While they may portray Captain America and Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, actors Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson got to meet a number of real life super heroes as part of a USO tour yesterday. Along with Ray Allen, Craig Campbell, Maya DiRado and Jim Karol the two on screen Marvel heroes visited US troops in Turkey, Qatar and Afghanistan.
The pair spent time meeting with the troops, talking and taking photos. They also took part in a Q&A in which Johansson talked what it means to her to meet some of the young servicemen and servicewomen stationed abroad.
“My first USO tour was in 2008 and it was such an incredibly touching experience,” Johansson began. “I realized that you kind of have these ideas of being home, and you think of loved ones far away, and then the reality of actually being on the ground with you guys, meeting you guys face to face, hearing your stories, getting to look you in the eye, find out where you’re from, find out your name—there’s this incredible sense of incredible connectivity, because I don’t know you guys. You don’t know me. It’s a real gift to be able to come here and meet all of you and just let you guys know that we really appreciate what you do. I know a lot of you are obviously far from home, far away from your families, and we love you and we appreciate you.”
While this was Johansson’s second USO tour, it was Evans’ first (not counting his bond raising tour in Captain America: The First Avenger in which he knocked out Adolf Hilter more than 200 times). He was quite humbled meeting so many of the troops.
“It’s been so fantastic to meet you and really see what you have to go through,” Evans said. “I play a soldier, but I’ve never actually spent real time with people who are stationed far from their homes to understand the sacrifices made. So for me, not only is it fulfilling as an actor, but as a man it really is a wonderful thing. I have so much respect for you guys,” he added. “Thank you for making us feel right at home.”
A number of photos made their way online through various social media accounts. The fans were thrilled to meet all of their guests but clearly the feeling was mutual.
YouTuber member Congo posted a video to his YouTube page that captures the 20 minute Q&A with Johansson and Evans.
While Johansson does not have a Twitter account, Evans later took to Twitter to again give thanks to the troops that he was able to visit during his tour.
