1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:22,200 And now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 3 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:23,480 And welcome to Veterans Radio. 4 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,440 It is our Christmas program 2023. 5 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,880 Holy mackerel, how did we get to this point? 6 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:31,160 Yes, welcome. 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,040 Today's program we've got lined up for you actually is a replay of a program that we 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,920 did back in 2012. 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,120 So you don't think that Veterans Radio has been on that long, do you? 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:42,120 Right? 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,600 Well, you know, we are in our 20th year anyway to get back to this. 12 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:53,240 So back in December of 2012, we had Senior Vice President of the USO and Air Force Veteran 13 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:54,840 John Hansen on our program. 14 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:59,720 When we talk about, you know, the USO, its history, you know, what it's been doing in 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,360 the past and where it's going in the future. 16 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:07,360 And we also interspersed a number of different segments, I guess you could say, of Bob Hope, 17 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:13,160 because how can you do the USO without talking about Bob Hope, depending on your generation? 18 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:19,240 Of course, ours, you know, in the Vietnam generation, we got to see him because of course, 19 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,720 what he did in World War II was just, you know, Yeoman's duty. 20 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,000 I mean, can't think of how many years he's missed Christmas with his family. 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,320 But anyway, so that's what we're going to be highlighting today on our program. 22 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:37,080 We're also going to be, at the end of the program, we're going to be playing a little 23 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:42,120 medley by the US Army Band, a series of Christmas songs. 24 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,720 And I just think that you're going to really enjoy listening to this program. 25 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,400 And so I want you to make sure that you stay tuned. 26 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,920 You know, we can't do this program without your support, without the support of our sponsors. 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,400 So I want to make sure that I do thank them, especially at this time of year. 28 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,480 So first of all, I want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,160 Legal Help for Veterans specializes in veterans disability claims. 30 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:11,960 Call Legal Help for Veterans at 800-69-34800, or you can go to their website, Legal Help 31 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:13,440 for Veterans. 32 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:18,720 The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, the nation's 33 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,040 leading third party authority for certification of veteran-owned businesses. 34 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:28,120 For more information, go to their website, that's NVBDC.org, or give them a call at 35 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,600 888-237-8433. 36 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,120 The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 37 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,840 For more information, you can go to va.gov. 38 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:45,440 I also want to make sure that we don't forget our local organizations for their long, long 39 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,440 time support. 40 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,840 We've got the Irwin Press Corps and American Legion Post-46 and the Charles S. Kettles 41 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:58,400 Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 42 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:04,360 So as I mentioned, we're going to be replaying our program from December of 2012, where we're 43 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:11,040 talking with John Hansen from the USO, and we're going to be playing a number of segments 44 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:18,160 from some Bob Hope shows that were actually, I think, someone go back to World War II. 45 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:24,040 So sit back, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and I think you'll enjoy this. 46 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:25,720 We hope you'll enjoy this. 47 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,360 From all of us here at Veterans Radio, we wish you a very, very happy holiday season, 48 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,760 very merry Christmas, and we'll see you next year. 49 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,520 So here we go, Bob Hope. 50 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,120 What better topic to talk about than the USO? 51 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,720 For all of you who have been in the service, we all are familiar with the USO and their 52 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:49,960 programs that they put on bases around the world, some of their USO clubs and various 53 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:55,720 airports where we could stop and stay and have a relaxing time and get out of the hub 54 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,760 hub of a regular old airport. 55 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:03,440 So coming up, and just a little bit, we're going to have John Hansen, who is a senior 56 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,760 vice president and Air Force veteran, and he will be on talking about the history of the 57 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,760 USO and what it means to us and what it means to the country. 58 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,120 And I think it's very important that everybody out there, I know you're always looking for 59 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,880 organizations to support, and the USO is a great one, and they've been around for 70 60 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,400 years, and we're going to take a look at the history of the USO. 61 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:31,280 And I encourage you, if you've had the opportunity to see a USO show or stop at one of their 62 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:36,000 centers at the airports, I'm going to play a clip that I found on YouTube yesterday. 63 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,000 I'm fortunate you can't see the photographs that go along with it, but you'll be able 64 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,080 to find it if you want to at some point. 65 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,440 And it was put up there by an organization or a gentleman called Answer So Lucky, and 66 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:51,880 it runs about eight minutes, but it talks a little bit about the USO and of course the 67 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,600 iconic Bob Hope. 68 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,080 So Nina, let's hear this right now. 69 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:03,520 Bob Hope was not only a great comedian, he also was a great hero. 70 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:11,720 What he did for this country in times of crisis will always be remembered. 71 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,080 I just want you boys to see what you're fighting for, that's all. 72 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,280 I was on radio at NBC, and the producers said they want you at March Field next year. 73 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:22,600 I said, what's March Field? 74 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,520 They said, that's an Air Force base in Riverside. 75 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:26,920 I said, well, what do we do there? 76 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,800 You know, there's no war or anything. 77 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:30,800 He said, well, they want you down there. 78 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:31,800 That's a great audience. 79 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,800 There you are, Conan, you're down your knees with 12 suitcases on your back. 80 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:35,800 What are you going to do now? 81 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:36,800 I don't know, sense? 82 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:37,800 Wasting a position like this. 83 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:38,800 Get out the dice. 84 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:39,800 The audience was so great. 85 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:40,800 I said, wait a minute, how long is this going on? 86 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:41,800 And Christmas time, war started going to become dramatic. 87 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:42,800 We were at five straight years all around the world just doing troops, big troops. 88 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:43,800 What a great thing that ever happened to me. 89 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:44,800 Well, here I am in London. 90 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:45,800 But here we are on the USS Foxes. 91 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:46,800 Here I am in Alaska. 92 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:47,800 Colorado. 93 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,800 I'm in the USO. 94 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:49,800 I'm in the USO. 95 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:50,800 I'm in the USO. 96 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:51,800 I'm in the USO. 97 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:52,800 I'm in the USO. 98 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:53,800 I'm in the USO. 99 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:54,800 I'm in the USO. 100 00:05:54,800 --> 00:06:01,800 What a great thing that ever happened to me. 101 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:02,800 Well, here I am in London. 102 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:03,800 But here we are on the USS Foxes. 103 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:04,800 Here I am in Alaska. 104 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:05,800 Colorado Springs. 105 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:06,800 Guam. 106 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:07,800 Tokyo. 107 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:08,800 Here we are in Insulik, Turkey. 108 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:09,800 Insulik. 109 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:10,800 That's a Turkish word meaning don't knock it at least Vietnam. 110 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:11,800 Uban. 111 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:12,800 Kacli. 112 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:13,800 Karat. 113 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:14,800 Achukuchi. 114 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:15,800 Udupan. 115 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:16,800 And Reindangdang. 116 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:17,800 Chung-ching, Chung-kang air base. 117 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,800 That voice will be here on the, where are we? 118 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,800 I was a little kid during the Second World War. 119 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:31,800 And these really vivid memories of sitting by the radio and listening to hope. 120 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:32,800 Some night. 121 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:33,800 Some night. 122 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:34,800 Some park. 123 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:35,800 Some park. 124 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:36,800 Some moon. 125 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:37,800 Some moon. 126 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:38,800 Some bench. 127 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:39,800 Some bench. 128 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:40,800 Some grass. 129 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:41,800 Some grass. 130 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:42,800 Some dew. 131 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:43,800 I do. 132 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:54,800 Well, it's something like finding out right away, you know. 133 00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:00,800 The soldiers and sailors that he was entertaining were a real part of the show. 134 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,800 You heard these people who were starved for entertainment, starved for some feeling of 135 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:06,800 normal life again. 136 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,800 And you heard this tremendous outpouring of energy from them. 137 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:18,800 Bob Hope, when he came to entertain the troops, it made us, and it probably made other troops 138 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:19,800 feel the same way. 139 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,800 It made them forget for a little bit the killing and the dying that was taking place, even 140 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,800 though it was for just a short time. 141 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,800 What's the difference between you and an idiot? 142 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,800 Well, for one thing, you don't have a mustache. 143 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:37,800 That's a thrill for me. 144 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:39,800 All these men whistling in the street. 145 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:40,800 Yeah. 146 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,800 They've been in the jungle too long. 147 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:49,800 Hey, little girl, comb your hair, fix your makeup. 148 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,800 Soon he will open the door. 149 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:58,800 He was not interested in anything but pleasing those people. 150 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:05,800 When you went out on the stage, the acceptance was beyond a great audience, you know, that 151 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,800 was going to give you a standing ovation before you even opened your mouth. 152 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:14,800 Hey, Bob, am I standing in the right place? 153 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,800 Don't worry, honey, if you're not, they'll move the base. 154 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:19,800 I didn't know what I'm doing here, Bob. 155 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:20,800 I can't sing and I can't dance. 156 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:21,800 Don't. 157 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:22,800 Oh, just stand there. 158 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,800 They'll do the singing and dancing. 159 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:27,800 He kept the morale of that was what his job was. 160 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:29,800 Keep that morale for everybody. 161 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,800 I'll give you eight bars to make your fame and fortune. 162 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:32,800 Otherwise, it's back to the swamp. 163 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:33,800 Go. 164 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:48,800 I met Mr. Holt and he warned me to try a few bars of art Christmas. 165 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,800 He kind of stunned me with his reaction, but God, he said, you know, Crosby's got kids 166 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:53,800 everywhere. 167 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:59,800 I don't know what you guys did to get here, but let that be a lesson to you. 168 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:09,800 He brought a little bit of home 10,000 miles away and especially at Christmas time. 169 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,800 His specialist fourth, Brian H. O'Connell here. 170 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:15,800 Where is he? 171 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:17,800 Would you come up, please? 172 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:19,800 I went over to Vietnam. 173 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,800 Parks Mead, June or July of 65. 174 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,800 My wife was about six months pregnant. 175 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:30,800 Just before we got on the plane, his wife brought this over to us and here's a picture 176 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,800 of twins, his twins that he's never seen. 177 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:35,800 I had no idea what they looked like. 178 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,800 I just knew that they were twin boys. 179 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,800 I just want you to take a peek at these little kids. 180 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:43,800 It's the first time he's ever seen them. 181 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,800 Those are the boys. 182 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:52,800 My dad didn't like to talk about Vietnam much from his personal experiences, but one thing 183 00:09:52,800 --> 00:10:02,800 dad did talk about from the war was receiving the picture on stage with Bob Holt. 184 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,800 Bob gave me the bread book. 185 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,800 I was proud, really proud of him and I thought it was great. 186 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,800 I appreciate it very much. 187 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:17,800 It was a great feeling. 188 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:23,800 The whole front row, the whole front section was always the guys that had like a plasma 189 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:25,800 drip going in. 190 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:27,800 And they would be in bed. 191 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,800 You knew that this was serious business and to hear them laugh. 192 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,800 You remember me, Roseberry's baby? 193 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,800 My face, Logner. 194 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,800 Yeah. 195 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,800 You know this isn't such a bad part. 196 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,800 What the hell is all that fire in you? 197 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,800 General, will you call off this stuff, this war while we're on clean? 198 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,800 He would walk into a hospital and only he could do this. 199 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:57,800 He would lead the gang. 200 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,800 It was five women and myself and Peter Leeds and Les Brown and we all big troop. 201 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:02,800 And he'd walk in there. 202 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,800 His opening remark was, don't get up to us. 203 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,800 You were seeing kids that had their arms and legs removed. 204 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:15,800 You were seeing guys that had the whole front of their bodies sewn up with great big staples. 205 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:16,800 They're thick. 206 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:18,800 I broke down a car ride. 207 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,800 And he took me aside and gave me an lecture. 208 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:23,800 This isn't why we're here. 209 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:24,800 They want lightness. 210 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:26,800 They want a joke. 211 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,800 They want you to pretend that nothing is wrong. 212 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:31,800 Many skirts are bigger than ever. 213 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:33,800 Even some of the fellas are wearing them. 214 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,800 Don't laugh if you'd have thought of it, you wouldn't be here. 215 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:52,800 I think one of the most emotional shows I ever played was when I played for the first Marine division in Povuva, 216 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:58,800 down in the South Pacific because we were playing on called Bonica. 217 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:04,800 And this fella flew over and said, could you possibly do an extra show for the first Marine division? 218 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:12,800 They never had a show and they would really love to see and they're going to invade Pellahue. 219 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:19,800 And so we flew over the next morning and you knew when you walked out there that you're playing for 15,000 kids, 220 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,800 that a lot of those guys you never see again. 221 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:30,800 And as it worked out, 60% of those kids were knocked off in this invasion of Pellahue. 222 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,800 And that was a segment about Bob Hope and the USO shows. 223 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:36,800 Actually, I've got a call on the line. 224 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,800 I've got Rob Winter calling from Celine, Michigan. 225 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,800 And Rob, you were called in because you went to a USO show. 226 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,800 Yeah, I was in Vietnam in 70 and 71. 227 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,800 I was in the Army and I got the luck of the draw. 228 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,800 We had in our company, I don't remember what the allocation was, 229 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:03,800 only three or four people, but we put our names and names in the hat and my name came up. 230 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:10,800 And so I was lucky enough to get to go to one of the famous Bob Hope Christmas shows. 231 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,800 So of course this happened in December of 1970. 232 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:27,800 And I was in the Marical Division, so I was in the 3rd Battal in 1st Infantry. 233 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:34,800 And what started out, the chopper took us back to our fire base, 234 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,800 which was Fire Support Base 411 or 411. 235 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:45,800 And from there then they flew us back to Chu Lai, which was our the Marical headquarters. 236 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:51,800 Well, I think that was the point, what started there on the way to Da Nang, 237 00:13:51,800 --> 00:14:00,800 where the USO show was being held, which was about a three hour ride about 90 miles up Highway 1. 238 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,800 We had all been stripped of our weapons. 239 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:10,800 And this was probably the first time for all the guys in this huge convoy that we were without weapons. 240 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:12,800 And it was kind of, we all kind of felt naked. 241 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,800 I'm sure. 242 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,800 But anyhow, we got trucked up. 243 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:27,800 I guess one of the interesting things too along the way, in Vietnam there were no, what do you want to call, highway rest stops. 244 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:35,800 So what would happen, they would stop the whole convoy and everyone would get out and literally go to the side of the road. 245 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:43,800 And there was, as far as you can see, both directions were GIs. 246 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,800 You can't forget that picture. 247 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:48,800 I don't know. 248 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,800 But anyhow, we got up there. 249 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,800 And this show was, I remember a couple things. 250 00:14:54,800 --> 00:15:00,800 Of course the show had Bob Hope, just like you were playing in the clips, some of his jokes. 251 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:08,800 But he had Ursula Andrus, who of course had been very famous for the Bond movie, the Dr. No Bond movie. 252 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,800 Lola Filana, who was a dancer. 253 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,800 Gloria Loring, who was a good singer at the time. 254 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:24,800 He had, I think it was Jennifer Hosting, who was Miss World anyhow, 1970. 255 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:32,800 Johnny Bench was also there, a baseball player, and of course Les Brown and his band of her own. 256 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:40,800 But I think, myself, what I think most of the guys truly liked the best was the Gold Diggers group that he brought along. 257 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:51,800 If people don't know, of course this was the, you know, right at the end of the 60s, 70s, and they were all in their hip huggers, go-go boots. 258 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,800 You know, very tight, showing a lot of leg. 259 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:05,800 And I think everybody thought, you know, because they were, for a lot of the guys, it's the first time they've truly seen an American girl for, you know, for a long time. 260 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,800 And I think they were the hit of the show, if you want to know the truth. 261 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:11,800 At least that was my perspective. 262 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:16,800 Well, Rob, what did the Bob Hope show mean to you, and looking back at it? 263 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:22,800 Well, of course, for me it was a, you know, a great, great break, you know, a couple days. 264 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:28,800 Like I said, it was scary, both going and coming, because we were vulnerable, but luckily we weren't attacked. 265 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,800 They did have a lot of, they had some helicopter cover on the convoy. 266 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,800 But the show itself was morale. 267 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:45,800 I mean, it was, I mean, all the guys there, it was, you know, just terrific to see those people coming out to, you know, support the troops. 268 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,800 And, you know, giving their time, so, you know, meant a lot. 269 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:55,800 Well, Rob, I want to thank you very much for calling in and have a very Merry Christmas this year, too. 270 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:56,800 Okay. 271 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:58,800 Same to you. 272 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,800 And everyone at Veterans Radio. 273 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:01,800 Thank you. 274 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:02,800 Thank you very much. 275 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,800 We're going to take a break. 276 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:12,800 And when we get back, we're going to have John Hansen from the USO on to talk about the history of the USO and what they've did in the past and what they're doing today. 277 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,800 You're listening to Veterans Radio. 278 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:55,800 And that, of course, was the Andrew Sisters for those of us that are old enough to remember. 279 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:01,800 And I was trying to come up with some, some tunes for the current USO tours. 280 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:09,800 And unfortunately I got sidetracked as I normally do when I'm trying to pick music of songs that I heard when I was in the service or when I was growing up. 281 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,800 And my dad would talk about the USO shows. 282 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,800 And unfortunately I didn't get to go to the USO that was in Long Bend in 1969. 283 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:25,800 I was working that day and we were flying, actually we flew over or near until we were told by Air Traffic Control to get out of the area. 284 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:31,800 And it was an amazing site with probably 20,000 GIs down in this bowl. 285 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:37,800 And down in the middle of it was this little tiny stage and you could see just these little people running around. 286 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,800 And I was able to find some of that on YouTube. 287 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:47,800 And for those of you that are really interested in looking at some of these older programs, YouTube is a great source for the information. 288 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,800 They've got a lot of clips of Bob Hope. They have a lot of clips of today's USO shows. 289 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:54,800 So I would encourage you to do that, but not yet. 290 00:18:54,800 --> 00:19:00,800 And right now coming on to the Veterans Radio program is John Hansen. 291 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:07,800 And John is a senior executive with the USO organization and John, welcome to Veterans Radio. 292 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:09,800 Thank you, Dale. Merry Christmas. 293 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:16,800 Merry Christmas to you and thank you so much for your organization and what they do for the troops that are active duty. 294 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:27,800 And of course what they do for us that look back at this and just can't thank you, the USO, enough for what you did over in Vietnam, in my case, all over the world. 295 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,800 So tell me a little bit about how the USO came about. 296 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,800 The USO was created in early 1941. 297 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:49,800 In February of 1941, President Roosevelt combined the operations of six nonprofit organizations that had been, that health troops did morale work in World War I. 298 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,800 And he said his thought was it would be better if they coordinated their activities. 299 00:19:54,800 --> 00:20:05,800 If you look at the USO logo, you'll see six stars and that is sort of our salute to those six founding organizations that were pulled together. 300 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:23,800 And the whole idea was that the military was expanding, bases were opening all over the country, and there needed to be a coordinated effort to provide morale services and recreational activities for troops at these bases to keep them occupied when they weren't in training. 301 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:31,800 Well, you know, I'm stuttering here because I'm just fascinated about the whole USO thing and how they got started. 302 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:40,800 We heard in the clip that I played that Bob Hope got started actually before World War II began when he was asked to go to camp in California. 303 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:45,800 He went to put us now on March Air Force Base, on March Field. 304 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,800 And the story was he really sort of fought it. 305 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,800 And he said, well, I think we just bring some troops to the studio. And his producer said, no, you really need to go out there. 306 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:04,800 And he discovered that there was a great audience that he hadn't even anticipated and it started his activities. 307 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:15,800 He was on the road nonstop during the war and as we all know, even afterwards, he did USO tours up through the First Gulf War. 308 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,800 Well, now Bob Hope, of course, wasn't the only one that was going around the world putting on these programs. 309 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:26,800 You also had programs going on in the states with some of these things called the Stage Door Cantines. 310 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,800 Can you tell me a little bit about those? 311 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:39,800 Yeah, the Stage Door Cantines were actually started, I think, by John Garfield and Betty Davis as an effort for Hollywood to get involved in the war effort. 312 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:48,800 And the first troops stationed around the country would go to these, before USO clubs were at these locations, 313 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,800 they would go to these locations and be served a meal, there'd be some dancing, some entertainment, 314 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:59,800 and they'd happen to be just as likely to be weighted on by a celebrity. 315 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,800 My father is a World War II veteran who was in San Francisco. 316 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:14,800 And it's interesting, the one memory that stood out for him during the war was being served a sandwich by Sophie Tucker at the USO in San Francisco. 317 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,800 It means a lot for these troops still, for celebrities. 318 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:23,800 Somebody, as they say, who doesn't have to be here to show up and do something on their own, do something nice. 319 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:34,800 I don't think that many people are really aware of how many entertainers have been going on USO tours over the last 70 years, but even up till today. 320 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,800 Can you think of some of the entertainers that have been in Afghanistan and Iraq? 321 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:45,800 Well, Robin Williams and Lewis Black, Kid Rock, is probably one of the reasons you didn't want to pick any music. 322 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:55,800 Kelly Pickler, the country singer, just finished her 60 USO tour this week. She got back on Tuesday from Afghanistan. 323 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,800 Trace Atkins has gone for us a number of times. 324 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:07,800 Toby Keith goes every spring for us and he insists that while he doesn't mind doing large shows at a large basis, 325 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:16,800 he won't go unless he can go to some forward operating basis. So we have to engineer a tour to make sure that he gets to some really small locations. 326 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:24,800 He takes him and his guitarists out to entertain troops. Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are on tour now. 327 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,800 They've been going on tour since Vietnam, especially this time of year. 328 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:37,800 They have been going to Japan and Korea this year. They're going to the Persian Gulf area. 329 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:46,800 We've run the gamut and we're delighted that Celebrity Still Step Up Gary Sinise has gone around the world for us. 330 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:54,800 I don't know how many times. Taking either going by himself just to talk to troops or taking the Lieutenant Dan Band with him. 331 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,800 It's a big roster. 332 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:04,800 I just think it's amazing and I want people to really understand that these people are volunteering to go over there. 333 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:12,800 In fact, one of the clips that I was listening to with Bob Hope, he said he went back and asked him to go again. 334 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:17,800 I said, okay. He went off and did these shows. 335 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:29,800 I'm always amazed at the programs that they put on and the reception that they got and that he gave up his Christmas for 40 years to put on these programs. 336 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,800 Many of these people today are following in those footsteps. 337 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:45,800 If we look at the USO during World War II and what they did, of course, traveling around the world for those four years, what happened to the USO after World War II? 338 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:58,800 Well, in 1947, as the military was being paired back, Harry Truman gave the USO an honorable discharge and thanked the USO for its services. 339 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:07,800 Over the next couple of years, the USO wound down its activities around the world until 1950. 340 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:17,800 When the Korean War started, the USO was once again asked to do what it had done in World War II and we've been going strong ever since. 341 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,800 In Korea, of course, we had a flyer that I sent around. 342 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,800 I found a picture of Marilyn Monroe and found out that she had gone to Korea a couple of times. 343 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,800 Of course, the entertainers and Bob Hope, of course, went to Korea. 344 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:42,800 I had an email from one of our listeners that said that he had seen Bob Hope in Korea and it just meant so much to him to see the program. 345 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:52,800 Being all these American guys that are overseas and Bob Hope brings over all these young American women and they say, oh, this is what you're fighting for. 346 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,800 It's kind of interesting. 347 00:25:54,800 --> 00:26:05,800 Marilyn Monroe went to Korea and she and Joe DiMaggio were in Japan and she decided that she wanted to go to Korea and went over there. 348 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:11,800 She came back. The story is that she said, Joe, you can't imagine what it's like to have thousands of people yelling your name. 349 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,800 And he said, oh, yes, I can. 350 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:24,800 I would say so. It's probably a little bit of different experience for most of the movie people anyway to have people yelling and screaming your name out. 351 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,800 It was amazing when I was listening to these clips. 352 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:33,800 And again, I encourage people, if you want to find out more about some of these shows that the USO put on, you can find them, of course. 353 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:42,800 But when I was editing them out, I would edit out sometimes two and three minutes of the troops just cheering just because. 354 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:44,800 And that hasn't changed. 355 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:54,800 Those shows, and your audience needs to understand, one thing that they do know about the USO is probably our entertainment tours. 356 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,800 And it's about 10% of what we do. It's a huge 10%. 357 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,800 And it's extraordinarily important. 358 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,800 People today in Afghanistan at this time of year, we take a tour over there. 359 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:10,800 They'll wait for three or four hours in the snow and sit through a two or three hour show. 360 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,800 It means that much to them. 361 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,800 And the response is exactly the same. 362 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,800 It's noisy. It's boisterous. 363 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:24,800 And it's one reason that once we get a performer to go on a tour, we don't have trouble recruiting that performer again. 364 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:26,800 Well, I guess here's a question. 365 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,800 I come up with, what about security for these people? 366 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:35,800 That's kind of, you know, the guy called in, Robbie, is saying, you know, they took us in there. 367 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,800 Of course, they don't want us to bring our weapons into the show. 368 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,800 Well, now they do. 369 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:40,800 Okay. 370 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:42,800 The weapons are all cleared. 371 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:53,800 But the, Robin Williams said that the most sobering event occasionally ever happened was when he walked out into, I think, Iraq and the whole front row was armed. 372 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,800 He said, there's an incentive to do well. 373 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,800 I'm going to say it's not a program that you know, pardon the pun. You don't want to bomb at that one. 374 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,800 That's for sure. 375 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:10,800 You mentioned that the entertainment portion of the USO is only 10% of what you really do. 376 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,800 We had about three minutes, so we're going to take another break, John. 377 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,800 But give me some of the other activities that the USO is involved with. 378 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,800 So we operate at 160 locations around the world. 379 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,800 You mentioned in your run-up the USO centers at airports. 380 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,800 We have USO centers at the major airports in the United States. 381 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,800 We also have them around the world. 382 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,800 We have nine USO centers in Afghanistan. 383 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,800 That's where most of our traffic is right now. 384 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:42,800 Those centers get about between eight and nine million visits a year from troops and family members. 385 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:49,800 And they're important connections back home for troops and for families that are stationed overseas. 386 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,800 So the biggest part of what we do happens at our USO centers around the world. 387 00:28:53,800 --> 00:29:06,800 We'll be opening a new one in just a few months in Nashville and we'll talk a little later about a big project that we're putting on in the Washington, D.C. area at a couple of military hospitals. 388 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,800 Okay. In these last two minutes, I'm just going to read an email that I got from Al Wood. 389 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,800 Al Wood is an Australian. 390 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,800 He was in Vietnam with the Australian military. 391 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,800 He said that after a recent visit to Washington, D.C. for the 30th anniversary of the Wall, 392 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:26,800 one more gem awaited us as we departed Dellis International Airport for home. 393 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:31,800 On arrival off the coach from the city, we passed a sign to a USO lounge, caught my eye, 394 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:40,800 and I fell deep back into my memory and I had been into a USO club in Vung Tau, South Vietnam, way back in 1969. 395 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,800 So once we leave the war luggage, we had some three hours to kill, 396 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:51,800 and I went back and asked if an Allied Forces veteran in Vietnam was eligible to go. 397 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,800 And of course, when I showed them some idea that prove I was a veteran, they manning the lounge. 398 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,800 They said, welcome us to come in with open arms and had short beat the heck out of sitting in the departure lounge. 399 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:07,800 So there was a fridge full of beverages, a microwave, and offer with any range of frozen meals, coffee, lounge chairs, TV, 400 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,800 quiet room with beds therein to nap if necessary. 401 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,800 And internet, PCs, and telephone calls to anywhere in the world were offered. 402 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:15,800 All of this at no charge. 403 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:24,800 Priority security check-in was also given to us, and he said that they later found chocolate sweets stuffed into the jacket pockets on their flight home. 404 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:30,800 And he just wanted to say, apparently this USO facility is also offered at many other airports across the USA. 405 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:37,800 It should be kept in mind, the ladies were there, were so hospitable and welcoming to Barbara and his wife, Barbara, 406 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,800 says we were very impressed. Thank you very much, he says. 407 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,800 So that's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. 408 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,800 And I think that that's just the way that the USO is. 409 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,800 We're going to be coming up and taking a break here in a minute, John. 410 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:55,800 I'm going to play another little segment after this break of one of the Bob Hope shows where he's talking with Nguyen Cao Keeve, 411 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,800 or those of you that were in Vietnam, you'll recognize that, but I think it's important that you listen. 412 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,800 So we'll be right back. You're listening to Veterans Radio. 413 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:09,800 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat, given a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. 414 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:15,800 There have been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's highest award. This is one of them. 415 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:20,800 First Lieutenant Jack Jacobs, although seriously wounded, made repeated trips across an open rice paddy, 416 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:25,800 evacuating wounded and their weapons. Details after this. 417 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:31,800 As a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan, joining IAVA.org really helps in the transition home. 418 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:36,800 It's a network of OIF and OEF vets like me who've got your back here, just like we did over there. 419 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:40,800 That means when you need help navigating the GI Bill, we've got your back. 420 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,800 And when you're dealing with the transition home, we've got your back. 421 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,800 Or when you just want someone to share stories with, we've got your back. 422 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,800 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is there for you. 423 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,800 Join our community at IAVA.org. We've got your back. 424 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,800 Brought to you by IAVA and the Ad Council. 425 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:02,800 Jacobs served as an assistant battalion advisor in Kien Phong Province, Republic of Vietnam. 426 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,800 The battalion was advancing when it came under intense heavy machine gun and mortar fire. 427 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,800 Jacobs called for and directed air strikes on enemy positions. 428 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:17,800 Due to the intensity of the enemy fire and heavy casualties to the command group, including the company commander, 429 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,800 the attack stopped and the friendly troops became disorganized. 430 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:27,800 Wounded by mortar fragments, Jacobs assumed command of the company, ordered a withdrawal from the exposed position, 431 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,800 and established a defensive perimeter. 432 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,800 Despite heavy bleeding from head wounds that impaired his vision, 433 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:38,800 Jacobs returned under intense fire to evacuate a seriously wounded advisor to safety, 434 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,800 where he administered life-saving first aid. 435 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:46,800 He then returned through heavy automatic weapons fire to evacuate the wounded company commander. 436 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,800 Jacobs made repeated trips across the fire-swept open-race patties, 437 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,800 evacuating wounded and their weapons. 438 00:32:54,800 --> 00:33:00,800 On three separate occasions, Jacobs drove off Viet Cong squads who were searching for Allied wounded and weapons, 439 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,800 single-handedly killing three and wounding several others. 440 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,800 His actions saved the lives of a U.S. advisor and 13 Allied soldiers. 441 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,800 The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans' Radio. 442 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,800 The war began for two years and I got the calling. 443 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:21,800 I got the calling to join the service and support the boys over there. 444 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,800 Thousands of American troops have come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 445 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:30,800 suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. 446 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,800 I never thought that I would have PTSD. 447 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:35,800 I thought that I had enough open skills. 448 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:43,800 I don't think anybody who goes into combat could ever honestly say that they're not different when they come home. 449 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,800 What you take as a simple thing is not so simple for me anymore. 450 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,800 I'm going to have my good days and my bad days and I really don't like those bad days. 451 00:33:53,800 --> 00:34:00,800 I would say to those people that are out there, don't brush this aside and don't count us out. 452 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,800 Help the USO support these troops and their families. 453 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,800 Donate today at GiveUSO.org. 454 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,800 The wounds are invisible. The stories are real. 455 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,800 Here's the show I still don't believe. The largest GI audience I ever played. 456 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:22,800 The nicest Christmas present we ever had. Some say 30,000, some say 28,000. 457 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,800 You come and go and grab them before I leave the single one. 458 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:35,800 I just want to tell you it's great to be back here in General Westmoreland's ranch. 459 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:48,800 General Westmoreland went to see the president. I guess it didn't work out. He's back. 460 00:34:48,800 --> 00:35:02,800 And his face is loaded with brass. One PFC spent his whole tour of duty trying to salute his way out of the washroom. 461 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:24,800 They don't have this many stars at the Academy Awards and there's just as much jealousy. 462 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:33,800 I'm not enough about my problem. Now Vietnam is less than half the size of California in the same shape. 463 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:43,800 So why doesn't Ronald Reagan come over here and straighten the whole thing out? 464 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,800 This is Christmas Day. I'm telling you it's a wonderful thing here in Vietnam and there's a great holiday spirit. 465 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:55,800 I'm telling you, a perfect stranger handed me a gift beautifully wrapped. I can't get over the way he tied the fuse into a bowl. 466 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:01,800 Vietnam is the only place in the world where you can get a purple heart opening your Christmas presents. 467 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:13,800 And Santa's afraid to come to Vietnam. Last year he only got as far as the first hole when he was picked up by the MPs. 468 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:25,800 After the show, the man, all four stars, General Westmore, came up on stage. 469 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:34,800 Bob, I want to thank you and your talented troupe for a wonderful show. 470 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:45,800 There's a very distinguished gentleman in the audience who has seen Bob Shaw for four years. 471 00:36:45,800 --> 00:37:05,800 At this time, I would like to introduce the Vice President of the Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Cao Kee. 472 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:16,800 I would like to take this opportunity to express to all my fellow fighters on behalf of my people, my country, our gratitude. 473 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:23,800 We know how big your sacrifice, we know how big your dedication. 474 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:31,800 I'm sure the generation of Vietnamese today and those to come will remember you. 475 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:39,800 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 476 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,800 We're back on Veterans Radio and that was a Bob Hope show in Long Ben. 477 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:50,800 I just thought it was interesting for those of you out there who wondered how the Vietnamese felt about our true speed. 478 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:56,800 I liked that comment. It made me feel good when I heard that from Nguyen Cao Kee. 479 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:04,800 We're talking with John Hansen, who is the Senior Vice President of the USO and is an Air Force veteran himself. 480 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:13,800 John, we were talking earlier not only about what the entertainers do and what the facilities are that the USO provides around the world, 481 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,800 but what else is the USO doing to help Americans veterans? 482 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:26,800 Over the past couple of years, we've started a project we call Operation Enduring Care. 483 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:34,800 We realized that one of the USO's great traditions was to be at military hospitals around the world. 484 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:38,800 We're actually with these troops today when they're wounded in Afghanistan. 485 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:48,800 We're at Kandahar at the big hospital and at Bagram. We're at the combat stress clinics around Afghanistan. 486 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:58,800 When the troops come back through Germany and stop at Landstuhl, we have a USO center that is part of the Landstuhl Army Hospital there 487 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:07,800 that provides a break not only for the people who are in the hospital, but for the troops caregivers and for the medical personnel there. 488 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:15,800 We have been operating at military hospitals since the end of the Second World War, but we wanted to ramp up that activity. 489 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:21,800 In about five weeks, we will open the first of our Warrior and Family Centers. 490 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:29,800 Two of them we're building now. One, the first will be at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, just south of Washington. 491 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:39,800 The second one will be built next year at the new Walter Reed Military Facility in Bethesda, Maryland. 492 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:44,800 These centers will be very large, the largest USO centers in the world. 493 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:50,800 What's more important than how big they are is that we think they'll be offering some hope. 494 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:58,800 Right now, troops that any of us who've ever been in the hospital know that after three or four days, the hospital wants you out and you want out. 495 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,800 It's really unusual to stay at a hospital for a long time. 496 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:09,800 An amputee at Walter Reed, for example, is there for an average of 18 months. 497 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:21,800 That amputee's world is pretty much his or her hospital room, the rehabilitation facility, and whatever surgical suite he or she may have to go to. 498 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:35,800 We wanted to provide a place not just for the troops to go during their recuperation, but also for families to begin the process of starting their lives for what comes after the military. 499 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:40,800 We'll have continuing education, a place to watch movies, a place for kids to play. 500 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,800 There'll be kitchens there so they can prepare home-cooked meals. 501 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:55,800 There won't be residential facilities, but there'll be areas of respite, a place to deal with what is sometimes an enemy none of them anticipated, which is despair. 502 00:40:55,800 --> 00:41:04,800 Thanks to the generosity of our donors and some great corporations, we'll open the first center at Fort Belvoir in early February. 503 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:10,800 The second one will be built and completed, we hope, by the end of 2013. 504 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:20,800 Wow, make sure you let us know about that because that sounds like a great opportunity to do a program about what the USO is doing in addition to providing entertainment for our troops. 505 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:28,800 Well, these centers are in the middle of a campus of where troops are recovering. 506 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:49,800 You were generous enough to air a USO PSA about the invisible wounds of war, and we're working closely with the National Intrepid Center of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury to make sure that we can add whatever value we can to the programs they offer, 507 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:59,800 whether it's art therapy, a place to put on a program. We work cooperatively with a lot of great nonprofits, and we're proud to do that. 508 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:18,800 And this is our step into making sure that troops, wounded ill and injured troops and their families have a place to recover and to get started, to look down the road and take on the challenges when they go home. 509 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,800 Well, I certainly appreciate what the USO is doing. 510 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:33,800 And also to talk a little bit more about how we, as private citizens now, can help the USO. What do we need to do? Is the USO a government agency? 511 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:51,800 Never has been, and it will shock no one that after the USO was formed during World War II, the War Department decided it was a great target of opportunity. And President Roosevelt said that if it is not supported by the American public, it doesn't deserve to exist. 512 00:42:51,800 --> 00:43:04,800 And so we have been a private not-for-profit organization since our founding, and several government studies afterwards said that if there weren't a USO, they have to create one. 513 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:15,800 We have been, we're supported by millions of individual donors and dozens of really great American corporations who help us do what we do. 514 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:27,800 Well, we're going to, coming up on a break here in a couple of minutes, John, and then we're going to come back and we're going to talk about some of the other things that the USO does and how people can donate money to help out the USO. 515 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:41,800 I think it's such a valuable resource for us all to support. I mean, there are so many different organizations out there, and it sounds as though the USO is sort of acting like a clearinghouse with some of the other great organizations that are out there too. 516 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:49,800 We work cooperatively with some really great nonprofits and add value, we add value to each other. 517 00:43:49,800 --> 00:44:18,800 You're listening to Veterans Radio and we'll be right back after this. 518 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:42,800 How lovely it was. Thanks for the memory of Shubhurt Sarane, little things of Jade, and traffic jams and anagrams and bills we never paid. How lovely it was. 519 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:52,800 We who could laugh over big things. 520 00:44:52,800 --> 00:45:12,800 We have many other entertainers who are out there. One of the ones I always hear about is Gary Sinise. Can you tell me a little bit about his involvement? 521 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:27,800 Gary is a great guy. He obviously, his experience in Forest Gump got him interested in military service. He's got a number of family members who served and he gives his brother, served during Vietnam. 522 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:45,800 You might not know that he was very active in Chicago, in his hometown, in Veterans issues. Early in this war, we asked him to go on our first USO tour to Iraq. We haven't been able to stop him since. 523 00:45:45,800 --> 00:46:00,800 He plays bass in a rock and roll band that he's called the Lieutenant Dan Band. We've taken that band around the world as well to entertain troops and family members. 524 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:09,800 He's one of the most generous people in the business and we'll do just about anything we ask if he's available. He's a great guy. 525 00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:18,800 We certainly here at Veterans Radio appreciate what Gary does, not only for the USO, but how he has supported veterans all along. I just think it's wonderful. 526 00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:34,800 He was one of the speakers at the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial groundbreaking a year or so ago. He's been a big supporter of that memorial. He's a veteran's friend and he's a friend of troops and families. 527 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:40,800 There are many more like him. I can't even go through all the names and I'm sure you couldn't either. 528 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:49,800 We were talking when I was looking at the USO website, which is uso.org. You can go on there and make a donation still in time for Christmas. 529 00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:59,800 But you had an interesting thing on your site about that you can give money and different denominations for different gifts for veterans. Could you talk just briefly about that? 530 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:18,800 I think you're talking about the USO Wishbook. We started it November of last year. It's an online alternative giving catalog and it gives donors an opportunity to give symbolically gifts and a number of price points, 531 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:34,800 including this year we added some gifts for wounded warriors. For $60 for example you can provide a flight home comfort kit that does blankets, air bling pillows, those kinds of things. 532 00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:55,800 We've got gifts there that will help troops write a resume, get some job counseling, or send a military kit to camp. These are opportunities for people to give to the USO but to target their gift to something that's meaningful to them. 533 00:47:55,800 --> 00:48:07,800 These are virtual gifts and we talk to our troops and our families all year long to find out what's important to them and we try to make that happen. 534 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:15,800 I thought that was a wonderful program when I saw that. The other thing I know you can do is that you can make donations in honor of somebody. 535 00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:31,800 You can make a gift in honor of a family member, someone who's longer with us. If it's for a family member they'll get a card that will let them know that somebody has donated to the USO in their honor. 536 00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:46,800 That's how I got involved. John I want to thank you so very much for being on Veterans Radio today and if there's anything that we can ever do to help out the USO, don't hesitate to give us a call and we'll be there to help you as much as possible. 537 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:53,800 Well, Dadele we appreciate the opportunity to be with you and wish all your listeners the best for the holidays and the new year. We'll be talking with you soon. 538 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:56,800 Absolutely. Thank you very much and a Merry Christmas to you and yours. 539 00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:58,800 And to you. Bye bye. 540 00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:09,800 All right folks that's the USO and we all are familiar with the USO and we're not going to close the program now but I've got one more thing that I want to play for me as a clip from one of the Bob Hope programs. 541 00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:17,800 And we're going to play that right now and then we're going to come back and we're going to end up the program at that point. So here we go. 542 00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:29,800 At the end of the show we would traditionally sing Silent Night. 543 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:42,800 It's a holiday season. You're away from home, a long way away from home. And they begin singing Silent Night and the entire audience chimes in. 544 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:52,800 And by the time you're singing the last few frames, most men, and we were men men, had tears rolling down their eyes. 545 00:49:52,800 --> 00:50:02,800 And all you could hear were people crying. They wanted to dry our eyes and to play. 546 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:08,800 It was beautiful and it was happy and it was very sad at the same time. 547 00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:25,800 There was this entire audience of mostly men just in tears and of course we were all in tears. And I will never forget that moment. Every single show. 548 00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:34,800 Have a merry Christmas and God bless you. Bye. 549 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:40,800 We're so joyous and we laugh till we cry. 550 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:49,800 If there were these guys, maybe a number of them were going to go die. We're all laughing together. That's a real service. 551 00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:57,800 In a lot of ways it's probably the last performance I've ever seen. In that regard, it's about the man. 552 00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:08,800 He's the one of a kind. He's a saint and if he isn't, he should be. God bless Bob Hope. 553 00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:17,800 God bless Bob Hope and God bless all of the people that work with the USO. And again, I encourage you to please go to their website, uso.org, and donate today. 554 00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:26,800 They can use the funds. We've asked these men and women to go overseas numerous times and many of them have missed holidays with their families. 555 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:32,800 And they're friends. And this is one way that we can support them. And the USO does a great job. 556 00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:36,800 And I'm not just chilling just for the USO. There are many other great organizations out there. 557 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:43,800 And this is the time of year when they need your contributions. They need your donations to help out these men and women. 558 00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:47,800 Because without these men and women, many of us wouldn't have the opportunity of being here. 559 00:51:47,800 --> 00:52:02,800 And our lives would probably be a lot different if we were to not support these organizations. I think what was interesting in talking with John was that the USO was an organization that strictly volunteers. 560 00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:09,800 And as President Roosevelt said, well, if the American people aren't going to support an organization like this, then what's the point? 561 00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:19,800 Well, you know, we've got a lot of people, men and women out there that are defending us every single day. And it's only it's less than 1% of our population. 562 00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:25,800 And, you know, we've all heard about those 1%ers. Well, there's 99% of us that are not involved with the military any longer. 563 00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:36,800 And it's up to us to support these men and women. And I'm hoping that you will do that with your contributions to organizations like the USO and some of the other ones that are out there. 564 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:43,800 This is a pretty emotional program. I didn't realize that some of these things were better to get to me like they always do. 565 00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:49,800 But we want to thank all of you out there for your support of Veterans Radio and we are looking forward to another new year coming up. 566 00:52:49,800 --> 00:53:13,800 On behalf of all of us here at Veterans Radio, Bob, Dale, Nina and Maria, in the control room, we want to wish all of you a very, very merry Christmas and a happy new year and peace on earth to all of you. 567 00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:24,800 Mmm. 568 00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:39,800 Let yourself up, merry new Christmas. Let your heart be light. 569 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:53,800 From now on our troubles will be out of sight. 570 00:53:53,800 --> 00:54:13,800 Have yourself a merry new Christmas. Make the you'll tight game. 571 00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:28,800 From now on our troubles will be miles away. 572 00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:42,800 Here we are as in olden days. Happy golden days of yore. 573 00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:59,800 Faithful friends who are due to us. Gather near to us once more. 574 00:54:59,800 --> 00:55:14,800 From the years we all will be together. If the fates alone. 575 00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:43,800 Hang a shining star upon the highest bone. And have yourself a merry little Christmas now. 576 00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:53,800 Mmm. 577 00:55:53,800 --> 00:56:07,800 From the years we all will be together. If the fates alone. 578 00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:21,800 Hang a shining star upon the highest bone. 579 00:56:21,800 --> 00:56:42,800 And have yourself a merry little Christmas now. 580 00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:58,800 Mmm. 581 00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:29,800 Thank you.