Following up on last week’s post about our family Christmas in Berlin in 2010, I wanted to list one of my favorite non-family Christmas memories. And it’s appropriate to mention it this year because this is the 50th anniversary of what was just about the last Bob Hope Christmas tour to entertain the troops. Bob started entertaining the troops during World War II (actually, before) His last tour was in 1990, to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for the Gulf War. But the ones I remember most were the shows during Vietnam. He would go at Christmas time and then the Bob Hope Christmas Special would be on TV in January. It was a “must watch” for me.
I think the one I remember the most was 1972, his ninth, and last, trip to Vietnam. Back in the 2000s (i.e., the decade, not century or millennium), I bought a set of DVDs, “Salute to the Troops: Bob Hope: The Vietnam Years,” which included Bob Hope’s monologues from all of his trips to Vietnam, from 1964 through 1972. It’s great. I also tape recorded (audio, obviously) a part of his 1972 Christmas Special (which aired in January 1973). I listen to it every year as I put the lights on our Christmas tree. It’s one of my personal Christmas traditions.
A lot of people today probably think of Bob Hope: old, out-of-date, inappropriate humor; a supporter of war. None of those are right, especially the last. He didn’t like war; he didn’t support war (other than our side). He went because he supported the troops. As you can tell from the video of his 1972 tour, he wanted those guys to be home as much as they wanted to be home. But if they weren’t home, he was going to be where they were.
As for old, well, he was born in 1903, so yes, he might be considered old in 1972. But that’s just because he still wanted to do what he could. As for out-of-date, it was 50 years ago. A lot of things from 1972 are out of date today, but so what. That doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate them and enjoy them for what they were and what they still are.
As for inappropriate, probably lots of his jokes are inappropriate. Some of them were probably inappropriate even back then. But I don’t care. The guys laughed, and they needed a laugh. If somebody is insulted, 50 years later, maybe the problem is them. It’s not Bob Hope.1
What I know is that Bob Hope cared about the troops. If they were going to be gone for Christmas, he was going to be gone for Christmas, too: entertaining them. And his Christmas tours are one of my favorite Christmas memories.
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1 Also, so many things are inappropriate today that I’ve pretty much given up worrying about it.
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