James Gandolfini: Tribute to a Friend Page #3

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to this point of the day,

but it should be

all breezy from here.

Thank you.

We both came from

the same generation

in which the men in our families fought

in World War II

when we were always

very proud of that service.

And Jim wanted to do

whatever he could.

What happened?

The cable machine,

I was doing, like, crunches

with the weight and it broke.

In the gym he got injured.

- So I got smacked in the back of my head.

- I figured.

You look kind of silly.

You know that?

Yeah, I know, sir.

- "The Sopranos" are awesome.

- Thank you.

How are you doing, man?

How are you?

He could go over there

and just talk to the soldiers

and in talking to them,

in talking to them like a friend,

they felt important,

they felt wanted,

they felt respected.

You can't get away from the paparazzi

anywhere can you?

You paparazzi the kind I like.

One day I get a call, he says,

"What do you think

about Iraq?"

Three weeks later, we were

saying hello to the troops.

Tony Sirico and... and...

- What's your name?

- Jim Gandolfini.

Jim Gandolfini.

We came all the way here

to tell you that we love you.

We were the type of guys

that wanted to go up front

and see what the guys

were doing.

We went up to Mosul

and we've seen it all.

This is the scene that...

we were on top

of a police department roof

that had just been

taken over by our guys

and the mortars started

to hit down the block.

Boom! Boom!

And I looked at Jimmy,

he looked at me,

and we looked

at these young kids...

these were young soldiers

on the roof...

and all they did

was look over the roof.

And you knew right away

they've been shot at before.

They were real deal guys.

I was very proud of these guys.

- You got hit?

- No. Not sure what happened yet.

Just...

got into the dust

and ended up on the side.

Well, you got everybody out.

It's probably...

it could've been much worse, right?

That's all that matters.

They all walked away from it.

- That's all that matters to me.

- It's a pleasure.

You guys coming around

just visiting the troops?

- Yeah.

- Well, thank you so much.

- It means a lot to us.

- Thank you.

Many people think of Jim

only as a film actor,

but Jim has an extraordinary career

making documentaries

and that's how I met Jim.

That was...

that was good.

When you did...

step in.

- Step in, my friend.

- Yes, sir.

Jim wanted to do something

to help the country understand

the sacrifices

of the soldiers and to honor them.

Places.

Jim, this is Jake.

- Hey, good to meet you.

- How are you?

Is this what the Army

calls combat stress?

PTSD is what they call it.

In the world I come from in the Army,

in the infantry lane,

you know, they don't believe

in PTSD,

they believe that there is

just weak-minded people.

He really made me feel special

in the fact that

he gave me the opportunity

to share my story.

When he sat down

with the soldiers,

they felt that they knew Jim.

They had watched him on TV.

He had been in their house.

And they told him things

from deep down in their souls

that they wouldn't have told

anybody else on earth.

You know, do I wonder if my kid...

if I ever have a kid,

do I wonder if they'll love me,

like, for who I am.

I hope so.

What were you

just thinking about?

The reality of, you know,

will I be able to raise a kid.

I won't be able to pick up

my son or daughter with two arms.

I won't.

He's an intense listener,

and so it was very easy for me

to feel comfortable

and to open up.

It wasn't about him,

it was about telling our stories

and it was about

the American public,

you know, getting

to know us as people

and seeing our challenges.

I'm shredded, I'm torn up.

I'll be single

the rest of my life.

Who the hell could

love me like this?

I mean, who could love me

like this?

He actually stopped the interview

a couple of times

because he started crying.

I was like, "Is this genuine?

I mean,

is he for real?"

'Cause at the end of the day,

he's James Gandolfini.

I mean, the dude could act.

Little did I know

it was all pure

and just love.

Oh, man.

I'm gonna get a hug?

Look at this.

Thank you.

No problem.

Thank you for the interview.

- You did a great job.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

Oh, God bless you

for what you're doing, Jim.

When we got done with it all,

he asked, "Is there anything

I can do for you right now?

Like right this second. "

If you could say hi

to my fiance

- if I call her real quick.

- Absolutely.

He took the phone

and he was smiling,

you know, that frickin'

Gandolfini smile, man.

The first thing

Jimmy said to her,

"Hey, I gotta ask you

a favor...

be patient with him. "

And that to me was big.

'Cause he knew...

I mean, he knew

that this was gonna

be a long fight.

I still had

a lot of fighting to do.

And just for him to...

I mean, the dude

had just met me.

But I could tell it was...

already really genuine.

Mr. Gandolfini.

- Look right here.

- I should have a signal.

We all take something away

from our time with Jim.

You don't say that

about everybody you meet.

One of the things that Jim did

was he signed

everybody's poster.

And I remember

when he was signing mine,

he said, "I'm gonna write

something on here,

and you read it

when you need it. "

And they boxed the posters up,

they shipped them to all of us

and I haven't taken mine

out of the box yet

and I'm waiting

because I know one day I'll need it,

and Jim will still

be there for me.

Tonight we're presenting

a new award

from the Wounded Warrior

Project,

the James Gandolfini Award.

By the way,

Michael Gandolfini...

I should say this is also

tonight's winner

of the Jim Gandolfini

look-alike contest.

Congratulations.

Congratulations on that,

but keep the hair.

Keep the hair.

The James Gandolfini

Award honors

an individual who exemplifies

the values of the Wounded

Warrior Project as Jimmy did.

Please welcome Tony Sirico.

We play tough guys

in the movies,

but these are real tough guys.

These are the guys

that keep us safe.

Pat Loud?

The Pat Loud?

I'm Craig Gilbert

from New York.

I'm a big fan.

He was a masterful actor

who had a tremendous

amount of...

vulnerability available

at any moment.

The only thing

that surprised me

was his sex appeal.

In person he's...

yeah.

You know.

We meet a lot of people

that have pretenses

and aspirations to be

something they're not.

And Jim always was who he was

and always was genuine

in his own skin.

Jim felt like

a real breath of fresh air,

someone that really understood

what the process was.

He took so much time studying

Craig Gilbert's diction

and how he would

deliver a sentence.

- Hey, hey.

- This is what we've been waiting for.

The best stuff

is happening right now.

He was so committed

to representing this guy.

We did not know

anything about it

except that he was still alive.

And Jim said to me,

"I got some friends

that are gonna help me find him. "

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