Dating back to 1941, Bob Hope's holiday tours to entertain U.S. troops abroad are legendary. No entertainer has traveled so far or so often to entertain so many. For the record, an Act of Congress signed by President Clinton a year ago made Bob Hope an honorary veteran, the first in the history of the United States.
Most of these USO tours aired as television specials, and nine of them, spanning the Vietnam War years of 1964 to 1972, are now available in a Real Entertainment home video set: "Bob Hope's Entertaining the Troops -- The Vietnam Years" ($79.99, approximately nine hours, in video stores).The nine volumes with year, featured guests and places where shows were taped:
1964: Jill St. John, Anita Bryant, Janis Paige, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jerry Colonna, Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
1965: Joey Heatherton, Jack Jones, Carroll Baker, Kaye Stevens, Anita Bryant, Jerry Colonna and Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Ticonderoga. This special won an Emmy Award.
1966: Phyllis Diller, Vic Damone and Joey Heatherton, with stops in Vietnam, Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the USS Bennington.
1967: Raquel Welch, Barbara McNair, Miss World and Les Brown, at Saigon, Long Binh, Danang and Cam Rahn Bay and aboard the USS Ranger and the USS Coral Sea.
1968: Ann-Margret, Rosie Grier, Linda Bennett, Miss World and Les Brown, stopping in Vietnam, Korea, Midway, Thailand, and aboard the USS Hancock and USS New Jersey.
1969: Connie Stevens and Neil Armstrong, fresh from a walk on the moon, took this 15-day, 24,000-mile tour throughout Europe and Southeast Asia and produced one of television's all-time ratings champs.
1970: Ursula Andress, Johnny Bench, Lola Falana, the Goldiggers and Gloria Loring, from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, England, Germany, Thailand, Guam, Korea and Vietnam.
1971: Jim Nabors, Jill St. John, Alan Shepard, Vida Blue and Miss World, with stops at Honolulu, Wake Island, Okinawa, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and Cuba.
1972: Redd Foxx, Lola Falana and Roman Gabriel, with stops in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Diego Garcia Island, the Philippines, Wake Island, Shemya Island, Vietnam and aboard the USS Midway.