Actor Gary Sinise Pays Tribute to Fallen Heroes

Editor’s Note: We’d like to offer a special word of thanks to Mr. Gary Sinise for making time to speak with us. It’s an honor to have his outlooks shared with readers of OFFICER Magazine.

Q: Everyone over a certain age can remember exactly what they were doing the morning of September 11, 2001. What did that morning hold for you? How did it unfold as you took in the events that morning?

A: About six-thirty a.m. that morning, our phone rang. A buddy who lived in New York, was on the line. Simultaneously, my wife turned on the TV. He said, “Gary, are you watching TV right now?! Two planes have hit the World Trade Center. We’re under attack! Terrorists have crashed airplanes into those buildings. It’s bad. Really bad!”

I remember just sitting there staring at the TV in shock and disbelief—along with the entire country, the entire world—as smoke poured from the tops of both buildings. Police officers and firefighters raced to the scene. Horrified, we watched on live TV as people leapt to their deaths from the upper floors of the Trade Center. The report soon arrived that a third airplane had crashed into the Pentagon. About twenty minutes later, a fourth airplane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We later heard it was United Flight 93, seemingly bound for the White House (the target was ultimately determined by the 9/11 Commission Report to be the Capitol Building). The people on board Flight 93 had discovered that terrorists were crashing planes into buildings, and the passengers had courageously yet fatefully chosen to take back the plane. We watched the South Tower collapse and crumble in a fury of dust and smoke. Then the North Tower fell. The scenes that played out on live TV were surreal, shocking. It was an awful day, a nightmare. Those images are forever burned into my memory.

I will never forget.

4 17 17 Gary Sinise Walk Of Fame Star 0443 B[6]

Q: Since that time, you’ve traveled to a lot of places doing a lot to honor all those who serve in uniform. In your travels, what’s the most moving tribute you’ve seen to the fallen lost on September 11, 2001 and why?

A: Well there have been many along the way but one very moving moment I will always remember happened on my first trip to Iraq to visit our troops in 2003. It was a big USO tour with many entertainers and others who wanted to go thank the troops. On the C130 on our way from Kuwait to Baghdad, I met a man named John Vigiano, a former Marine and retired New York City firefighter who had lost two sons at the World Trade Center. One son a firefighter and the other a police officer. He was on the tour with two other 9/11 family members. A few hours later we landed at Saddam International Airport on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. We came down the cargo plane’s ramp and I could only shake my head in disbelief. In front of us, waiting in two long rows of uniforms, stood American Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Sailors; thousands strong, lining our route all the way from the cargo plane to the hangar. Inside the hangar, another five thousand troops waited for us. Kid Rock was on that tour and led the charge, throwing together an impromptu rock show along with a few members of his band. At one point different people were introduced to the troops. I was introduced and said a few words and then John Vigiano and the 9/11 family members were introduced. The entire hangar, thousands of troops got very quiet. John took the microphone, said a few words of thanks; told about his boys and spoke of what had happened that terrible day. He then held up the piece of the World Trade Center that he’d brought with him. Troops nodded, and some bowed their heads. We’d heard that many of those same troops had volunteered right after 9/11. When John was finished speaking, he passed the chunk of the Trade Center to a soldier at the front of the crowd. The soldier held it carefully, almost reverently, nodded, then passed it to the soldier next to him. One by one, each soldier touched the piece of concrete as it made its way around the hangar. Very quiet, like a prayer, that chunk of rubble seemed symbolic, even sacred. It made its way slowly back to the stage after being touched by hundreds of troops who were there because of what had happened to our country on September 11, 2001. A powerful and moving tribute to the memories of all who were lost that day.

Gary And Troops Uso Photo Credit Gary Sinise Foundation

Q: If you had one message to share with all of our law enforcement officers in America today, what would it be?

A: In 2017, my foundation’s first Concert for Defenders was put together to honor police officers and firefighters in Los Angeles. Again in 2019, at another Concert for Defenders we paid special tribute to first responders who risked their lives to save people during the awful 2018 fires, and honored those gunned down by a mass shooter, including one police officer, Sgt Ron Helus, killed while trying to rescue people escaping the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. Too often we take for granted that there are men and women who do the dangerous work each day and night to protect our cities and our fellow citizens.

While it’s been a tough time for police officers, I want them to know they are appreciated and I am grateful for their service. Thank you.