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Reader Memories: Bob Hope
May-June 2003
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THE OTHER SIDE OF BOB HOPE
Here's a peek into the other side of Bob Hope. During World War II, I worked in public relations at Ingalls Shipbuilding on the Mississippi Coast. We were thrilled when Bob Hope scheduled a program for our workers. I was overjoyed as I was just 18 and had never seen a celebrity.
We set up an outside stage, as there was no building large enough for the thousands who would attend.
The band played an opening, and a crew member came out and said, "Bob sends his regrets. He has been traveling and is very tired. He's at the Longfellow House resting."
The rest of the troop put on a good program, but I never watched Bob Hope after that.
Lyn Keys Tutor
Magee, MS
HE SENT A SIGNED PHOTO AS A GOLDEN WEDDING GIFT
While serving in the South Pacific during WW II with the 63 N.C.B.—U.S. Navy Seabees—Bob Hope and his troupe, Jerry Colona and Frances Langford, visited Emirau Island in the St. Matthias group (Papua New Guinea) early 1944. They entertained us and other battalions. We all enjoyed a great show! They were greatly appreciated.
Then some 50 years later, the U.S. Marine Corp. invited Bob Hope to Washington, D.C. for a medal presentation. Our son, Col. Alfred J. Ponnwitz, served Bob and Dolores Hope as host and Military Aid during their stay in D.C. During conversations, it was mentioned about my Seabee service, and having seen Bob in the Islands, and that my wife Olive and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.
Graciously, Bob & Dolores sent an 8 x 10 framed color photograph, signed and congratulating us on our 50th anniversary.
God bless them both, and "Thanks for the Memories".
Alfred F. Ponnwitz
Whiting, NJ
I MET BOB HOPE IN THE BATHROOM!
As a corpsman stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam, in 1957 and 1958, a Bob Hope tour would not be unexpected, but the circumstances were.
Bob Hope, accompanied by Jane Mansfield, Jerry Colona, and others, came to visit the servicemen who were patients in the wards. I was on ward duty that day and got a bit more of a show than anybody. While I was taking a break to use the men's room, the door opened, and I heard a familiar voice say something like "Is there room for two there, sailor?" And there I was, only 22 years old, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, sharing a urinal with Bob Hope.
Leon Komorowski
Unadilla, NY
HE BROUGHT A PIECE OF HOME TO ALL OUR TROOPS
It was either April or May, 1945, and I was doing temporary duty at Orly Air Field outside Paris. I had been overseas more than two years and had no idea when I would ever get back home to my mother, sister, and fiancée. It was a lonely time.
I was billeted near the airbase in a large house. There were several other Air Force people there also. One morning, around 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., we were awakened and told that Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were going to put on an impromptu show around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. in a nearby field. It seems their plane, taking them back to the USA, had put in with engine trouble. These two and their troupe decided to squeeze in "something for the boys."
We dressed in a hurry, headed for the open pasture, surrounded by trees. The dawn was just breaking, light was still dim, and it seemed eerie—a chill in the air and GIs, appearing like ghosts, from out of the trees. Where they all came from, I'll never know.
Some flatbed farm wagons had been drawn together to form a fairly large, rather wobbly looking stage. As I recall, there were just three or four musicians on it, there were a couple of mikes, and then—up on stage, came Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. They proceeded to greet everyone, sang a welcoming duet, and went in to a non-stop repartee—being cheered almost constantly. The crowd gave them a "standing ovation" for every turn they did—and would have even if we had places to sit down. I felt closer to home during that hour or more, and I'd bet so did every other GI present!
In later years, when I would see Bob Hope, Frances Langford, etc. shown entertaining troops in Korea, the Pacific, or some other far flung place, I would wipe away a few tears, looking at the faces of our servicemen—their expressions of joy brought by the dancers and bandsmen, as well as the big headliners like Hope and Crosby. Bob Hope is one of my heroes, as he gave more than anyone, over and over, to bring a piece of home to thousands of our troops in all parts of the planet!
E. L. Walker
Minnetonka, MN
SOLDIER, DO YOU HAVE TO GO NOW?
The year was 1940, and I was a member of the 150th Infantry National Guard from West Virginia stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we were sent to Panama as part of the Panama Defense Command to guard and protect the Panama Canal.
A USO troop of Bob Hope, Jerry Colona, Frances Langford, and others came to Panama to put on a one-time show for the whole Panama Command at Fort Clayton in the Canal Zone.
The only place considered to be large enough to accommodate the large crowd of GIs was in the middle of the golf course. A stage was set up, and the GIs and the whole command were trucked in and told to sit down on the ground so everyone could see the show. The show started, Jerry did his skit, Frances sang a song and Bob came on to do his monologue. The first thing he said was, "Panama! Devil's Island with palm trees."
Shortly into his monologue, a GI, way down front of the sea of GIs, got up and was trying to thread his way out of the crowd. Bob immediately stopped talking and walked over to the corner of the stage and watched the GI trying to maneuver his way out of the crowd. He watched him for a short time and then yelled at him, "Soldier, do you have to go NOW? Can't you wait until the show is over?" The crowd went wild, and I can still see Frances Langford hanging onto a light pole and laughing convulsively.
It was a great show from the King of All Comedians, and one who traveled all over the world to entertain the GIs during the war and a show I will never forget.
Raymond E. Dye
Nitro, WV
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