The Lt. Dan Band will rock Memorial Stadium during Freedom Fest.

With television and screen actor Gary Sinise in front, the band has performed for thousands of Servicemembers around the world.

"It's a great band; it plays a lot of great songs," Don Leingang, executive director of the United Service Organization (USO) of Puget Sound said during a recent telephone interview.

The band has a direct and enduring connection to the military.

"Gary Sinise is a great guy who really cares about the men and women who serve in uniform, as well as their family members," Leingang said.

Many people know Sinise from his Oscar-nominated role as Lt. Dan in the 1994 movie "Forrest Gump."  Since then and the creation of the Lt. Dan Band, Sinise and the group have worked with the USO by performing around the world for military audiences.

One of those audiences will be at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

As JBLM began to plan ahead for this year's Freedom Fest, a senior enlisted council member wondered aloud if Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band would like to perform during Freedom Fest.

"The council asked if I could help out, and I agreed to," Leingang continued.

To learn more about Sinise and the band, about a year ago Leingang attended a Lt. Dan Band concert.  He liked the show and afterwards approached Sinise and asked if he would be willing to perform at JBLM sometime in 2011.

Mark your calendars - the Lt. Dan Band will perform from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. this July 4th at Memorial Stadium.

"It will be a very good and entertaining concert," Leingang.  "The Lt. Dan Band and Gary Sinese are truly first class."