In 1994, He Was Lieutenant Dan in ‘Forrest Gump.’ Today, Gary Sinise Takes Children of Fallen Soldiers to Disney Every Year

In 1994, Gary Sinise became Lieutenant Dan, the wounded Vietnam veteran who shares Forrest Gump’s shrimp boat and, in the end, finds his peace. Thirty-two years later, the actor plays a very different role in real life: every December, he helps bring the children of fallen service members to Walt Disney World.

In short

• Gary Sinise, 71, played Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump in 1994.
• Through the Gary Sinise Foundation, he supports Snowball Express, a program for children whose military parents died in service.
• In December 2025, about 1,600 children and surviving family members took part at Walt Disney World, according to figures shared by Disney.

The role that changed everything

Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Sinise’s performance as Lieutenant Dan earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. The character, a proud officer who loses his legs in Vietnam and slowly rebuilds his life, became one of the most beloved in the film.

For Sinise, the role went far beyond the screen. It deepened his bond with veterans and military families, a cause he has championed ever since.

From a band to a promise

According to the Mexican film site SensaCine, Sinise first got involved with Snowball Express in 2007, when his group, the Lt. Dan Band, named after his famous character, played a concert for the children and their families. In 2017, the Gary Sinise Foundation, which the actor created in 2011 to support service members, veterans, first responders and their families, took over running the program.

The story behind Snowball Express is heartbreaking. Jesse Givens, a soldier deployed to Iraq in 2003, wrote a letter asking that his children be taken to Disney parks if he did not come home. He died in May 2003, and his family carried out his wish. The program itself began in 2006.

A December at Disney

Since 2018, Snowball Express has been held every December at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. For several days, the children take part in activities and spend time with others who have lost a parent, a chance to feel less alone and to share a few days of joy as a family.

The numbers speak for themselves. About 1,600 children and surviving relatives took part in 2025, and more than 23,000 have participated since 2018, according to figures from The Walt Disney Company reported by SensaCine. The program also welcomes families of fallen police officers, firefighters and paramedics.

A role he never stopped playing

With the next edition set for December, Sinise’s commitment shows no sign of slowing. More than three decades after Forrest Gump, Lieutenant Dan is still, in a way, looking after those who served.

Some actors stay tied to their most famous role for life, from Melissa Gilbert, who still credits her TV dad from Little House on the Prairie to the Hart to Hart couple, 47 years later.

For thousands of children, Gary Sinise is not just a movie star. He is the man who made sure their parents’ last wish came true.