The "I Know A Story" Story...Bob Hope's Show Brought Bit of Home To Soldiers in Vietnam

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a story that was published in the "Living Section" of my Sunday newspaper.  The "I Know A Story" story is publish every Sunday, usually in the "Living Section of the newspaper.  Today's story was titled "Bob Hope's show brought bit of home to soldiers in Vietnam."  The story was submitted by Dan Jerchau.  It read... During Christmas of 1971, I was stationed in Da Nam, Vietnam.  Each year, the USO would entertain troops with Christmas shows all over the world - wherever soldiers were stationed.  The biggest show was the Bob Hope show.  It was held at the Freedom Hill Post Exchange, where there was an amphitheater carved into the side of a hill on the base.  Right next to the theater was the Freedom Hill Post Exchange or PX.  That was like a huge Walmart for the military, where you could buy anything you wanted.  I bought my stereo there, and my Minolta camera.  There was talk of who was going to get tickets at our post to see Bob's show.  We knew a small number of us would get to see the performance.  Since I was only a Private First Class, I knew I most likely would not get a ticket.  I remember stepping out of my hooch, and I passed some soldiers walking in the other direction.  One of those guys stopped and asked, "Would you like to go to the Bob Hope show tomorrow."  I answered, "Yes, I would love to go but I'm not sure how to get a ticket."  The guy said, "Well, I got one, and I can't go.  Here's your ticket."  He handed me his ticket.  Wow!  I saw many Bob Hope shows on TV while I was at home, but it was a big deal to get to see him in person.  This was the first time I was ever away from home, not to mention away from my family at Christmas.  The next day, all of the soldiers were seated, long before Bob Hope showed up.  His crew had done all the preparations in advance of his arrival.  Suddenly, someone yelled, "Here they come!"  Six helicopters headed our way with a huge CH-47 Chinook helicopter out in the lead.  Five Huey (smaller helicopters) were behind in a "v" formation.  As they approached, the five Hueys popped red smoke grenades attached to their skids and all six helicopters flew over the amphitheater at only 100 feet, streaming red smoke.  It was quite a grand entrance.  All of them landed quickly, right beside the amphitheater.  It turns out the the lead Chinook was Bob Hope's aircraft.  He climbed out of the helicopter, along with about 25 beautiful girls, and about 15,000 soldiers went absolutely nuts.  Bob came out and said, " I heard that you can always  tell a soldier who is stationed at Da Nang.  His hair is parted down the middle from enemy 122mm rockets that roar overhead every night!"  Jim Nabors was there and sang a song.  The Golddiggers danced, and Ann-Margret was there, too.  The wonderful show lasted about an hour.  You could tell Bob Hope was the real deal.  He really did care about us.  He stressed over and over that he was proud of us and he could think of no better place to spend Christmas than with us in Vietnam.  At the very end of his show, he always had a pretty girl sing "Silent Night."  Then everyone was invited to sing with her.  I saw soldiers wiping tears from their eyes as we sang.  I was one of them.  I will ever forget the sound of 15,000 Army, Navy and Marine soldiers singing "Silent Night," and how Hope brought us all together on Christmas of 1971 in a war-torn land 12,000 miles from home.  Bob Hope did this every Christmas during World War II, the Korean War and all the way through the Vietnam War.  God Bless You Bob!!!  The author of this story, Dan Jerchau,  lives in East Petersburg, Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.