Actor Gary Sinise Talks with Sean and Alan

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," January 13, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

RICH LOWRY, GUEST CO-HOST: Welcome back to "Hannity & Colmes." I'm Rich Lowry, in tonight for Sean Hannity.

Recently, Sean and Alan spoke with Gary Sinise about his efforts to support the troops and his charity, Operation Iraqi Children, which enables Americans to send school supplies to Iraqi schools.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: You played the role of a guy in combat in Vietnam that lost his legs. I met a lot of these guys that they're in a hospital bed and they lost their legs. In a way you probably can understand a little bit, having really studied that, it is the hardest thing I've seen in my life.

And yet, it is the most inspiring, because these guys are so strong. And they're so committed to building their lives. Some of them even want to go back and fight with their — their, you know, brothers out in Iraq. It's unbelievable to me. I've never been so inspired.

GARY SINISE, ACTOR: Yes, you know, the first hospital I visited was about 2 1/2 years ago I went to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. And I'm not a guy who's — you know, has an easy time in hospitals. So I was a little fearful of what I would see there.

But when you do go to the hospital, and I've been to Landstuhl. I've been to Walter Reed four times, four or five times. I've been to Bethesda. I'm going back to Walter Reed in about a month or two.

And when you do go, you completely forget about your own self, because that's not why you're there. You're there for them, and you're hearing their stories and you're seeing how strong they are. And you completely forget about yourself and own reaction.

I just talked to them about what happened to them and wish them well and try to let them know that we're grateful and that we care about them and we're not going to forget about them.

HANNITY: I will tell you this. Did you — do you ever walk out of that hospital, though, and it kind of puts your life in perspective? You know, it makes you realize — I think we all tend to whine and complain. And you know, then you see what they are going through, and the way they do it, and the courage that they're facing with life every day. It really puts your life in perspective, I think. Do you get that same experience?

SINISE: Well, yes. There's not — you know, my life is going quite well. I feel very, very fortunate that we have volunteers that are willing to join the military and go out there and serve. And this is, again, we need to remember — this is an all-volunteer military, armed service. And I'm glad that we have people that want to volunteer for that service.

We've got 300 million people in the country and about 2 1/2 million of them serve in the military to defend the country. And a lot of them, you know, we've had a lot that have been wounded in these conflicts.

And it just feels, you know, it feels good to be able to go and help them out, contribute to them. Their families are there. You meet their children. You meet their parents. You meet their wives, their husbands. And you pat them on the back and let them know that you care about them. It means a lot.

ALAN COLMES, GUEST CO-HOST: Hey, Gary, it's Alan Colmes. Welcome back to the show.

SINISE: Hi, Alan.

COLMES: I know it was your last appearance on “Hannity & Colmes” that propelled you into the "CSI" world.

SINISE: Yes, right.

HANNITY: Yes, right.

COLMES: We're happy to — we're going to waive the 10 percent. We're not going to take...

SINISE: That's why I got the offer. Yes.

COLMES: ... a fee for this. But so I'm glad to have you on. Thank you for doing our show.

Let me ask you this, I understand on January 14 you're going to be at Mann's Theater in L.A. talking about your experiences in Iraq. And I read a press release that says he — meaning you — might be the loneliest man in Hollywood. Lots of pals in red states. That you may need some help, though, on the 14th.

Is it that lonely being a conservative in Hollywood? And by the way, you can support the troops whether you are conservative or liberal, agree or not agree with the war.

SINISE: Well, it's funny that I would be, you know, actually labeled that way. And I wasn't aware of any press that has come out, you know, kind of identifying me as somebody who's lonely in Hollywood. I don't know anything about that.

Look, I'm an American citizen who happens to be in a position of — where I have some celebrity, and I feel like I want to do something with it to help give back. And if I can start a program that sends school supplies to the troops so that they can give these supplies to the kids and use my celebrity to promote it, that's the way I can give back, and that's the way I can help.

COLMES: And you've gone to your fellow actors and fellow stars and said, "Hey, help me out here"?

SINISE: You know what? I just do what I can. And there are people that have approached me. I've been — I know the director, Tom Shadyac, sent a big donation to Operation Iraqi Children when he read about us in the paper.

And I have — I've felt a lot support from people whether they believe in the war or not. It's not about that. It's really about do you support the troops? If you do, do you want to do something? Do you want to go on a USO tour? Do you want to send them some supplies and help them out? Here's a way that you can show your support for the troops without it being political at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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