The Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk invite the community to attend a free performance June 9. Actor Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band will perform at Fort Polk’s Headquarters Field for what the entertainer’s website calls an evening of "honor, gratitude and rock and roll."
The concert is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m., but Fort Polk’s Directorate of Emergency Services advises visitors to arrive early. Those with Department of Defense ID cards can access Fort Polk from any gate and will be directed to the nearest shuttle bus parking lot.
Non-DoD ID card holders must stop at the visitor’s control center near Access Point 1 to obtain a pass. To avoid long wait times for clearance to enter the installation, non-DoD affiliated guests are encouraged to visit the visitor control center during the week before the concert and register for their pass.
Sinise, who has appeared in such movies as Forrest Gump and Apollo 13, along with the Stephen King mini-series The Stand, formed the band in 1997.
The band’s website, ltdanband.com, said the seed for the band was planted in 1997 when Sinise met musician Kimo Williams. In 2003, as Sinise began what has turned out to be a commitment to the United Service Organizations, it became clear that those early jam sessions had laid the foundation for what would become The Lt. Dan Band.
Sinise asked the USO if they would allow him to take a band with him on a tour. The USO agreed, the band began rehearsing and in February of 2004, The Lt. Dan Band hit the road on their first overseas USO tour to Korea, Singapore and Diego Garcia. Gary and the band have played an average of 30-40 shows per year with a good 75 percent of those shows for USO, charities or benefits.
Sinise played the character of "Lieutenant Dan" in the movie Forrest Gump. A role for which he earned an Oscar nomination for best-supporting actor. The band covers everything from classics by Stevie Wonder and The Police to contemporary songs by Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and the Zac Brown Band.
For more information about the event, call (337) 531-1959.
