Sinese (Twitter photo)
WEST POINT – Actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise will receive the Thayer Award at West Point on Thursday, October 22. The Thayer award has been presented annually since 1958 by the Association of Graduates.
Sinise has won many accolades during his career as a film and theater actor and director and has been nominated for both an Academy Award and a Palme d’Or.
Sinise co-founded the Tony award-winning Steppenwolf Theater Company
in Chicago in 1974, and his first major critical success as an actor was
in 1982 when he directed and starred in Steppenwolf’s production
of True West, for which he earned an Obie award.
Since then, he starred with fellow actor Tom Hanks in three critically-acclaimed
films – Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and The Green Mile.
In addition to his acting, he has served as an advocate for servicemen and women since the early 1980s with his support of Vietnam veterans and creation of Vets Night, a program offering free dinners and performances to veterans at the Steppenwolf Theater. In the 1990s, Sinise began working on behalf of the Disabled American Veterans organization, which he continues to actively support.
For his support of the American soldier, Sinise was honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2008, the second-highest civilian honor awarded to citizens for exemplary deeds performed in service of the nation, as well as the Outstanding Civilian Service Award, which he received from former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, West Point Class of 1976.
The Thayer award was established in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, the “Father of the Military Academy.”
Past recipients of the Thayer Award include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, George H.W. Bush, Barbara Jordon, Walter Conkrite, Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell, Madeline Albright and Henry Kissinger. Last year’s recipient was Condolezza Rice.
