Actor Sinise lauds vets’ skills, Wal-Mart hiring vow at event

Actor Gary Sinise speaks at Wal-Mart Inc.’s Bentonville headquarters Monday during Veterans Day celebrations. Sinise’s nonprofit, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and musical group, the Lt. Dan Band, have raised millions for veterans.
Actor Gary Sinise speaks at Wal-Mart Inc.’s Bentonville headquarters Monday during Veterans Day celebrations. Sinise’s nonprofit, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and musical group, the Lt. Dan Band, have raised millions for veterans.

BENTONVILLE - Actor Gary Sinise - who founded an organization to assist servicemen, veterans and their families - said while speaking at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Monday that today’s soldiers are well-trained in technology, which makes them valuable as employees.

There’s no reason any veteran of the United States’ armed forces should be jobless or homeless, he said.

“The skills that people learn in the military could apply to any company, any corporation, any part of the civilian workforce,” said Sinise, whose nonprofit, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and his musical group, the Lt. Dan Band, have raised millions for veterans. The money has helped build three specialized housing units for amputees, which cost $500,000 each, and two more are in the works.

Sinise’s band is named for his character in the movie Forrest Gump. In the Academy Award-winning film, Sinise plays Lt. Dan Taylor, whom Gump (Tom Hanks) rescues from a Vietnam war battle and whose legs have to be amputated.

Sinise said he accepted Wal-Mart’s invitation to spend Veterans Day in Bentonville because he’s “impressed with all they’re doing for our veteran community,” specifically Wal-Mart’s promise to hire 100,000 veterans over the next five years. About 20,000 veterans have been hired since the global retailer launched its Welcome Home Commitment on Memorial Day. The company has promised to hire any veteran within 12 months of being honorably discharged from active duty.

Wal-Mart is already one of the largest private employers of veterans in the country, said CEO Mike Duke. Its 1.4 million U.S. workforce includes more than 100,000 veterans and 150,000 military family members.

“We want their talent and their commitment,” Duke said. “We want them to work for Wal-Mart.”

“This is an incredibly veteran-focused company,”Sinise said from the floor of the auditorium inside Wal-Mart’s home office, where he spoke. Later in the day, he answered questions from the home office.

In addition to beefing up its veteran-driven hiring practices, Duke announced Monday that the company has pledged $1.5 million to Operation Homefront and $500,000 to the Fisher House Foundation. Operation Homefront will use the Wal-Mart funding to provide 25,000 toys and more than 17,000 meals to military families nationwide this Christmas season. The gift will also support Operation Homefront’s Home for the Holidays program, which will help about 500 active duty soldiers come home for Christmas.

“Not only are our military families dealing with the challenge of deployment and separation from loved ones, but they’re also confronted by difficult economic situations like many Americans” Jim Knotts, Operation Homefront president and CEO, said in a news release from Wal-Mart. “In fact, this year alone, we’ve seen requests for emergency financial assistance triple over historical levels.”

The Fisher House Foundation is a network of homes built on the grounds of major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers nationwide and in Europe. The homes are donated to the military and Veterans Affairs Department. The gift to Fisher House’s Sponsor a Family program is said to be the largest single donation the organization has received.

Business, Pages 23 on 11/12/2013

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