MARTINSVILLE, Va.—
Actor Gary Sinise and his Lieutenant Dan Bandare performing in Martinsville on Thursday night.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. at the Blue Mountain Festival Grounds in Martinsville. The show is a benefit concert for Marine Corporal J.B. Kerns of Ararat, who was injured in Afghanistan. Proceeds from the concert will help raise money for a new home for Kerns, who is a triple-amputee.
Sinise and his band were supposed to perform in Martinsville in March, but the show had to be postponed because Sinise was injured in a car accident.
To watch 60 Minutes' story about the Lieutenant Dan Band, click here.
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Original story from April 16
On Thursday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m., award-winning actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band will have the distinction of opening the popular Rooster Walk Music Festival in Martinsville. Since its inception a few years ago, the festival has become the place to be just prior to and during Memorial Day weekend.
The concert, originally scheduled for March 31, was postponed due to injuries Sinise sustained while a passenger in a car that was involved in an accident.
All of the money raised from the May 24th performance will go to the building of a “smart home” for Marine Cpl. JB Kerns. Kerns is a local hero who lost both legs and his right arm following an improvised explosive device explosion while on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.
During a press conference at the Martinsville Speedway in February, The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation (named after a NY firefighter who perished on9/11), and the Gary Sinise Foundation, announced that they had joined together, as part of their Building For America’s Bravest program, to build a “smart home” for Kerns to allow him to live as independently as possible. Land for his house on the Ararat River has already been purchased.
“JB Kerns has given so much in service to his country, it is a privilege to do what I can to give something back to him,” said Gary Sinise. “I hope the entire community will join me and my band to help show our support and gratitude to a great American hero. And the timing of our concert could not be more fitting - right before Memorial Day. As our 30th president Calvin Coolidge said, ‘The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.’ Let's come together to honor this brave American, and show him that we will not forget what he has sacrificed in defense of our freedom.”
“It's a pleasure to work with these two great foundations,” said Johnny Buck, a co-founder of Penn-Shank Memorial LLC, which operates the Rooster Walk. “Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band will be a fantastic kick-off to Rooster Walk and a real treat for our VIP ticket holders". As a bonus, if someone purchases a VIP ticket to the Rooster Walk Festival, they will get to see the Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan concert at no additional cost and festival organizers have pledged to donate $15 per VIP ticket towards building JB's home.
To buy General Admission tickets to just the Gary Sinise Lt. Dan Band Concert:
Call: Piedmont Arts Association, (276) 632-3221
Go online: www.piedmontarts.org
To buy VIP tickets to the Rooster Walk festival:
Go online: www.roosterwalk.com
Go online: www.roosterwalk.com
