32 Vintage USO Photos Of Military Entertainment Starting With WW2
From World War II onward, these star-studded shows lifted a nation's morale.
Private First Class William Seldon of Nyack, N.Y., gets the privilege of kissing Marilyn Monroe's hand with the enthusiastic approval of his buddies.The actress was entertaining the 25th Division during a tour of bases in Korea on Feb. 22, 1954.
Bettmann/Getty Images Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard meets his match against Bob Hope during taping of Hope's U.S.O. 40th Anniversary Show at West Point, New York on May 17, 1981.Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images Frank Sinatra signs autographs for Nisei members of the 42nd Infantry Combat Team, who were guests of the Hollywood U.S.O. after they attended the Sinatra broadcast.The G.I.s were rescuers of the 141st "Lost" Batallion of the 36th Division, and were awaiting shipment to Hawaii to be honorarily discharged. Jan. 6, 1946.
Bettmann/Getty Images Mariyln Monroe sings for an appreciative audience of military personnel in Korea. Jan. 1954. U.S. Dept. of Defense/Wikimedia Commons Jayne Mansfield performs during a U.S.O. Christmas show. 1957.Wikimedia Commons Actress Raquel Welch dances on stage with several soldiers during a Bob Hope U.S.O. show at Da Nang, Vietnam. Dec. 18, 1967. Bettmann/Getty Images Jayne Mansfield and Bob Hope stand on stage during a Christmas show for the Army at a Korean military base. 1957.Robert S.Sweeney/Wikimedia Commons Actress Sarah Jessica Parker performs as Orphan Annie aboard the USS Iwo Jima on May 29, 1979. Jim Preston/U.S. Navy/All Hands Magazine/Wikimedia Commons Actress Joey Heatherton entertains the troops on the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga off the coast of Vietnam with Bob Hope's U.S.O. Christmas show. Dec. 1965.National Archives/Interim Archives/Getty Images Marilyn Monroe waves from a helicopter during a show at a Marine base.Monroe visited the first Marine Division area where 13,000 Leathernecks yelled, cheered and whistled as Monroe, supported by a U.S.O. troupe, entertained the crowd. Feb. 21, 1954.
Bettmann/Getty Images Actor John Wayne signs Private First Class Fonsell Wofford's helmet during a visit to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, at Chu Lai air base in Vietnam. June 1966. National Archives/Wikimedia Commons Marilyn Monroe greets the troops during her U.S.O. tour of Korea in Jan. 1954. USMC Archives/Wikimedia Commons Actress Jayne Mansfield is carried by Bob Hope as they depart for a U.S.O. tour of Asia. Dec. 1954. Steve Fontanini/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Military servicemen cheer and snap photos as Marilyn Monroe greets the crowd at a U.S.O. show. Feb. 17, 1954. U.S. Army/Wikimedia Commons Entertainers Dick Winslow and Mickey Rooney goof off as they serve a meal to servicemen while on a U.S.O. tour. Oct. 12, 1952. Cpl. John Scoblic/Wikimedia Commons Bob Hope performs in costume during a 1962 Christmas show. NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Marilyn Monroe poses for a portrait with an American soldier during a U.S.O. tour of Korea on New Year's Day 1954. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Comedian Joe Brown cuts it up in his act for soldiers during a U.S.O. show in Italy. 1944. New York Public Library Audience members laugh it up during a U.S.O. Bob Hope performance in Seoul, Korea on Oct. 23, 1950. National Archives/Wikimedia Commons Marilyn Monroe takes time during a U.S.O. show to sign an autograph for a fan during her tour of Korea. Jan. 1, 1954. Mai/Mai/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform their U.S.O. show "America and Her Music" on the deck of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS Bainbridge. 1983. Paul B. Soutar/National Archives/Wikimedia Commons More than 12,000 U.S. Marines crowd into an outdoor amphitheater to watch Bob Hope and Phil Crosby open the former's U.S.O. Christmas Show tour at Da Nang, Vietnam. Actress Raquel Welch and singer Barbara McNair were also on hand to greet the troops, Dec. 19, 1967.manhhai/Flickr The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes line the pier as they get ready to board a ship and depart New York City for a U.S.O. tour. July 14, 1945. Bettmann/Getty Images Bob Hope joins dancers Harold and Fayard Nicholas in a dance step aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Ticonderoga. Dec. 1965.National Archives/Wikimedia Commons A military crowd takes in the performance of Marilyn Monroe during a show in Korea on Jan. 1, 1954. USMC Archives/Wikimedia Commons Bob Hope tees-off on the flight deck aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga during his visit to the carrier off the coast of Vietnam. Dec. 26, 1965.Hope and other entertainers were on a Christmas tour of U.S. military installations throughout Vietnam that year.
U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons Two soldiers take the stage with U.S.O. performers during a show aboard the USNS Corpus Christi in Vung Tau, South Vietnam. Jan. 1971. D_Swanson/Flickr Comedian Phyllis Diller smiles for the camera as she enjoys a bicycle ride. Diller was part of the Bob Hope Christmas show at Korat Air Base in Thailand. Dec. 1966.National Archives/Wikimedia Commons Entertainers Sara Sue Jennie Frankel and Terrie Frankel entertain a group of troops during a U.S.O. show in Vietnam. 1968. Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons Singer and actress Lola Falana entertains American troops in Da Nang, Vietnam, as part of a Bob Hope U.S.O. tour. Dec. 24, 1970. manhhai/Flickr Several soldiers join U.S.O. entertainers Sara Sue Jennie Frankel and Terrie Frankel perform on stage during a show in Vietnam. 1968. Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons General William Westmoreland thanks entertainer Bob Hope for bringing his U.S.O. Christmas show to entertain the troops fighting in Vietnam. Dec. 1965.Wikimedia Commons Marilyn Monroe and a group of singers entertain an estimated 13,000 men of the First Marine Division in Korea. Feb. 16, 1954.Cpl. Kreplin/Wikimedia Commons
33 Vintage U.S.O. Tour Photos – From Marilyn Monroe To Frank Sinatra View Gallery"Until everyone comes home" is the motto of United Service Organizations (U.S.O.) and since 1941, the nonprofit organization has stuck to that motto, doing its best to bring support and entertainment to American military personnel around the world.
Founded at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a means of providing a morale boost to U.S. troops during World War II, the outfit became the soldiers' "home away from home." Nearly 1.5 million people pitched in to make the program a success during the war — before it was disbanded in 1947.
However, the program was then revived in 1950 for the Korean War and has remained in place over the decades since, both in times of peace and war.
Throughout that time, the U.S.O. has become most famous for its entertainment as it has linked celebrity entertainers eager to show their patriotism with troops looking for a break from day-to-day military life. Both past and present, the list of stars who have gone on U.S.O. tours to entertain the troops reads like a who's who of celebrities: John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and George Burns, were just a few of the people who performed and visited with the troops in the early days of the U.S.O.
Out of the hundreds of performers who have entertained the troops, none has shown their support more than the late comedian Bob Hope. Known for taking his golf club with him at nearly every base and ship he visited, Hope spent 48 Christmases overseas with American service personnel, performing and visiting with the soliders and sailors.
As Hope once said of performing with the U.S.O. in 1944:
"Believe me when I say that laughter up at the front lines is a very precious thing—precious to those grand guys who are giving and taking the awful business that goes on there. There’s a lump the size of Grant’s Tomb in your throat when they come up to you and shake your hand and mumble 'Thanks'."
As you'll see in the vintage photos of U.S.O. shows above, these performances have long been incredibly rewarding for both the performers and the military personnel they're serving.
Next, check out this photo history of military animals Then, see Norma Jeane Mortenson before she became Marilyn Monroe.
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