Thanks for the Memories 1/29/09

By Homer Hirt

By now you should have 2009 calendars, lots of them. Calendars from your banks, calendars from your church, calendars from all kinds of sales folks; I also have a plethora of calendars.
But on January 1, I hung my favorite calendar on the wall. It is the one from the USO, an organization that has been active from the early 1940s through today and one that I hope will be around for a long time to come. The organization’s motto is "Till they all come home". And I will say "Amen" to that.
Even if you were not around in its beginnings you are familiar with the USO’s services. Bob Hope, the famous comedian, was one of the early performers that went overseas, even into harm’s way, to entertain our servicemen and women. Hope continued to serve by bringing lighthearted comedy and music to the military overseas in every war until he was physically unable to travel.
I recall Bob presenting his show to about 5,000 Sailors and Marines at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the 1950s. My ship was there for a short time, and we went ashore to attend this event. I was so far back from the stage that I could barely make out the famous man, but I do recall that he walked out as he was introduced by an admiral, and he waited till the officer was gone, and then he did the show for all of us. He carried his trademark golf club, and introduced comedian Jerry Colonna and whatever beautiful young starlets that were in attendance. It might have been Ann Margaret, I do not remember. I believe Les Brown and his "Band of Renown" played. I could not hear many of the jokes, but I do recall his definition of a smarta** as being someone who could sit in ice cream and tell what flavor it was. Things like that stay with you for a lifetime!
In Boot Camp in San Diego I had sat entranced at another USO show, as Lionel Hampton sent us "Flying Home" with his rendition of this tune and many others on his "vibraphone".
The USO was with us again on the tropical island of Guam we gathered on an abandoned airstrip where temporary basketball goals and lights had been installed, and cheered as Meadowlark Lemon and his Globetrotters thrilled us with their ball handling and physical jokes. And, as usual, they won the game.
Other entertainers came and went on other USO events. Most of them were not well known and disappeared into the limbo of the unsuccessful show folk, but were appreciated just as much by us, since they represented that touch of Americana that we had left behind.
What about the USO of now?
My calendar shows pictures of today’s stars entertaining our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over the world. Some of the folks that visit I don’t recognize unless I decide to read the "Entertainment Today" section of my newspaper. I see the names and the pictures of Lewis Black, Miss USA Rachel Smith, Kid Rock, Robin Williams (wait: I do know this one!) and Lance Armstrong (that makes two I know!).
And for February there is a picture of Scarlett Johansson signing a Valentine for a young sailor. I don’t recognize the name, but I do know a good looking blonde when I see one, and believe me, Miss Johansson meets that criteria! The sailor, as might be expected, seems well pleased.
And there’s Toby Keith "pickin’ and grinnin’" at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. A picture of "Lt. Dan", a character from Forrest Gump, in the person of Gary Sinise, pops up for August. Mr. Sinise is talking with a wounded man in the Air Force Theater Hospital in Iraq. I will assure you that there are many others from the Entertainment Tours visiting our military all over the world.
So, to Bob Hope and Meadowlark Lemon, down through Toby Keith and Gary Sinise, and all of the fine entertainers in between, I send out the message that always ended Bob’s show:
"Thanks for the memories……………."