--- title: Watch Tom Hanks Surprises a Wounded Veteran in Video description: Tom Hanks met Pat and Jimmy Ochan as a part his involvement with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's Hidden Heroes campaign. canonical: https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/ author: Wilder Davies article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-30T16:31:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T16:14:11.000Z og:title: Certified Great Guy Tom Hanks Surprised a Veteran's Family og:description: The video is heartwarming og:url: https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889b855425fe7d07/6988f9ec86f68e64d16e815f/tom-hanks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'The Post' European Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Certified Great Guy Tom Hanks Surprised a Veteran's Family twitter:description: The video is heartwarming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889b855425fe7d07/6988f9ec86f68e64d16e815f/tom-hanks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Certified Great Guy Tom Hanks Surprised a Veteran's Family and the Video Is Heartwarming  by [Wilder Davies](https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/)  ## Wilder Davies Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:14 PM UTCPublished: Nov 30, 2018 4:31 PM UTC  LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 10: Tom Hanks attends 'The Post' European Premeire at Odeon Leicester Square on January 10, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage) LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 10: Tom Hanks attends 'The Post' European Premeire at Odeon Leicester Square on January 10, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)Samir Hussein—Samir Hussein/WireImage  by [Wilder Davies](https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/)  ## Wilder Davies Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:14 PM UTCPublished: Nov 30, 2018 4:31 PM UTC [Tom Hanks](http://time.com/5123874/tom-hanks-mr-rogers-reactions/) is here once again to remind people why he is so likable. Friday morning, Hanks surprised a [wounded veteran](http://time.com/4568157/how-american-can-help-its-veterans/) and his wife on _The Today Show_ as a part of his work as campaign chair for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Heroes campaign. The heartwarming video shows Hanks greeting Pat and Jimmy Ochan each with a jovial bear hug, much to their astonishment. Jimmy Ochan was deployed three times as a U.S. marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through his service he sustained a traumatic brain injury, shrapnel wounds and now suffers from [PTSD](http://time.com/4695113/michael-mccoy-street-photography/). Pat opted to put aside her pursuit of a Ph.D to care for him and their son. Following the warm welcome, the Ochans and Hanks sat down with Savannah Guthrie to discuss Hidden Heroes. Initiated in 2016, the Hidden Heroes campaign “brings vital attention to the untold stories of military caregivers and seeks solutions for the tremendous challenges and long-term needs they face,” according to their [mission statement](https://www.elizabethdolefoundation.org/hidden-heroes/). Hidden Heroes provides resources for families of wounded veterans, helping to connect them with volunteer caregivers in addition to other support resources. Hanks has been a chairman of the campaign since its inception, and stressed the importance of providing assistance to these families. “It is 24 hours a day that that loved one is going to require a certain type of care and attention…and one family can not do it by themselves,” he said in the segment. “Everybody can write a check, without a doubt. But it is not a substitute for one on one connection.” Hanks said. See the video below. > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1068498053785620481) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/"},"headline":"Certified Great Guy Tom Hanks Surprised a Veteran's Family and the Video Is Heartwarming","datePublished":"2018-11-30T16:31:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T16:14:11.000Z","description":"America's favorite man continues to be nice","url":"https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889b855425fe7d07/6988f9ec86f68e64d16e815f/tom-hanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Wilder Davies","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889b855425fe7d07/6988f9ec86f68e64d16e815f/tom-hanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'The Post' European Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals","caption":"'The Post' European Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals","creditText":"Samir Hussein—Samir Hussein/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5467916/tom-hanks-hidden-heroes/","name":"Certified Great Guy Tom Hanks Surprised a Veteran's Family and the Video Is Heartwarming"}}]}] ```