How Gary Sinise Foundation Supports Veterans Healing
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Gary Sinise Foundation is helping veterans heal by supporting a play called LAST OUT: ELEGY OF A GREEN BERET. Written by Scott Mann, a special forces veteran, the play depicts his military experiences.
Scott Mann spent 23 years in the army, spending most of his time with the special forces. When he returned home, he struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts.
His lowest point came when he brought a pistol into his bedroom closet, intending to shoot himself. The thought of his son coming home from school to find his body was the only thing that kept him from ending his life.
“When I came out of that dark period of my mental health, I was fortunate enough to have a civilian mentor who was a storyteller,” Mann told NBC News. “He showed me how to use storytelling as a way to heal myself.” For part of his therapy, Mann was encouraged to turn his story in the special forces into a play.
With the help of the Gary Sinise Foundation, Mann was able to turn his play into a full-blown production. The production veterans and their family members understand and heal from their time in the military.
“I had the sister of a Green Beret Sergeant Major stand up and through tears she told me, ‘You know, you guys just showed me in two hours what my baby brother’s been trying to tell me for five years,” Mann said.
The support of Mann’s story is just one of many examples of the Sinise Foundation helping those who have given so much to serve this country.
Movieguide® previously reported on the Gary Sinise Foundation:
The veterans foundation teamed up with Amtrak to help 105 year-old U.S. Army PFC Joseph Eskenazi get to the museum in New Orleans. Pictures posted to the foundation’s blog show Eskenazi celebrating his birthday onboard the train and enjoying his trip to New Orleans.
Actor and founder Gary Sinise spoke further about helping the WWII veteran travel to the museum during a local news appearance.
The actor thanked “all the thousands and thousands of donors that make these trips possible” before talking a little more about his partnership with the National WWII Museum.
“I’ve had a long relationship with [the museum] going back to when Tom Hanks invited me to do the voice of Ernie Pyle in the movie that plays at the museum,” Sinise explained.
In 2014, he helped his uncle Jack, a WWII veteran, visit the museum. He passed away shortly after, and Sinise said he thought “every family should have a video of their WWII family member hero [visiting the museum].”
This kickstarted Sinise’s partnership with the National WWII Museum, as well as a relationship with American Airlines, who help veterans travel to New Orleans.
Sinise also spoke about his years of work with veterans through the Gary Sinise Foundation.
“They don’t ask for much. They give a lot,” Sinise shared. “They provide our freedom for us and then defend our cities…and each time I did something [with veterans], I just wanted to go out and do more.”
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