Q: What does Memorial Day mean to you?

Sinise:  I have Vietnam and World War II veterans in my family, so Memorial Day has always been different because we do spend the time honoring the veterans who have served this country and fought and died to keep us free.  For so many Americans, Memorial Day is about having the day off work and having a barbecue so people don't really think about what it means. The fact that I can now participate publicly in honoring our service members is a real privilege for me.  And, it's because of Joe who invited me to take part in the National Memorial Day Concert. 

Mantegna:  When I invited Gary to participate in the concert I knew he would respond to the event just like he did.  I had the same experience when Charles Durning first asked me to be involved five years ago.  I also have many family members that were in the military so there's personal significance to the holiday for me as well. 

Q: You've both performed in the National Memorial Day Concert before.  Has your involvement changed your perspective on the holiday in any way?

Mantegna: The first time I performed in the concert, standing in front of hundreds of thousands of people and meeting the servicemen and women, it brought into focus exactly why this day was set apart as a national holiday.  It crosses all political lines and it's really the epitome of what America is about.  This is a day when we say, ‘we have to honor those who have and are serving our country to give us the freedoms we enjoy.'  If you asked the average person on the street to name the three most important holidays in the year, Memorial Day may not be top of mind but the experience of being in this concert has certainly changed that ranking for me.

Sinise: When you're up there in front of three hundred thousand people, and these great performers are on stage and you're hearing very personal stories about the sacrifice that service members made in past conflicts, performed by the likes of Charles Durning, it can't help but re-energize and galvanize support for these veterans and change your perspective on what this holiday is all about. 

Q:  This year you two have the distinction of serving as co-hosts, taking over this responsibility from the late and great Ossie Davis.  How does that feel?

Mantegna:  It's a tremendous responsibility but it's also an exhilarating and wonderful kind of responsibility.  As you stand up there you realize my God, we've got the Nation's Capitol in front of us, we're in Washington, DC, and we're up there representing our nation on this national holiday.  Ossie, to me, was just one of the finest human beings I've ever met in my life.  It's a privilege to try to continue the tradition that he set and it makes me stand up that much straighter and try to be that much more literate.  And, every time I go on stage at the concert, his spirit infuses me.  Now having Gary there, it couldn't be better to share this with a good friend who feels the same way as I do about this holiday and the concert. 

Q: Gary, you perform regularly as part of the USO tour and you started the organization Operation Iraqi Children which collects supplies for the children of Iraq.  Did your involvement in supporting the troops and veterans stem from having veterans in your family or did it come about as a result of your role as "Lt. Dan" in Forrest Gump?

Sinise: It was actually a full ten years before I played "Lt. Dan" that I got involved with Vietnam veterans' groups in the Chicago area.  I did a theater piece in 1980 written by a group of veterans from that era.  I took the cast to the V.A. hospital to spend time with Vietnam veterans who were suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.  In addition, my wife's two brothers were Vietnam veterans; one was a military career guy, who unfortunately passed away in 1983 from cancer, but I spent a lot of time with him and he was a very heroic West Point graduate.  He would have been a general in the service no doubt.  He was kind of a model for "Lt. Dan."  Then, along came the "Lt. Dan" role and given that I had already a background with Vietnam veterans, it just felt like I was supposed to play that part.

Q:  Is it true that G.I. soldiers still greet you as "Lt. Dan"? 

Sinise:  I go all over and do USO shows with my band Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band.  I figured part of the audience is going to know who Gary Sinise is but a bigger part of the audience is going to know "Lt. Dan."  That movie just keeps going.  It's on television all the time and people buy the DVD's.  And, a lot of the troops that are serving our country overseas right now were 10, 11, 12 years old when the movie came out so they do recognize me as that and I'm touched if they want to call me "Lt. Dan."

Q  Joe, tell me about your family's involvement in World War II and what kind of impact that has had on you?

Mantegna:  Four of my mother's brothers and my dad's brother were all in branches of the service—the Marines, the Army Air Corps and the Army.  There's a myriad of stories that would make a movie in itself: my uncle Tony, like Gary's uncle Jack, was a bombardier, and was shot down and held in a German prison camp for 2 years.  My Uncle Willy served in Patton's Third Army, my Uncle Jack served aboard

the USS Enterprise as an aide to Admiral Halsey, and my Uncle Sam was on the USS Chicago.  My mother also worked in the defense plant during that time.  The only reason my father didn't serve is because he was hospitalized during almost the entire war with tuberculosis.  I grew up right during the Vietnam era and tried to join the Marine Corps when I was nineteen.  I wanted to be a pilot, as all young guys do, and I flunked the eye test.  So, due to this fluke with the paperwork, I was labeled a 1-Y and never ultimately got called up.  I feel privileged to be working on this concert because I feel this is, in a way, a contribution that my dad and I missed in serving our country.

Q: Will you bring any of the veterans in your family to this year's concert?

Mantegna:  I have brought my 83 year old Uncle Willie the last three years and my Uncle Jack last year.  And I hope to bring Uncle Willie again this year.

Sinise:  I'm going to be bringing my Uncle Jack this year.  He is also 83 years old and was a navigator on a B-17 over Germany.  He flew 30 missions.

Q: Joe, a few years ago you were named chairperson for the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Why is that organization so important to you?

Mantegna: We have a lot of veterans who are hospitalized and it's important for the country to pay some attention to this issue.  Being in the military doesn't stop when your service time ends and some of these guys' lives are changed forever as are the lives of their families.  The National Memorial Day Concert is inclusive of all veterans - from those who were wounded as well as those who gave their lives.  I'm honored to have served as chairperson for an organization that makes hospitalized veterans a priority.

Q:  What do you hope that people who attend the concert or viewers watching at home will take away from this year's National Memorial Day Concert?

Sinise:  I hope people will watch and remember that Memorial Day is unlike any other holiday that we have.  It' so easy for us to take for granted that the freedom we enjoy here in this country has been paid for.  It's not a right; it's something that has been earned.  We enjoy the privilege of living in this country because so many men and women and their families throughout the years and over time have sacrificed for us.  Having a day to remember that, and to acknowledge our gratitude, is something that I hope people who watch this concert will think about for years to come.