April 27, 2012I
know many of you have been wanting a kindness item for a bit, so here
you go. This one actually came via a reader who wishes to be anonymous,
but is pretty famous for some of his comments.
In 2011, a young
Marine was wounded in action fighting bravely in Afghanistan when an IED
exploded directly beneath him. We’ll call him the Veteran Hero. Sadly,
our Hero lost both of his legs, his right arm, and most of the use of
his other arm in the line of duty. Undergoing grueling surgeries, the
young Hero emerged alive - but depressed at being disabled for life
while still in his 20s with little more than his military disability pay
to live on - and few if any job prospects. Enter our CDAN “Reader”, and
some of the “good guys” in the entertainment industry.
In 2003,
our Reader felt patriotic and accepted an assignment with the government
as a contractor to the Pentagon and intelligence community (to lend his
creative skills to our country). It was during this time that the
Reader reconnected with an A-list actor friend who was doing a USO tour
in the desert with several other stars.
The A-List actor in
question has been in some of the biggest movies ever and even does
television and is very good at it. His name recognition is probably B+.
He usually flies below the radar with his personal life.
The
Actor and the Reader were talking one day in Iraq and the Actor was
explaining this new charitable foundation he’d become a part of. The
Actor teamed up his own private charity with a 9-11 survivor family
foundation (named for a heroic firefighter who died on 9-11) and their
goal is to help disabled vets return to the world. The Reader and Actor
went their separate ways, but did keep in touch over the years.
When
our veteran war Hero was released from Walter Reed hospital, he was
confined to a wheelchair and carried massive shrapnel still in his body.
The Hero was also suffering from severe depression, and had very little
money to even refit his family’s house for disabled access. Our vet was
born, raised, and graduated high school in a very small town. Our CDAN
Reader grew up in the same community, and graduated from the same high
school (although many years apart). The Reader had already lost one
close Marine friend in Iraq, and had two family members still serving in
Special Forces and Airborne units. When he heard about the hero’s
plight from his own hometown, he knew what he wanted to do.
Our
Reader got in touch with our A-list Actor and his charity foundation,
and they brought in a gigantic sports company/sports venue into the mix.
They all decided to help the disabled Hero, and help make his life
better. They didn’t just throw some money his way or send him an
autographed photo. They decide to buy some land locally, build him a
brand new specially-crafted custom smart home, (completely built to
accommodate his disabilities), and to allow him to never need another
home for the rest of his life while being self-sufficient.
As if
this wasn’t enough? Our Actor and the foundation decided to put on a
concert to honor the veteran hero, with the Actor’s personal band
playing the whole show. All proceeds (not just profits, but every penny)
from the show goes to the vet Hero. Not a fund or charity, but directly
to the Hero in an account to pay his power bills, taxes, and
necessities for many, many years. The Actor and the foundation are
paying the band, all costs, and travel out of their own pocket. The
Actor is using his own private jet to transport the band, equipment, and
people all from his own pocket. All this while keeping his commitments
to other charity work, his acting jobs, and his family.
And this
still wasn’t enough for our Actor to feel he’d done all he could do. The
Actor enlisted the foundation to buy a set of special “smart”
prosthetic limbs for the hero, and paid for them. This was a huge
upgrade from the basic prosthetics the vet was using. The foundation
even covered the cost of the transportation for the Hero and his family
to travel to the hospital and back for appointments. The support, bright
prospects, and hope was enough to lift the hero out of depression and
darkness he’d been suffering.
To show their support, the biggest
sports facility nearest to the Hero’s hometown named the veteran Hero
and the Actor as their grand marshals for the next event, and the Hero
was the star VIP for the whole weekend. The owner of the sports complex
even escorted the Hero around to meet all the star athletes and the Hero
got photos and phone numbers from all his favorites. He even got to
bring his family with him and they were all treated like royalty. The
sports facility owner personally oversaw all accommodations and travel
for the vet and family all weekend. They even talked the sports stars
into donating, and hosted an auction of sports memorabilia to add to the
funds raised for the Hero.
The concert tickets for the actor’s
band sold out in a few hours, including the expensive VIP packages where
fans could chat and talk with the A-list Actor. The Actor said he’d
stay and chat with fans until the sun rose so long as people got their
money’s worth for donating to such a good cause. The concert was planned
for a local high school in the city where the sports event was to take
place that weekend.
Unfortunately, a scary accident occurred the
week of the planned concert. Our A-list Actor was involved in an auto
accident that kept him from making it down for the concert or the
weekend’s big sporting event. The Actor was banged up, but would be
okay. Sadly he couldn’t travel for several days, and it made him feel
guilty. Many stars with a busy acting schedule and personal life would
just cut a check or try and weasel out of his responsibilities with a
five-minute videoconference. Not this one. Our Actor was so upset about
disappointing our veteran Hero that he personally called him to explain.
The
Reader then proposed a new date for the concert. The Reader called a
concert promoter pal hosting a local music festival in May, and they
worked out the details. The festival is an annual event for charity
anyway, and other charities could also benefit from the Actor’s show at
the festival. The Actor then rescheduled the concert for the festival
near the Hero’s hometown, and personally paid the expenses already laid
out. He offered to buy back tickets for anyone unable to attend, and
then set up a special pre-show dinner date party for VIP ticket-holders
and our Hero. The Actor then canceled two other (non-charity) concerts
his band had scheduled, all just to honor his promises to our Hero,
while allowing the festival to promote his appearance to help other
charities.
As a result, the show will go on. The upcoming new
concert date has sold out again, and our veteran Hero is even
considering some small acting roles he’s been offered, all thanks to our
Actor and Reader. Meanwhile, the special smart house has already been
designed, the land purchased, and suppliers lined up to start building
this start of the art dream house. Both our Actor and our Reader said
their only big regret is that they cannot do it for every single veteran
who has served our country so honorably. But with our Actor’s
foundation and partners, they’ll continue to help those that they can
one by one.
It just goes to prove that there are still some good
guys left in Hollywood, and some guys who are not just hypocritical
attention trolls only in it for themselves. Despite the setbacks, the
concert-festival will launch into orbit soon, and our veteran Hero will
have his new magic house very soon. He’s already got his new magic legs
All because some people cared enough to use their fame, money, and power
to help others instead of preach to them or hurt them.
Gary Sinise
