Mr. Nice Guy

Here’s my take on Tom Hanks (“Average Joe Versus the Icons,” by Amy Wallace, Nov. 7).

Last year before the Academy Awards, our Junior Girl Scout troop was standing on the curb near the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, waving to the limos as they slowly drove by. One limo stopped. A window rolled down and Tom Hanks leaned out. He looked directly at us and said “Hi, girls!” as he waved. Then the window went up and the limo drove on.

He probably doesn’t remember, but it’s something we’ll never forget. What a thrill for us! What an incredibly nice guy!

TERRI STRATZ

San Dimas

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Tom Hanks may be a nice guy, and a draw at the box office. But speaking as a veteran of World War II, having spent nearly four years in the service and 16 months in the South Pacific, where I risked my life in the retaking of the Philippines, I resent the fact that he is being treated as a war hero by the Navy for merely portraying a soldier on the screen, and not very convincingly, in “Saving Private Ryan.”

ARTHUR MARX

Los Angeles