Actor Gary Sinise paid tribute to his late son, Mac Sinise, who passed away from chordoma cancer two months prior at age 41.
Mac had joined Gary’s foundation helping veterans and worked with his Lt. Dan Band occasionally, sharing his father’s passion for music.
Within two months, both Mac and his mother Moira were diagnosed with cancer, though she went into remission.
A message from Gary. https://t.co/Bb2ji85bSi pic.twitter.com/Jhlrx6q9W9
— Gary Sinise (@GarySinise) February 27, 2024
Mac’s cancer returned and paralyzed him, but he was still able to complete a musical composition with help from friends.
Despite his condition, Mac learned harmonica and recorded two pieces for a planned album before passing away.
Sinise wrote, “What was happening? What is Chordoma? I had never heard of this. And two cancer patients, mother and son, within two months of each other? A real punch in the gut.”
He continued, “With music so deep in his heart, unable to play drums now, Mac’s mother Moira suggested he get a harmonica, which he did, and he started teaching himself how to play. I have a dear friend, Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis, who plays harmonica and tells a story of learning to play ‘Shenandoah’ while in the jungles of Vietnam.”
“Both these pieces of music began a collaboration that expanded to a vision Mac had of doing an entire album of music entitled Resurrection & Revival, with a theme of bringing something that was old or unfinished back to life,” added the actor.
“The week the album went to press, Mac lost his battle with cancer. He died on January 5, 2024 at 3:25pm, and was laid to rest on January 23rd,” lamented Sinine.
“Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can. As parents, it is so difficult losing a child,” he confessed.
“It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard,” emphasized Sinise.
Sinise said, “Mac loved movies, and we always told him he reminded us of the soldier at the end of the extraordinary film 1917, running through the battlefield, bombs going off all around him, knocking him down one after the other, yet he keeps getting back up, refusing to quit and keeps running forward.”
He concluded, “Mac was a man who loved his Catholic faith, and there is no doubt that his strong faith sustained him through the awful 5 ½ year battle with this crippling Chordoma cancer.”
Gary drew parallels to Mac’s over five-year battle with the disease to a scene from the movie “1917,” saying his strong Catholic faith sustained him through his struggle until the end.
Sinise expressed his heartbreak over losing his son but pride in who Mac was.
