We’ve claimed our little space about ten feet from the stage where Bob Hope will perform. We pass out as the sun climbs higher in the sky on the day after Christmas. It will be a splendid day for Bob Hope and his little band of Hollywood Stars.
In a short while, the security police arrive. They move us out under considerable protest. They check the stage and surrounding grounds searching for booby traps and things like that. The first one hundred yards from the stage is roped off.
TV crews come in and set up towers for their equipment. After the work’s completed the security police pat down each person for weapons, then allow them in.
We sit behind the roped off area. The space up front is for wounded American servicemen. We laugh at Gator and DJ. Irony is, if they had stayed one more day in the hospital, they’d be right up front. Instead, A-Team sits about three hundred feet from the stage.
Beginning in May 1941 and continuing for nearly fifty years, Hope brough his variety show to military camps and war zones to entertain troops with song, dance, comedy, attractive women, and people in the news. Shortly after his death, a cartoon was published showing Bob Hope again on stage, this time with angel wings, performing in front of thousands upon thousands of troops who had beat him to heaven.
The show is over much too quickly. Bob Hope, Ann-Margaret, Miss America, and all the rest are spectacular. The ‘National Anthem’ sung by The Pussy Cats made tears run down my cheeks.
When ‘God Bless America’ was performed I, and everyone else, had a lump in their throat. The gathering of men cry, laugh, cheer, and sing along. We forget about the war for a few short hours.
All of A-Team fall in love with Ann-Margaret, Miss America, and The Pussy Cats. They’re beautiful, a reminder of America that will help drive us in our fight to keep freedom alive. What they do for the American spirit, a million dollars couldn’t buy.
During the show, thousands of servicemen have shed tears for peace and happiness in the world. For their friends who gave their lives and the tremendous number of others who’ll give everything for freedom. As I look at A-Team, I wonder who will see Christmas next year, and who will be loaded on a helicopter for the long silent ride home.
At 0800 hours on December 26, 1968, the nine remaining men of A-Team load a truck heading back to Qui Nhon Air Base. The ceasefire will be over soon, and our replacements will require lots of training before we can work together as a team. The time’s short for preparing for the battles I know await us.
Our holiday is over; Christmas 1968 has ended, gone forever.
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Beginning in May 1941 and continuing for nearly fifty years, Bob Hope brought his variety show to military camps and war zones to entertain troops with song, dance, comedy, attractive women, and people in the news. Shortly after his death, a cartoon was published showing Bob Hope again on stage, this time with angel wings, performing in front of thousands upon thousands of troops who had beat him to heaven.