FORT RILEY, Kan. — As a boy, Michael Conner Humphreys made a splash on the silver screen as a young Forrest Gump in 1994. As an adult, he somewhat mirrored the life of his movie character: He joined the Army and fought in an unpopular war.
Humphreys’ enlistment ends June 4, and Hollywood already is calling. He has landed a role in an independent film, playing, of course, a soldier.
It is a route similar to that of Tom Hanks, who won an Oscar for playing adult Forrest Gump. Hanks later starred in “Saving Private Ryan” and produced “Band of Brothers,” an HBO series about the men of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.
“I guess I’m following in his tracks,” the GI said.
Humphreys’ new film is titled “Pathfinders,” the story of the men of the 504th Parachute Regiment who jumped into Normandy early on D-Day to disrupt German activities and find the way for the coming invasion force. He heads to Oregon this year for filming.
He joined the Army in 2005, fulfilling a deep-seated desire to serve his country. After a year deployed to Iraq in its dangerous Anbar province, Spec. Humphreys was transferred to Fort Riley.
“It was a good experience, and you saw a lot of bad things; a lot of people got hurt over there,” he said. “There was definitely a lot of violence. I just hope that we did some good. In the end, I learned a lot, and I hope it made me a better person.” The Associated Press
