Copyright Baltimore News
Actor Gary Sinise, who is best known for portraying Vietnam veteran Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, donated $1 million to a nonprofit which works to heal combat veterans through art and music. The academy award nominated actor has long been involved in veteran advocacy, establishing the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011, which extends support to veterans and their families, as well as first responders. Thanks to Sinise's $1 million donation, CreatiVets founder Richard Casper was able to purchase an old, abandoned church in Nashville with the vision of turning it into a 24 hour center where veterans can go to find healing and solace in art and music. Casper, a Purple Heart recipient who served a tour in Iraq, told the Associated Press (AP) that the 24 hour center will be “a place to go when the PTSD hits" as opposed to a bar, which could easily become a "destructive" environment for veterans grappling with the horrors of the Iraq war. Casper said he suffers from PTSD which was caused by seeing one of his friends killed during a patrol. He also suffered from a traumatic brain injury, finding it incredibly difficult to be in public places. However he said he was able to find healing by engaging in the creative arts like painting and music, leading him to earn a degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2013, Casper created CreatiVets, which offering programs in song writing, wood working and welding. Between the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it is estimated that 20% of veterans suffered from PTSD, equally out to 300,000 service members, but slightly more than half will actually seek treatment, according to RAND Corporation. “Quite often, our veterans don’t want any help,” Sinise told the AP. “But through art – and with theater as well – acting out what they are going through can be very, very beneficial.”
