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Gary Sinise has a long history of humanitarian work. In 2004, he and Laura Hillenbrand cofounded Operation Iraqi Children to send school supplies to US troops rebuilding schools in Iraq. In 2008 he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest civilian honor. Gary has always been a big supporter of veterans’ organizations and has visited around 200 military bases and hospitals.
Gary founded the Gary Sinise Foundation to support veterans and first responders in 2011. During the pandemic, GSF partnered with Veterans United Home Loans to pay off some veterans’ mortgages. One of their signature initiatives is building custom, mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans. As of this month, GSF will have built its 100th home. This house is particularly special because it’s being made for Gary’s longtime friend, an amputee who was injured in Iraq in 2004. Break out the tissues, because this is a very moving story.
Gary Sinise first met Sgt. Joe Bowser nearly 20 years ago, not long after the Army reservist lost his leg in a rocket attack in Iraq. The Oscar-winning actor, 70, whose Gary Sinise Foundation helps support veterans, first responders and their families, became buddies with the war vet — and the two grew even closer after they both lost their sons to cancer.
“Yes, he’s a movie star, but Gary’s always been a big brother, and he’s an amazing, amazing man,” Bowser, 65, tells PEOPLE. “I leaned on him when our son was going through cancer, and I think at times he probably leaned on me when Mac, his son, was going through his cancer.”
The two men lost their sons within months of one another: Bowser’s son Justin died from stomach cancer at the age of 39 on Nov. 27, 2023, while Sinise’s son Mac was 33 when he died of bone cancer on Jan. 5, 2024. Over the years of their growing friendship, the Forrest Gump and Apollo 13 star thought Bowser could be a perfect candidate for the foundation’s R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence, Supporting Empowerment), which works with local businesses to build and donate custom-built homes to wounded veterans.
But Bowser always told him, “No, give it to somebody else.”
It took nearly two decades for Bowser to accept the gift himself.
“Joe always was powering through,” Sinise says of his friend. “There are a lot of veterans like that, who don’t feel like their injury is bad enough to deserve something like a house to make their lives easier.”
But, Sinise says, “our criteria is not, ‘You’re not missing enough limbs, so you don’t get a house.’ We make our decisions based on need, and can we positively impact somebody’s life who’s sacrificed a lot for our country?”
On Nov. 18, Bowser and his wife, Michele, will move into their new home, a 2,991 square feet, 3 bedroom, one-story ranch in Tennessee, near the Fort Campbell Army base.
“When Joe came and said, ‘Hey, maybe I’ll take you up on that,’ I was all too eager to do it,” Sinise says of Bowser, who’s been living in a 19th century home in West Virginia with hallways too narrow for a wheelchair, and a second floor that he’s no longer able to safely navigate.
“I’ve always been a giver, and it’s hard to be a receiver,” says Bowser, who adds that the idea of a new home “is just overwhelming.”
The house marks the 100th custom build donated by the GSF. “That’s very meaningful, 100 homes,” says Sinise. “But there’s just too many wounded veterans. Too many sacrifices have been made.”
For the last several years, Bowser and his wife Michele have been living in a home in West Virginia that was built in 1839. While Bowser usually wears a prosthetic leg, at times he has to rely on a wheelchair, which isn’t an option inside the narrow halls and doorways of his nearly 200-year-old home.
“The only time I feel like I’m handicapped is when I can’t wear my leg,” Bowser says. “Other than that, I feel as normal as anybody else. But when I can’t wear my leg and I have to be in a wheelchair, I’ll think, “Man, I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ My wife has got to wait on me, and I’m not one of those guys.”
Going up to the second floor of their home has become dangerous: “I fell down those stairs twice, and my wife fell down the stairs. So we try not to go up there.” But when their 10 grandkids (ages 11 months to 19) come over, they like to explore the second floor and it’s hard not to follow them.
In the new home, everything is on one floor, the hallways are five feet wide — and their shower will have a heated bench. “And the cabinets are low to where if I’m in the wheelchair, I’ll be able to slide up underneath there,” Bowser says. “It will be freedom. There’s no place in that house that I can’t get to. I’m getting choked up just talking about it, to be perfectly honest. This is a new chapter in our life, and it’s going to be awesome and amazing.”
I’m not crying, you’re crying! This is such a wonderful gift to his friend, and to the other 99 veterans and their families who have received homes built through GSF. Gary and his foundation are truly life-changing. Some of their other initiatives include mental health support, providing mobility devices and vehicles, financial programs, and more. I’m so impressed and inspired by all of the good that they’re doing. What an incredible way to give back to a community that truly deserves more support and access to life-changing services like this. If you’re looking for a cause to donate to in honor of Veterans Day or Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2), the different ways that people can contribute are listed on their website.