Not Like the Rest: Chris Pratt Humbly Honors Vets of the 'Greatest Generation'

Chris Pratt isn’t a typical Hollywood celebrity, and his colors were on display during Wednesday night’s premiere of The Terminal List.

The actor leads Amazon Prime’s new series about a former Navy SEAL officer who’s investigating the ambush of his platoon during a covert mission.

Chris didn’t expect to find a group of elderly veterans at the premiere, but he knew who they were and was excited to meet them.

He explained to The Associated Press:

“These are WWII veterans, and every year they take a pilgrimage back to Normandy. Thrilled to see them here. It was a surprise to me; I didn’t know they were going to be here.”

“I’ve been following their story,” he said.

For Chris, their appearance was “an opportunity to kind of just catch up with them.”

“[W]hen I saw them, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve got to spend time together,’ you know? There’s not enough time in the world. Certainly on a press line, where everything’s fifteen-second bites. I’d like to sit down and really, really talk with them…”

He made time. The star shook hands with the men, expressing gratitude for their service. Chris said he wanted to “honor them for their great sacrifice.”

“Honor” seems a shrinking practice these days. Respect is in ever-shorter supply, and that appears even more true where seniors are concerned. Honoring those who came before us isn’t conducive to a “me first” America.

And a TikTok generation surely has no concept of what “sacrifice” looked like in 1941.

But Chris is evidently a man with old-school values. And he has a history of saluting the nation’s servicemembers:

In Honor of America’s Heroes, Hollywood Star Chris Pratt Proves He’s Not Like the Rest

The Great Chris Pratt Comes Up with a Contest to Raise Money for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Admirable: Actors Chris Pratt & John Krasinski Thank Our Veterans and Issue a Memorial Day Challenge

He’s unlike Hollywood in multiple ways:

Actor Chris Pratt Announces a Period of Fasting & Prayer

A Major Hollywood Star Comes to the Defense of a Man of Faith, Calls Him ‘a Real Christian’

At the premiere, Chris shared his respect for the Armed Forces in general:

“I have an absolute affinity for our Navy SEAL community, for our men and women in uniform, and especially for our special operators and all they go through and all they sacrifice.”

During footage of a photo setup at the event, he can be heard looking out for “our veterans”:

Chris Pratt, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Constance Wu walked the red carpet in Hollywood at the launch of Amazon Prime’s big new show, ‘The Terminal List’ pic.twitter.com/mIdwZ5RwgS

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 23, 2022

Chris called the senior vets a “wonderful group of extraordinary men of the greatest generation.”

“You look fantastic. You look sharp. … Thank you,” he told one gentleman.

Chris Pratt chats with WWII veterans at the premiere of #TheTerminalList. pic.twitter.com/f9DpzXZxIp

— Variety (@Variety) June 23, 2022

What a different place Hollywood would be if it were full of that kind of grace and respect. The same might be said of the wider world.

-ALEX