The last Christmas show

About this book

Just the places that Bob Hope and his troupe visited in twenty-five trips would fill the space on this cover. The names of the entertainers who went along the huge camps the tiny outposts the ships and the air bases-and the units of the Army Navy Air Force and Marines entertained-would fill a book. They do fill a book because theyre all here woven into a story of three decades that is part of American history. The fun is here the sadness too the danger the narrow escapes from death and the frantic efforts involved in getting as many as seventy people organized hastily rehearsed and in the air to places some of them had never heard of all in a few hectic days. "We went ... not just me but scores of entertainers because there were kids there who needed a show. And television gave us a chance to do something that hadnt been done before. It made it possible for us to show the faces of thousands of kids in combat areas to the families back home-mothers fathers wives and children. To prove to them that their kids were alive and not too skinny and best of all still capable of laughter. Im not too sure Im too happy about this but a lot of reviewers said that the faces of the audiences were the best part of the show." - Bob Hope