Army Veteran Wrote to Famous Actors While Deployed, Here's Who Replied

An army veteran who began writing to his favorite actors while deployed in Afghanistan just over a decade ago has saluted the stars who took time to reply.

Today, Thomas Harper runs the American Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Program, which operates to educate the public about the laws of war. But back in 2013 he was a captain based in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province serving as an operational law attorney advising on the law of armed conflict and rules of engagement for combat operations.

Harper has been involved with the army for almost his entire adult life. "I originally enlisted in the Army right out of high school and served in the Reserves while I went to college and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program," he told Newsweek. "I was commissioned as an officer, then went on to serve as an Army JAG (military attorney) on active duty for seven years, before transitioning back into the Army Reserve, where I still serve."

Family aside, there's been at least one other constant in Harper's life though: Star Wars. "I'm a huge fan," he admits. "That first viewing of 'A New Hope' my dad bootleg recorded from Fox on a VHS tape had me hooked instantly."

It's a passion that continues to this day with a sizable collection of Star Wars toys and other memorabilia. "I've managed to slowly assemble a basement-sized collection, including building a clone trooper themed bar," Harper revealed.

That's kind of what led to his letter-writing spree while on deployment in Afghanistan. "We used to get a ton of mail sent from all sorts of people in the States, from school children to volunteers; we'd try and write back with our thanks whenever we could," Harper said. "Those letters always meant a ton to me, so I thought it might be a nice gesture to let some of my favorite actors know the impact they continued to have on me."

The Afghanistan war left an indelible mark on countless families and military personnel, with 3,917 U.S. contractors, 2,324 U.S. military personnel and 1,144 allied troops losing their lives in the conflict, as well as tens of thousands of Afghans.

Star Wars provided Harper with a form of escape and comfort during his deployment. "Watching Star Wars on my laptop was my own personal retreat to stay centered," he said.

Eager to show his appreciation, he hatched a plan, which began with him looking for the contact details for his favorite Star Wars actor. "I started out just looking up the agency who represented James Earl Jones, since his portrayal of Darth Vader is one of my absolute favorites of any film performance," he said. "I stumbled across a site that was a sort of collection point for that sort of publicly available information, with the goal of helping make it easier for folks to write fan mail."

Looking through the list of contacts on the website, Harper decided he "might as well go all in" and contact all his favorites, posting them a note explaining his love of Star Wars and the impact it's had on his life along with a group shot of his unit along with his signature and a few of his friends and colleagues who were also Star Wars fans.

Harper fully expected his letters to go unanswered and figured it had been fun and distracting at least to spend time in a dusty mail room in southern Afghanistan mailing them. What happened next was beyond all expectations.

In the months that followed, the responses began to flood in, starting with Jimmy Smits, most famous for his starring role on NYPD Blue but known to Star Wars fans as Senator Bail Organa who wrote: "much respect for all you do" alongside his autograph and "may the force be with you." In time, franchise big hitters like Earl Jones, Harrison Ford, Christopher Lee, and Frank Oz responded with autographs and messages of support ( Ford told him to "stay safe.")

Star Wars fan favorites like Michael Culver, Ian Liston and Michael Pennington also wrote back, along with behind-the-scenes talent like Trisha Biggar, who was a costume designer on The Phantom Menace and Ben Burtt, the head sound designer on the original trilogy of films.

The response blew Harper away. "It was a huge surprise, honestly," he said. "For them to take the time on behalf of some random person who cold-mailed them from across the globe, it was humbling and really helped me. You certainly don't need to have portrayed Luke Skywalker to really lift someone's spirits with a small act of kindness when they're a long way from home under difficult circumstances."

Harper recalled how, at the time, many of his fellow soldiers didn't believe the responses were real. "They joked that I had spent my time getting really good at forging random celebrity signatures," he said.

Now back in the U.S. living in Washington D.C. and working for the Office of the General Counsel, the pictures still have pride of place on Harper's wall. "They're just a great memory and a reminder of the kindness people can have," he said.

Asked what he would do if he ever got the chance to meet one of the stars who responded, Harper said: "This sounds cheesy, but I would just say a sincere thank you, while letting them know how much their act of kindness did for me at the time and honestly to this day, since seeing those pictures still brings back that feeling."