Actor Gary Sinise stopped by Fox News to talk about the importance of Memorial Day saying, “this is a weekend that we should take just a little bit of time to honor those that have sacrificed for our country.”  He’s in Washington to headline the National Memorial Day Concert set to take place Sunday, where more than 150,000 people are expected attend the concert at the base of the U.S. Capitol to honor the service of our men and women in uniform.

Sinise, a CSI actor and Academy Award Winner for his portrayal as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, said events like this are important because, “Our freedom has been paid for and sacrificed for.  That’s something that I don’t take for granted. By doing this Memorial Day Concert, I think we help bring more people together to honor those that have defended our freedom over the years and paid a heavy cost.”

While in town, Sinise visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center, “it’s important to check in on our wounded and let them know we’re not going to forget about them.”  He said our soldiers are “going thru pain and hardship and their families are having to endure what can be long recovery.”

Sinise says Memorial Day is not only a day to remember fallen soldiers, but also to remember the soldiers that are currently on the front lines, “I think it’s very important for the American people, even though [the war] is not on the front page all the time, with what’s going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, to remember that we have several thousand troops that are on the front lines defending us in what looks like it’s going to be a long conflict, we can’t forget that.  We just can’t.”