and the conditions of people outside. He recalls seeing a children’s play village nearby.

The discussion of palaces moves between photographs and memories from the visit. Sinise makes clear that some information about the buildings came from other people.

He recounts visiting the border between North and South Korea during trips with his band. The two discuss the political division and their impressions of life under authoritarian government.

The Korea trip prompts a wider discussion about what it means to grow up with sharply limited choices. The speakers compare this with their own experience.

Rogan raises the philosopher and scientist Robert Sapolsky’s arguments about determinism. Both speakers question a simple all-or-nothing account of free will while discussing how upbringing and circumstances influence people.

They consider how family, place and early experiences affect later decisions. Rogan and Sinise differ in emphasis but agree that circumstances shape the paths people can see.

Sinise connects his views about freedom and service to his earlier memoir. He says his opportunities in the United States and his visits overseas shaped his gratitude toward service members.

Returning to Iraq, they look at photographs from palaces Sinise visited and discuss the capture of Saddam Hussein. Sinise distinguishes what he saw from what others told him about the sites.

Rogan asks about public reactions to Sinise’s military work while he was working in entertainment. Sinise returns to the distinction he draws between supporting service members and endorsing a particular policy.

Asked whether his military-support work caused resistance in Hollywood, Sinise says he does not recall the community turning its back on him. He continued the work while acting in CSI: NY.

He says he wanted his CSI: NY character to have a military background and a connection to a September 11 family. He viewed the weekly television role as a platform to draw attention to people affected by those events.

His television work and outside commitments ran alongside each other. Sinise says the part offered a regular opportunity to make the people behind those events visible.

Sinise recounts starting Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre with friends when they were young. Early performances were free and supported by a donation box; the company later grew into a major theater organization.

The theater company began as a small group of friends making work together. Sinise remembers how modest those early performances were compared with what the organization became.

He became interested in theater at 16 after a teacher invited him and his bandmates to audition for West Side Story. He says he was struggling academically and had not planned an acting career.

The invitation came at a moment when he did not see himself as an actor. Performing with classmates gave him a new activity and a group to belong to.

The first production gave him friends and a sense of belonging. He remembers becoming emotional during the final performance and being pulled forward by a fellow actor at the curtain call.

Years later, while taking that teacher to dinner, he learned that Grateful American had reached the New York Times bestseller list. He describes sharing the news with someone who remembered his struggles in school.

He returns to the teacher’s influence as an example of how an adult’s encouragement can redirect a young person. The later dinner brought that relationship and his book together.

Sinise describes a foundation program that pairs students with veterans on educational trips. He says the organization later included visits to September 11 memorial sites and the Medal of Honor Museum.

The educational trips create a chance for young people to hear veterans’ stories directly. Sinise presents the personal conversations as part of the program’s purpose.

He recalls landing on an aircraft carrier during a 2006 trip and meeting a 19-year-old sailor steering it. The experience stayed with him as an example of responsibility entrusted to young service members.

The two discuss the difficulty of moving from military to civilian work. Sinise says programs exist to help with that transition and stresses that veterans should know support is available.

Sinise says recognizing a need is only the first step; people also need to know where to find help. He describes his organization as one entry point among many.

They discuss mental-health challenges and the value of people checking on friends. Sinise says his foundation offers support and can also direct people to other organizations.

Sinise describes Snowball Express, a foundation program that brings children of fallen service members together. He says the shared experience lets families meet others facing similar loss.

The gathering gives children and parents room to talk with families who understand a similar loss. Sinise emphasizes both shared activities and the relationships built there.

His new book, Graceful Warrior, tells the story of his son Mac and their family. Sinise says Mac was diagnosed with chordoma in 2018 and died on January 5, 2024 after years of illness.

Mac was a musician and worked with the foundation. Sinise says his son completed an album, Resurrection & Revival, during the final year of his life; after his death, the family found more music and worked with collaborators to record it.

Music remained a way for Mac to create while living with illness. Sinise describes collaborators helping bring the material to life.

Sinise says the book is about family, loss and perseverance rather than only the medical experience. He describes the family supporting one another through treatment and grief.

The family’s experience also changed how Sinise talks about support and resilience. He describes writing as a way to preserve his son’s story for others.

He explains that the title reflects how he saw Mac face illness with courage. The book is scheduled for November 10, which he says would have been Mac’s birthday.

Sinise hopes sharing the story may encourage other families facing difficult experiences. He says grief does not disappear, but over time people can find ways to live with it and share their stories.

At the close, the conversation returns to remembering a loved one and offering hope to people navigating loss. Sinise presents the book as a personal account.