A Tribute To Bob Hope: The Best Friend Of America's Armed Forces For Decades

The scene: The tiny island of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Christmas 1972.

Seabee Ron Ronning, 19, and his fellow naval construction buddies worked around the clock to build a runway for Bob Hope’s C-141. The comedy legend was about to put on what would be his final USO show of the Vietnam War.

It was 1300 hours, and it was hot. “On that island, it was 113 degrees every day,” said Ronning, now 63 and the former mayor of Appleton, Minnesota.

That Christmas Day, “It was raining, pouring rain before the show. Then, all of a sudden, the sunlight came out.”

Men hung from cranes and other heavy equipment to get a good view of the stage.

Hope, twirling his golf club and delivering one-liners, was a huge hit. “He got a standing ovation from the minute he came on,” Ronning said.

Comedian Redd Foxx, singer Lola Falana

and a dozen “American Beauties,” among others, joined Hope on that tour.

But Hope and his USO gang’s presence on the tiny island was about much more than entertainment.

“They increased the morale immensely,” Ronning recalled. “It was miserable there."

But that visit really made the difference in our deployment—that got us through the next four, five months.

Ronning added, "He brought such enthusiasm, brought your life back to you. You felt like you were renewed,” he said. “That was one of the biggest thrills of my life.”

This recount of seeing Bob Hope delivering a live performance during a time of armed conflict a scene that played out again and again for nearly 50 years—from World War II,

including a visit with General George S. Patton,

to Korea

through Vietnam, including a visit with General Wsstmoreland,

to the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

The legendary comedian traveled the world, visiting remote outposts in Alaska, dangerous battle zones in Beirut,

and isolated battleships in faraway seas to put on USO shows. It was a collaboration that forever linked the names “Bob Hope” and “the USO,” giving both a new visibility, respect, and recognition.

"Why did Hope do it? What drove his dedication?"

His daughter, Linda, one of Bob and Dolores Hope’s four children, said the reason is simple:

“I think it has to do with laughter.”

From his first USO show at March Field in Riverside, California, in 1941,

to his final USO tour in 1990 to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

as part of Operation Desert Shield, Hope loved "to make ’em laugh."

Hope started his career in the 1920s as a vaudeville comedian,

but was needed to bring laughter to a different kind of venue. Hope lightened the mood in deadly serious situations, and he thrived on the crowd’s response.

“They were just amazing audiences—with their courage and their love of laughter and humor,” Hope's daughter, Linda, said.

“I think one can’t be near that in large doses and not be touched. It was always something he felt compelled to do.”

Part of Hope’s shtick was to poke fun at the unit’s own military brass, a technique that always worked.

“He came up with the idea of finding out who were the officers and what were the situations at the various bases and built his monologues about those particular things. He got a real connection with the guys that were serving,” Linda said.

He loved to joke about sex and women:

“There’s still a great need for the USO. Some of our bases are pretty remote. Last Christmas in Alaska, I met a GI who was so lonely he was going steady with his tattoo. And his buddies kept asking him if she’s got a sister!”

He’d also poke fun of himself:

“Working in a war zone is great for a comedian. You can always blame the bombs on the enemy.”

And the USO:

“The USO and I have had a wonderful relationship over the years, extending to all parts of the world. In fact, from the South Pacific I still get Christmas cards from old diseases!"

Christmas at the Hope house in Toluca Lake, California usually meant one thing:

Dad was gone. Holidays for the Hope kids took on a new meaning.

“I remember saying, ‘Why does Dad always have to be away? All these other families have their dads home for Christmas,” Linda said. But she is quick to add that Mom would put it in proper perspective for her.

“She said, ‘No, not all have them are home for Christmas. Think of boys and girls who don’t have their dads for years and years because they are serving overseas. Remember the boys and girls whose fathers may never come back.’”

Whether Christmas or any other time, it was always an event to say goodbye to her father as he headed off on a tour, she said.

“We would go to see them off at some private airfield. There would be all the band members. People don’t think of the fact that the Les Brown band traveled with Dad for so many years—to Korea first and Vietnam.

"We would see all the wives and families of the band members. There must have been at least 20 of them that traveled. It was really interesting,” she remembered.

“It was a ritual to see him off, and when he came home, it would be the same thing all over again,” she said.

But Linda also remembers that she worried about her father as he left for dangerous war zones.

“There were a number of close calls. Some of them were caught on the television programs—you would see fighter jets. But usually we did not hear about it until he came back. And he would tell all of us that, with the DoD and the USO, we will be as safe as possible.”

Dolores Hope, meanwhile, worked hard to try to give the kids a normal upbringing, not that of a movie star’s children.

“We went to the local parish school,” Linda said. “We had a regular life, and then all of a sudden we’d see Dad up on stage, singing and dancing and telling jokes and everybody laughing and having a good time in hangars. It was pretty awesome, frankly.”

Actress Brooke Shields recalls having an awesome time with Bob Hope, too. She was fifteen when she performed in her first show in 1981, “Bob Hope Salutes the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.” It was her first of 27 shows with Hope.

“The joke became I did more Bob Hope shows than he did,” she said. “He would be angry if my school schedule wouldn’t let me be in one of the Christmas specials. So he would rearrange the schedule.”

Traveling on USO tours with Hope is an experience that Shields said she will never forget. “Landing on the USS Kennedy in 1983 was one of the most emotional Christmases I have ever spent. When you go down into all these landings, all the service men welcomed us so warmly. You could see the joy that it gave them for us to be there.”

But it was a rigorous schedule, the actress recalled, with Hope leading the charge.

Hope was awarded so many recognitions and honors that I feel it is best for me to provide the Wikipedia link describing same:

I will never, for the life of me, understand why Bob Hope was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as he is one of the most giving people in this regard that I have ever known of. He dedicated five or so decades of his life to entertaining the American Armed Forces serving away from home over the Holy Season of Christmas. He spread more goodwill and cheer than anybody that I know.

Bob and Dolores Hope, may your laughter and good wit echo for Eternity throughout the infinity of Heaven.

Godspeed.

SOURCES: www.uso.org ; www.wikipedia.com; www.britannica.com ; www.zianet.com ; www.time.com ; www.newsweek.com ; www.alamy.com ; www.gettyimages.com ; www.google.com ; www.bing.com