Bob Hope, R.I.P.

MSNBC

[RetiredArmy]

Thanks Bob, for everything you did for the folks in uniform. We will never forget you.

[yonif]

Jul. 28, 2003
Comedian Bob Hope dies at 100
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES, California


Bob Hope, ski-nosed master of the one-liner and favorite comedian of U.S. servicemen and presidents alike, has died, less than two months after turning 100.

Hope died late Sunday of pneumonia, his longtime publicist Ward Grant said Monday. Hope's family was at his bedside at his home in Toluca Lake, California.

The United States' most-honored comedian, a millionaire many times over, was a star in every category open to him - vaudeville, radio, television and film, most notably a string of "Road" movies with longtime friend Bing Crosby.

For decades, he took his show on the road to bases around the world, boosting the morale of servicemen from World War II to the Gulf War.

In the spring of 1941, when Bob Hope was invited to perform his radio show for airmen at March Field in Riverside, California, he was reluctant. He had never done the show outside a studio, and he wasn't sure how the servicemen would react to his humor.

When the comedian was hit by wave after wave of laughter and applause, he realized he had found a new audience. Thus began a 50-year journey that would take him from Iceland to South Africa, from Vietnam to the Gulf.

Hope was a master at tailoring his shows to the audience. He took along such screen sirens as Lana Turner, Jane Russell, Jayne Mansfield and Anita Ekberg as whistle bait. He had writers interview troops for the latest gossip about the food, the officers, the base—and then used the tidbits for his monologue.

In 1948, Air Secretary Stuart Symington asked Hope if he would entertain weary airmen flying the around-the-clock Berlin Air Lift. Hope flew to Berlin with a troupe that included Doris Day, Irving Berlin, then-Vice President Alben Barkley, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, and his wife, singer Dolores Hope, who was tired of staying at home with the children at Christmas.

Hope's annual holiday show on NBC, which featured highlights of his military tour each season, became a highly rated tradition that lasted 22 years.

Hope has played before an estimated 10 million servicemen and women at 700 bases and hospitals. The road came to an end in 1990 when the 86-year-old Hope took Ann Jillian, Marie Osmond, the Pointer Sisters, Johnny Bench and Dolores Hope to Saudi Arabia to entertain the troops of Operation Desert Storm.

But even after Hope became too frail for road work, he had the soldiers come to him. Learning that many Gulf War troops were stationed at Twenty-nine Palms in the California desert, the Hopes invited them to their nearby Palm Springs home when the war was over for a Yellow Ribbon Party on Easter Sunday 1991.

[EternalVigilance]

To Bob Hope:

So long, Bob
You never knew me
But I knew you

And yet, somehow
You did know me

Otherwise, how could you have known
How to make me smile
To make me laugh
Over and over again
My whole life

You represented me
By caring about our American boys overseas
And putting feet to your caring

Not everyone gets the honor
Of putting on a uniform
Of putting their life
Out on the firing line

But you represent all of us who can't
But who find some way to show
What it is to be a patriot
Uniform or not

If you aren't in heaven, buddy
I'm not sure I want to go there

Tom Hoefling

[Nebr FAL owner]

I must agree with your opinion . Happy hunting when it becomes time to "vote from the rooftops"

[oldfart]

I'm older than most of the guys (and gals) on this forum, so I have memories of Bob Hope that go back to his weekly half-hour radio program. The whole family would sit around a big old console radio and listen to each and every joke and comment. When he started making movies there was nothing short of a pilgrimage into town to see each one.

TV was still a novelty when I went into the service, though I guess he had a show on it then. But one of my most cherished memories is seeing his Korean show. I no longer remember the names of all the girls and musicians he brought along, but I'll always remember him swaggering out onto the stage with a golf club in his hand. His reputation preceded him of course, so we all expected to laugh-- and we did-- at stuff we'd ignore from any lesser star. He started out with a few one-liners about the war, politics and our living condidtions. Then he introduced some young girl, wearing next to nothing (at least it was 'next to nothing' for that time, nowadays she'd be overdressed.) The girl would sing or dance or maybe both. Then Jerry Colonna (sp?) came out and he and Bob exchanged jokes and insults while we howled.

More girls, more songs, more skits and LOTS more jokes. Eventually, the lights dimmed and a single spotlight skewered Bob at the microphone where he sang "Thanks For The Memories."

It's my turn now, but I can't sing. So I'll just say it:

Thanks Bob. Thanks For The Memories.

[Nebr FAL owner]

PLEASE GOD NO!!!!! NOT THAT LYING SACK OF HORSE EXCREMENT!!!!!!

[Timeout]

I went to the LA Times, thinking they'd have great publicity photos in their archives. They do. But, in their long photo montage of Hope, there's not one single photo of his USO tours. Not one photo of him in camouflage. Amazing.

My favorite memories of Bob Hope are all the USO broadcasts of him entertaining the troops. Everytime they cheered, I teared up. Even today, it's those photos with the troops that are making me cry.

[Reagan Man]

Thanks for the memories, Mister Hope

[EternalVigilance]

[EternalVigilance]

[Sundog]

Thanks for the poem.

It got a few tears out of me when I heard that this morning.

[MatthewViti]

Rancho Mirage must be sad today.

[EternalVigilance]

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/bh-object.html

[RedWhiteBlue]

I remember as a kid growing up in Jefferson County in the southeastern corner of Texas. There was a school there for crippled children. Every year on his birthday, Bob Hope would come into town and spend time with the crippled children, then host a birthday benefit for the school. He truly had a big heart.

From The Marines Hymn

"From the Halls of Montezuma .. to the shores of Tripoli, ............

Here's health to you and to Our Corps .. which we are proud to serve,
In many a strife we've fought for life .. and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy .. ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded .. by United States Marines."

No doubt Chesty organized a massive honor guard to welcome Bob when he reached the gates of heaven.

[RangerVetNam]

Bob Hope visited Camp Eagle (101st HQ in VietNam) on Christmas morning 1969. What he did for the troops was awesome and to this day I still cry when I hear Silent Night. He was a great American and will be missed.

[The KG9 Kid]

Bob Hope deserved every moment of those 100 years.

Sad news, but a joyous life. Can't think anything but good things today.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Thank you so much for the letters and pictures you posted. I just watched an hour of news coverage on Bob, and somehow, your letters and pictures touched me more than the tv coverage.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

A great man.

A great patriot.

A great life.

After visiting the royal family at Buckingham, he quipped "I felt like I'd walked into a live chess game."

He's just walked into a bigger venue, live.

[apackof2]

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.........sigh