Operation Welcome Home

By Stephenie Tatum
Paraglide

	Photo by Capt. Michael Greenberger/5th MPAD CSI: NY actor Gary Sinise plays his bass guitar with the Lt. Dan Band during a concert in Afghanistan Nov. 23, 2009.

The Lt. Dan Band, including Emmy-award winning actor, Gary Sinise, will welcome Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base personnel home from recent deployments by playing a free concert Saturday.

The concert, Operation Welcome Home, will begin with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. at the Crown Coliseum and music starting at 5 p.m.
About 7,615 tickets were given away through unit chains of command to servicemembers who recently redeployed and their Families to attend the exclusive show.

According to Tommy Bolton, civilian aide to the secretary of the Army, the concert idea was suggested in December 2009 by Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, 82nd Airborne Division commander, during a trip Bolton made to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

Then in mid-January, Sinise contacted Bolton and they were able to get the project started. Bolton said it was great to see civilian and military organizations at the national, regional and local level come together for a common cause — to support and welcome home the troops.

“America is an incredible place to call home. The most amazing asset that our country has ever produced is the American Soldier. These men and women place themselves in harm’s way for us everyday … We are so privileged and fortunate to have them in our community. The very least we can do is say ‘thank you’,” said Bolton.

The concert is an example of the Army Community Covenant at work demonstrating Fort Bragg and the local communities continued support for the troops and their Families.

Since the 1990s, Bolton has been organizing events for the troops and their Families. He started Operation Celebrate Freedom, which is held every year on July 4 at Fort Bragg and he was instrumental in bringing the Disney on Ice performance to Fayetteville for the Families of Soldiers last year.

Bolton was quick to say that he was not alone when it came to bringing the band to play for the troops. He also credited Keith Allison, Ron Matthews, Sharon Lewis, John Elliott, John Meroski, Charles Broadwell, Bruce Sykes, Ramona Moore, as well as the Special Forces Association, Association of the United States Army, Bragg Special Activities Community, Association of Special Operations, and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
Sinise is best known as Lt. Dan from the popular movie from 1994, “Forest Gump” and his current role as Detective Mac Taylor, in the TV show “CSI: NY.”

According to the USO website, over the past seven years, Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band have entertained nearly 150,000 troops and military Families in the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Afghanistan. Music played by the band includes Linkin Park, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin and a variety of pop songs.

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