As a child growing up in the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s I became interested in what we call “modern entertainment”, this is often referred to as “show business” or “show biz”. Watching the early evening variety shows on television exposed me to a number of celebrities who had made a name for themselves. While there were variety shows led by celebrities with big names, there were a small number of them who seemed to stand out from the rest. Among these standout celebrities was a man named Bob Hope. He stood out among the most popular of celebrities during that time period and for a lot of good reasons.
As I grew old enough to understand what was going on with the war in Vietnam, I was watching on television as Bob Hope took an entourage of celebrity actors, musicians, dancers, and artists on several tours into the land where war was taking place. I was fascinated by this; I mean that there was a real war going on not too far from where he would stage his performances. The older folks around me would praise Mr. Hope for his efforts to entertain the troops in such environments. It was not the first time that celebrities would entertain the troops during wartime; I was reminded that during World War II many kinds of entertainment from celebrities took place. But somehow, watching what Bob Hope did during the Vietnam War to help the morale of thousands of troops had an impact on me. And I would unknowingly follow through with my own experiences of entertaining the troops later on in my own music life.
While I was in the service, I began to truly entertain the troops once I had been stationed overseas in the Far East, in Japan during the late 1970’s. I had been teaching some other guys in the barracks there who wanted to learn to play the bass guitar. They were fun times to be sure. But one day a man I had not met before peeked his head in my door and started asking some music related questions about who I was. I answered him, and then he asked me if I would like to be in his band. I said yes, and we kept that band together for over a year and a half as we entertained the troops weekly at the base NCO club, and at other bases around Honshu Island in Japan. The band played contemporary jazz music mainly, but we would throw in a couple of the hit soul songs of the day for fun. Playing in that band got me used to the idea of playing music for the troops; I really liked to play music for the men and women on active duty.
Once I had returned to the states in the early 1980’s, I finished my contractual duties with the service and was honorably discharged. At this point in my life, I was living in the high desert region of southern California. I had already put together a good band there, and we were entertaining the troops on the base there even while I was still in and on active duty. But once I was out, the shows for the troops did not end for my band. One night after a rehearsal, one of the parents of the band members suggested that I give the U.S.O. a call and inquire about playing music for their functions. A flood of memories came rushing back into my mind as I thought of those shows that I saw Bob Hope perform in Vietnam many years earlier. I was inspired by the thought, I wanted to walk down some of the path that Bob Hope did, even though the nation was not officially at war. I wanted to feel some of what he felt, and I wanted to do some good for the troops.
After getting the phone number for the U.S.O. in Hollywood, I called them up and spoke to the director of that division. His name was Jim Balla, and he was a most gracious, kind and intelligent man to meet and to work with. My band was ready to go for the most part, but Jim let me know that it would be better for me to have a female lead singer fronting the band. He said that this would be better for the troops, and I understood why. After a short search and some auditions of female singers, the band began to work with a beautiful model/singer/artist from Los Angeles who wanted to be part of the experience.
During the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, the U.S.O. notified me that they wanted to hold an Olympic Games closing party at their Hollywood facility. I accepted a contract for the show with them and later drove the band about 100 miles to Los Angeles to perform the event. It was great fun for the band, and our beautiful female lead singer kept the many troops there nicely entertained. There were many other young women there as well, and they all had a name tag with their names clearly printed on them. I asked Jim Balla who they were, and he told me that they were chaperones for the troops. They were there to dance and socialize with the troops, and to help keep their spirits up. After the event was over that night, I watched for a moment as all of the female chaperones got back on some big tour busses to be whisked away into the night. I told Jim that I thought working with the USO was a great experience for me, and that night I told him about my thoughts on Bob Hope.
Having told director Jim Balla of the Hollywood U.S.O. about my admiration for Bob Hope and what he had done for the troops during wartime did not go unnoticed. Jim then later booked my band for a show out at a really large Army base in southern California. He said that we would be playing for several thousand troops at this show. I said OK, it will be good for my band to do this.
When my band arrived at the Army base, we had traveled there in a few separate vehicles. I got out and spoke to one of the Army officers, he was thrilled that we were coming and told me that he had studied acoustical engineering while he was in college. He told me that he had found an area on the base that would serve as a natural amphitheater. The Army had already set up a pair of flatbed trailers for a stage and a diesel generator for power for the band gear at the show site. “Where is this place?” I asked. The Army officer let me know that we would have to drive out over six to seven miles of tank trails to get to the location. Wow. What an experience that was for the band. We were in passenger cars loaded down with backline gear, and one of the band members came in a pickup truck. It was a very slow and tough ride navigating the tremendous potholes left from the tanks on that trail to the concert site. What a journey that was.
Once we had arrived at the flatbed trailers and diesel generator at the show site, we got all of our band gear out of the cars and set up on the two opposing flatbed trailers the Army had set up for a stage. There was a heavy piece of rubber mat material that covered the place where the two flatbed trailers came together; to keep a good safe place to step for us, and to keep things from falling through the gap between them. Setting up, it was amazing to see a huge, long line of personnel trucks bringing the troops out to the show site. And the Army officer that I had spoken with was right; the large rocky hillside that he had chosen for the event had the proper slope to it, just like you would see in a man-made amphitheater. It was perfect it seemed. As the troops arrived, the number went above 5,000 in number. Closer to show time, one of the officers informed me that there were over 6,000 troops that had come to see the show, all of them in their combat uniforms.
My band played an amazing show, and funnily enough, we were using a male lead singer for this show. But the U.S.O. told me that this was ok for this event. The stage lighting was austere as it was six 100-watt floodlight bulbs each inside a large portable light fixture. But this somehow worked out to light the band up for all the troops in attendance. The roar from the crowd of troops was deafening after each song. They were really appreciative of our being there. It was an amazing experience, and I thought of Bob Hope for a moment while the troops were cheering. And then I understood why he did his shows, and why he chose to go out into harm’s way to make things better for the troops.
The U.S.O. in Hollywood did call me shortly afterward and asked me to return to that same Army base in southern California to play another concert. They laughed and reassured me that I would be on pavement the entire time for this show; they had heard about our adventures of driving miles across tank trails. They gave me their sincere thanks and a positive nod for doing that show with my band. And they kept their word on our return to that Army base, we set up the band on a nice stage in a good outdoor location on the base, it was easy to get to. The crowd was smaller this time too; around 2,000 troops showed up and had a great time with the band. Again, it was a good experience for me and my band; we played well and had fun.
The U.S.O. shows and bookings lasted for more than a year with my band; we played for the different branches of the services and did our best to entertain them all. We did this and we wanted to be there, to bring our best to the troops. To this day, I still ask young bands if they had ever considered playing for the U.S.O. Because playing music for the U.S.O. it is a unique experience to have as a musician, to be a part of those kinds of experiences is very special to all who are involved. And I did this because I was inspired by a man named Bob Hope, a man of talent, wisdom, courage and conviction who did the shows that other top celebrities probably would not have done. Rest in Peace Bob Hope.
And my eternal thanks to the U.S.O. for the great music event experiences for the troops that I was honored to participate in during my lifetime.
