Brody's speech received a standing ovation
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The parents of a soldier in Kuwait have said they were amazed he was named in actor Adrien Brody's Oscar acceptance speech.
Brody, who won the best actor Academy Award for his lead role in Roman Polanski's The Pianist, urged the audience to "pray for a peaceful and swift resolution" to the war in Iraq.
He ended his remarks with a goodwill message for former schoolfriend Tommy Zarobinski, and received a standing ovation.
Brody, who played a Holocaust survivor in The Pianist, and Mr Zarobinski, grew up "like brothers", according to the soldier's father, Thomas.
I have a friend from Queens who's a soldier in Kuwait right now, Tommy Zarobinski, and I hope you and your boys make it back real soon
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They "would cut school together and do all sorts of pranks - just like regular kids," he said.
"Here he is making the Oscars for the first time in his
life, and he's talking about my son,", the soldier's father told the Daily News. "That's amazing."
Tommy Zarobinski's mother, Ada Zarobinski, said she wished her son was able to see the star's success.
The soldier, who is serving in Kuwait, studied drawing at New York's Fiorello H LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts - where Brody studied acting.
Mrs Zarobinski, said she had mixed feelings about her son's military duty.
"There are feelings of both happiness and sadness," she said, "because I wish my son was here to see Adrien's success."
Mr Zarobinski, 31, joined the US Army National Guard in 1996 and has been stationed in Kuwait since November.
His parents, from Queens, New York, had been listening to news of the war when a neighbour told them about Brody's remarks.