Actor & Humanist Sits Down With The Buzz To Discuss Sacrifice, History & The Importance Of The Museum Destination
Gary Sinise has long been known as a great character actor with roles in such movies as “Apollo 13”,“Mission To Mars”,” Snake Eyes” and “The Green Mile” as well as the narrator for “World War II In HD” on The History Channel. But, to many, he captured America’s heart with his portrayal of “Lt. Dan” to Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump” in the award winning film of the same name. That collaboration in many ways continues to this day with their involvement in the National World War II Museum in New Orleans where they were both crucial in helping bring together the 4D Film “Beyond All Boundaries”. Sinise sat down with The Buzz to discuss the museum, the character he voices in the film, the importance in capturing the oral history of surviving World War II veterans and encouraging the younger generation to learn about the sacrifices made during that war to ensure our current freedom.
The Buzz: The aspect of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is a very distinctive way to honor and remember those who fought in that war. The preservation of this history and the people who fought is obviously very important to you as you have demonstrated through the Gary Sinise Foundation. Can you speak about how you became involved?
Gary Sinise: Years ago, I was asked by Tom Hanks to do the voice of Ernie Pyle in the movie they were producing for the museum called “Beyond All Boundaries”. They were building a special theater at the museum and they asked Tom to put this film together. Tom narrates the film and he asked some of his pals to do voices. I hadn’t been to the museum or anything but agreed to do the voice. I have World War II veterans in my family and eventually I came down to the museum. I saw the film for the first time and was really knocked out by it. I called my uncle. He was a navigator on a B-17 bomber over Europe [during the war]. He flew over 30 missions…but had not seen the museum. I actually set up a trip for him and my dad to go down there. I [then] arranged for my uncle to be put on film and interviewed. Right now [at the museum] they record as many World War II veterans as possible to preserve those oral histories [for the] museum archive. I arranged that for my Uncle Jack.
[Later], after he passed away, I remember calling the museum and asking them if they could send me the DVD of my Uncle Jack so I could have it. While I was watching it I was very moved. I have a great relationship with Nick Mueller who is the co-founder of the museum. I called up Nick and I said to him that I was touched that I had this particular video of my uncle...and that I wished every family that has a World War II veteran had the ability to have them recorded and archived just like I did. I offered to start a program where we could support one of their historians going around the country and recording World War II veterans…or more importantly, how can we get our World War II veterans to come to New Orleans to see the museum.
GS: Obviously we are in a window [as of 2016] where all of these veterans are basically in their 90s or older. These are their final years and for them to be able to see the museum built in their honor would be very special. Together with my pals at the museum and American Airlines we created the Soaring Valor Program at The Gary Sinise Foundation. We’ve now recorded over 200 World War II veterans [and their stories]. It is an ongoing project. We plan to record many many more. We’ve [also] sent over 100 veterans to the museum on our Soaring Valor trips. My plan is not only get as many World War II veterans down to see this museum as possible but to do Soaring Valor field trips so we can get as many young students down to see the museum as possible [as well]. I think so many of these young folks don’t have very much knowledge about World War II and what happened at that time. We all live free because of what happened in that period. We can’t take that for granted.
The Buzz: Can you comment, having heard these stories from the WWII vets, on the nature of war and the psychological impact and perspective of those who fought it?
GS: That was the most devastating war in human history. It happened just 70 years ago. We still have living eyewitnesses who saw it and we won’t have them in the next 10 years. So it will all be up to the historians and the storytellers and the museums to pass on the lessons of what happened during that time. Freedom was never more in jeopardy for this country then during World War II. And without our success in that time, we would all be living a different life. It is very important to know the cost of freedom and what it took to defend and provide that freedom. But [we] also [need] to learn those lessons so we don’t ever let that happen again.
The Buzz: The new “Road To Tokyo” section of the museum as well as the “Beyond All Boundaries” film is very specific with details and also lets people speak in their own voice whether it be Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito of Japan or even Adolph Hitler.
GS: Even more importantly, the way the story is told throughout the museum is through those oral histories (many of which we recorded). You can walk through the museum and press a button and you’ll hear one of the veterans talk about a particular battle or something they did looking back. The oral histories we recorded are not just stored somewhere…they are used in the museum to tell the story.
The Buzz: You’ve likely heard many different stories whether it be ones of valor or courage. Do any in particular stand out?
GS: The scope of that war was so gigantic. The entire world was at war. You had Africa. You had Europe. You had Asia. It was in Alaska. With this war…you had the seas. It was on land. It was in the air. We lost over 200,000 on airplanes [alone]. There are so many millions of stories from all aspects of that war. When we do these trips, it is from all aspects of that war…[I mean] 80 million people lost their lives during that period of time.
The Buzz: You play Ernie Pyle in the film and he was active as a war correspondent in both the European as well as the Pacific Theater during the war.
GS: Yep. Ernie Pyle was a documentarian. He was there on the front lines and he wrote the stories of the soldiers. He wrote the stories of the men who were fighting those battles and what they saw on a daily basis. You can read his words and learn much from both what happened in Europe and what happened in Asia. He was eventually killed on an island near Okinawa during those last battles in 1945. Ernie was so important. There is actually an Ernie Pyle Museum in Indiana where he was born and grew up [that has] a bunch of his writings and [tells] much of what his personal stories were.
The Buzz: Museums and history need to be experiential in some way. We go out to people who love the outdoors. An aspect of the war was defending the beauty in this country which most Americans might take for granted including The National Parks but also culturally diverse US destinations like New Orleans.
GS: To your readers who are always on the road all the time, if they are going through New Orleans, they should all try to visit, beyond the French Quarter and the music and all of that, the National World War II Museum. The museum was built there because Stephen Ambrose [who wrote “Band Of Brothers” which Tom Hanks produced] was from there. That is also where they made the Higgins boats which were so instrumental in carrying our troops from the battleships and the carriers onto the land during WWII. Those Higgins boats were critically important to the success of the war effort. And they were built in New Orleans. It was decided by Ambrose that they would built the museum there [in New Orleans]…and not in Washington DC.
The Buzz: The aspect of defending our freedom is a crucial part of the education displayed and taught at the World War II Museum. If the US had not been victorious, we might be living in a world ruled by the Axis Powers and led by Nazi Germany.
GS: If you study your history, you ask the question: what would have happened if America had not entered that war [or if] we had lost? Western Civilization, as we know it, would not exist. If the Third Reich had achieved their goal of taking over the world along with Imperial Japan, what would have happened? How would we live here as opposed to how we live now? It is the men and women who sacrificed so much of themselves in defense of freedom in a foreign land that has provided us with the opportunities that we have today. There is no question about it. Anyone who knows their history will understand that without American sacrifice during World War II, the world would be a different place.
GS: In the last 100 years, the United States has stood for freedom. World War I. World War II. The Cold War. All of those efforts by Germany…Russia… the Communists in China. [Today] the United States still stands in defense on the border of North & South Korea. In The North, you have slavery. In The South, you have freedom. And, in The South, [they have] the 7th best economy in the world. And it is because of men and women willing to fight and preserve that freedom. You can’t feel that or experience that any more and in any place than the National World II Museum. When you walk through [the halls], you feel the history and the sacrifice and understand the cost of what it takes to preserve freedom against tyranny.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Check Out:
The National World War II Museum which is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. T he museum focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in World War II.