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Amazing Photos Show The Bob Hope Show from Long Binh, Vietnam on Christmas Day, 1970

Bob Hope was a British-born American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and  a truly versatile artist. With a career spanning nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in over 70 films and shorts, including a series of “Road” movies co-starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. In addition to hosting the Academy Awards fourteen times (more than any other host), he appeared in many stage productions and television roles and was the author of fourteen books. The song “Thanks for the Memory” is widely regarded as Hope’s signature tune.

Celebrated for his long career performing United Service Organizations (USO) shows to entertain active service American military personnel—he made 57 tours for the USO between 1941 and 1991—Hope was declared an honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces in 1997 by the act of the U.S. Congress.

The Guinness Book of Records called him the most honored entertainer ever. And during his 1993 televised birthday celebration, when he turned 90, General Colin Powell saluted Hope “for his tireless USO trouping”, which was followed by onstage tributes from all branches of the armed forces. General William Westmoreland spoke about his loyalty to the GI throughout the gritty Vietnam years. And bandleader Les Brown, who was with him during many of his tours, mentioned that his band “had seen more of Hope’s [butt] in the last forty years than any of Hope’s immediate family.”

During the Vietnam War years, he gave a number of high-rating television specials and sensed that the media had given him a broad endorsement for continuing on his GI mercy missions. Soon after his Christmas show in Saigon in 1967, he learned that the Vietcong had planned a terrorist attack at his hotel against him and his entire troupe, missing him by ten minutes. He was later “mystified,” writes Faith, “and … increasingly intolerant of the pockets of dissent. Draft-card burnings on college campuses angered him…” “Can you imagine,” Hope wrote in a magazine article, “… that people in America are burning their draft cards to show their opposition and that some of them are actually rooting for your defeat?”  In the spring of 1973, Hope began writing his fifth book, The Last Christmas Show, which was dedicated to “the men and women of the armed forces and to those who also served by worrying and waiting.” He signed over his royalties to the USO.

 

Bob poses next to Lola Lola Falana the press conference following the Christmas Day Show at Long Binh. Photos © mikerophoto
Bob poses next to Lola Lola Falana the press conference following the Christmas Day Show at Long Binh. Photos © mikerophoto

 

Bob, Gloria Loring, Jennifer Hosten from Grenada (Miss World, 1970), and others show off their POW bracelets at the press conference following the Christmas Day Bob Hope Show at Long Binh, RVN. Photos © mikerophoto
Bob, Gloria Loring, Jennifer Hosten from Grenada (Miss World, 1970), and others show off their POW bracelets at the press conference following the Christmas Day Bob Hope Show at Long Binh, RVN. Photos © mikerophoto

 

GIs welcome the cast of the Bob Hope Show from Long Binh on Christmas Day, 1970. Photos © mikerophoto
GIs welcome the cast of the Bob Hope Show from Long Binh on Christmas Day, 1970. Photos © mikerophoto

 

Gloria Loring leads the cast and audience in 'Silent Night' Photos © mikerophoto
Gloria Loring leads the cast and audience in ‘Silent Night’ Photos © mikerophoto

 

Jennifer Holsten, Miss World, 1970, Les Brown and singer Gloria Loring.Photos © mikerophoto
Jennifer Holsten, Miss World, 1970, Les Brown and singer Gloria Loring.Photos © mikerophoto

 

Lola Falana takes the stage at Long Binh. Photos © mikerophoto
Lola Falana takes the stage at Long Binh. Photos © mikerophoto

 

Lola Falana, Gloria Loring, Hope, Bobbie Martin and Jennifer Holsten, Miss World, 1970, take center stage. Photos © mikerophoto
Lola Falana, Gloria Loring, Hope, Bobbie Martin and Jennifer Holsten, Miss World, 1970, take center stage. Photos © mikerophoto

 

Long Binh audience at the Christmas Day Bob Hope Show. Photos © mikerophoto
Long Binh audience at the Christmas Day Bob Hope Show. Photos © mikerophoto

 

Photos © mikerophoto
Photos © mikerophoto

 

The Golddiggers dance with Bob. Photos © mikerophoto
The Golddiggers dance with Bob. Photos © mikerophoto

 

The Golddiggers sing a tune. The group of singers dancers originated on the Dean Martin Variety Show and toured with Dean in Vegas and other locations. Photos © mikerophoto
The Golddiggers sing a tune. The group of singers dancers originated on the Dean Martin Variety Show and toured with Dean in Vegas and other locations. Photos © mikerophoto

 

The Goldiggers from the Dean Martin Show take the stage at Long Binh behind Bob Hope. Photos © mikerophoto
The Goldiggers from the Dean Martin Show take the stage at Long Binh behind Bob Hope. Photos © mikerophoto

Ian Smith

Ian Smith is one of the authors writing for The Vintage News