Did you know that Tom Hanks is an honorary inductee to the Army Ranger Hall of Fame? Judging by his push ups on the soaking wet Red Carpet at the 2020 Academy Awards, at age 63, he’s definitely still in fighting shape.
Hanks challenged Army Staff Sergeant Bryan Hudson to drop with him to crank out some push ups. A once in a lifetime opportunity, Hudson looked a little surprised, but quickly got down and made his Army buddies (seen cheering in the background) proud. Hanks and Hudson cranked out seven push ups apiece on TV before the camera cut away for commercial.
From another angle, Hanks and Hudson can be seen doing a full 25 push ups, while Hanks can be heard yelling out his count.
Hanks is a huge supporter of the military, participating in charitable giving and honoring service with iconic roles in such movies as Saving Private Ryan and Forest Gump. Hanks also served as Executive Producer alongside Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman in the mini-series The Pacific, about World War II.
In their red carpet interview with E! Live, Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, discussed her upcoming plans to visit military bases in South Korea.
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Hanks was given an honorary induction to the Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2006. According to their website, “The Ranger Hall of Fame was formed to honor and preserve the spirit and contributions of America’s most extraordinary Rangers. The members of the Ranger Hall of Fame Selection Board take particular care to ensure that only the most extraordinary Rangers are inducted, a difficult mission given the high caliber of all nominees. Their precepts are impartiality, fairness, and scrutiny. Inductees were selected impartially from Ranger units and associations representing each era or Ranger history. Each nominee was subjected to the scrutiny of the Selection Board to ensure the most extraordinary contributions are acknowledged.”
“Honorary induction may be conferred on individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Ranger units, the Ranger foundation, or the Ranger community in general, but who do not meet the normal criteria of combat service with a Ranger unit or graduation from the U.S. Army Ranger School.”
Just when we thought we couldn’t love Tom Hanks any more than we already do, he goes and challenges a soldier to push ups. Hooah!