Linda Hope was born in 1939 [Annotator’s Note: She is the daughter of Bob and Dolores Hope]. She never realized the fame that her family had while she was growing up. Although she lived in a large home, her mother attempted to give the children a normal childhood. The early stages of World War 2 were not very memorable to her because of her youth; however, as she grew older she could remember more. She recollects rationing and paper drives in school. Her dad was away many times, but unlike servicemen, he would return to the family periodically. Many other children would not see their fathers for a number of years. A letter to a loved one far away could take weeks to get to them. There was no instantaneous communications like there is today. She remembers letters coming in for her dad from servicemen. The writing paper was onion skin paper so that the weight of letters would be reduced. She remembers the stamps that she would paste into her book [Annotator’s Note: war stamps were sold as a part of the War Bond program to support the war effort. A War Bond could be purchased after sufficient stamps had been saved]. Rationing was a significant part of the daily life of individuals. Not all food items were available, like butter. The family grew a Victory garden and kept chickens. She loved to collect the eggs from the chickens. The family home was built at the time of Linda Hope’s birth. Her mother was active during the war. She belonged to the AWVS, American Women Voluntary Service. She was very proud of her uniform and work with the organization. They would take food up to west coast sentries on watch against enemy attack. There were blackouts at night to prevent enemy observation of lit homes and facilities. The longtime family cook of German ancestry was let go because of suspicion of foreigners of that background. Her mother felt bad about that. People were on guard and tense during that time. Lookouts would watch for planes. It was difficult times but also a time of closeness between people. Along with her AWVS work, her mother would cook a lot. Linda Hope’s mother would constantly be concerned about her husband, Bob, flying so many places to entertain troops. He would be accompanied by Jerry Colonna and Frances Langford on small planes. Things could go wrong with the aircraft, or he could be shot down. Nevertheless, she tried to keep those concerns from the children. Linda Hope did not recall the concerns so much. She remembered life being like a game. Collecting eggs from the chickens represented fond memories. Harsh reality would come to light to her when a friend would have a father killed in the war or someone close becoming injured or lost. Linda Hope went to school at the local Catholic school close to her home. She also attended a kindergarten close by. Coloring, maps, and juice were the highlights of that early experience. When the war ended, things changed as the rationed items became more available. During the war, a lot of time was spent at the local airport when her father traveled in small aircraft. Her brother, Tony, went to the airport to welcome his father back. Instead, he was so confused that he waved and shouted goodbye to his father. Many of the trips were during holiday times. At the same time, many friends did not have their fathers at home at all. Linda’s mother grew fatigued when she had to carry the extra load at Christmas. Her husband would be on tour and not able to help with the Santa Claus duties. To keep the spirit alive though, the children were allowed to open a few presents on Christmas day. The tradition at Christmas was that most of the gifts would be saved until Bob Hope returned home to his family. At that time, the family would open the gifts and share the Christmas spirit. The children were raised Catholic. There was a Nativity scene with a manger. The children would sing happy birthday to baby Jesus.

Linda Hope realized that her father’s experience with servicemen during the war had a profound influence on his life [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is the daughter of famed comedian Bob Hope and entertainer Dolores Hope]. He had started in radio and had already established a prewar recognition as a popular entertainer. He was also a famous movie star at the time making "Road" pictures that were hits with the public. His big film breakthrough was the "Big Broadcast of 1939." That brought him out to Los Angeles. He would do his radio shows from Hollywood after that. He grew up in vaudeville and liked performing before a live audience. As war was brewing, her dad had a writer whose brother was stationed at March Field. The brother invited Bob Hope to entertain at the Field. He did and loved the huge audiences compared to the smaller radio audiences he entertained. Bob Hope would send advance people out to his future venues to gather information on the people and places there. Afterward, he could incorporate some of the information into his comedy. The audiences loved it. Hope’s first years were involved in visiting camps around the country and making train trips for War Bond rallies. Family dinners at home would often include previewed jokes to be used on his next tour. He would get to see much of the country as a result of his touring. It was much like vaudeville to him. Vaudeville was held in a theater. Performers would do five live stage shows a day. People learned how to entertain. One of Bob Hope’s writers was Larry Gelbart who later helped create the television series "MASH." Gelbart would say that television was the box that vaudeville was buried in. Vaudeville live shows trained many people. There were circuits that covered many parts of the country. Some of the best paying circuits were through the major cities. Vaudeville experiences helped him relate to the servicemen attending his shows. The Library of Congress had an exhibit entitled "Bob Hope and the American Vaudeville Tradition." It showed how the shows that he developed were in the same framework as those he participated in early in his career. He would have a monologue, singing, dancing, guest stars, and sketches. Vaudeville greatly influenced his life. During the trips that Hope would make to the battlefronts, he would visit the wounded. He came to realize that the injured did not want sympathy. They needed to be encouraged. Hope would make jokes and send in Frances Langford to sing to them. He did over 50 years of entertaining for the USO [Annotator’s Note: United Services Organization]. Bob would tell his entourage to sing, entertain, and be happy with the men. The wounded would be built up and some of the suffering would be eased. He learned to get passed himself and relate, on a personal level, to the individual enduring the hardship in front of him. John Steinbeck wrote a moving piece about Bob Hope. That piece about her dad still touches her today [Annotator’s Note: Ms. Hope shows her emotion]. Ernie Pyle also wrote a complimentary piece about Bob Hope and his work. There is touching film footage of a tired Bob Hope that reveals his thoughts about what the servicemen mean to him and the country. It was a different time. As Tom Brokaw mentions, they were the "Greatest Generation." Everyone was a part of the fight. They did what they could to help. That has not existed since then.

Linda Hope thanks God for the amazing secretary employed by her dad during the war [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is the daughter of famed comedian Bob Hope and Dolores Hope]. She not only kept scrupulous notes, but she was committed to being part of his life with the service people and the people back home. The secretary maintained files on the thousands of letters her dad received. The files included letters from GIs as well as the responses he sent back to them or their families. Some letters also included requests for recipes for items such as fruit cake. They even ranged to military personnel requesting his assistance in getting a date with movie stars such as Rita Hayward. Her father would return from touring completely exhausted. He was changed by the experience. He still had his sense of humor which often was displayed at the dinner table. Linda Hope’s mother often felt she was raising him as another child. Bob Hope, like many other veterans of the war, did not always feel like talking about his experiences.

Linda Hope recalls "the Yellow Ribbon Party" which occurred after her father’s last tour when he was 87 years old [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is the daughter of famed comedian Bob Hope and Dolores Hope]. The first President Bush [Annotator’s Note: President George H. W. Bush] was in office at the time. When Bob Hope heard about the liberation of Kuwait in the Middle East, he decided that he wanted to go there and entertain the troops. Contact was made with the President who agreed to get a plane for Hope and his crew and help facilitate the tour. Marie Osmond and her husband along with Ann Jillian and Johnny Bench and country music singer Aaron Tippin were slated for the trip. It was not easy to get organized. The restrictions of the Muslim religion kept female entertainers headquartered in Bahrain which was more liberal. It turned out that Linda, her mother and father and Johnny Bench would go out to where the troops were located. They stayed in luxurious hotels and watched what was happening on the battlefields. The next morning, the entertainment group would be transported to where the troops were located. They would jump up on the back of a truck to perform on top of ammunition boxes. The truck would drive up to a sparse location and stop. Soon troops would assemble and sit on the sand for the show. Her dad would perform and then the show would end with her mother singing her traditional rendition of "White Christmas." It was a white Christmas but not in the sense of having snow. After she sang, Dolores Hope asked the men where they were from. They responded that they were from 29 Palms which was a Marine base near the Hope home in Palm Springs. Dolores next told them that when the action was all over, they would be welcome at the Hope residence for a big Yellow Ribbon Party for them [Annotator’s Note: a yellow ribbon tied to a tree symbolized longing for a loved one far away, often in the service or at war]. A few weeks later, the commanding office of the local Marine base called the Hopes and said the men were telling him that they had been invited to a homecoming at the entertainer’s home. Dolores Hope responded in the affirmative and a big party was planned for Easter Sunday. There were six or seven hundred Marines with their spouses. Bob Hope put together a show for them and it became a very special event. That personal response on his part typifies his feelings for the service men and women. He loved them because they loved his adopted country. To Bob Hope, who immigrated to the United States from England when he was six years old, America was home. He never forgot what he had been given.

Linda Hope could not select one single favorite item of recognition given to her father [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is the daughter of famed comedian Bob Hope and entertainer Dolores Hope]. He treasured letters from servicemen through the years. He had letters from Generals Eisenhower and Patton [Annotator’s Note: Dwight David Eisenhower and George S. Patton] whom he encountered while entertaining overseas. Some of the men and their wives remained friends with her parents for the rest of their lives. [Annotator’s Note: Ms. Hope attempts to think of another general who commanded the Flying Tigers. It was not Claire Chennault but someone else. She cannot arrive at the name.] Bob Hope made a lot of connections and lifelong friends during the war. During World War 2, he returned home with a rifle that had been given to him by a soldier overseas. His wife was concerned about weapons in the home. The rifle unexpectedly fired while the family was in the same room. It surprised everyone. His wife put a note around the furniture that was struck by the bullet. The note said, "…and he said it wasn’t loaded…." Bob Hope’s troupe was known as "Hope’s Gypsies." It included Jerry Colonna who had previously performed on the Hope radio show. A guitar player named Tony Romano also traveled with the group. Also in attendance was Frances Langford, a big singing star of the era. A young dancer named Patty Thomas and her mother were also part of the troupe. Thomas’ mother made all of her daughter’s costumes. The dancing outfits were sexy for their time but not as revealing as that seen today. Thomas represented the girl next door or the girlfriend left behind by the men. They referred to themselves as gypsies which is also a show business term for dancers. Bob Hope loved to dance with the girls in the show. He had always been a hoofer. Bob Hope had wanted to enlist at one time but was told that his work at entertaining the military was more important to the war effort than him being in the service. He loved what he did. He enjoyed having a former military person coming up to him and recounting seeing him in a show in the Pacific or some other location. Linda Hope went along with her parents to attend the 50th anniversary of the end of World War 2. They sailed on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth II to Normandy. Her father entertained on the ship. He was in his 80s at the time. A veteran approached him and asked him to sign a photograph he had taken with his Brownie camera. The old photo had a barely visible image of Bob Hope on the stage. Hope took the photo and commented that he wished he looked that good in the present day [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is emotional reflecting on the tenderness of her father during the incident]. It was touching that the veteran had kept the picture all those years. It was a cherished item to him. It was awesome to experience. While traveling to the different areas to perform, the aircraft would land on small dirt runways or paths. Her father wore white socks all the time. His daughter finally asked why he did so. It was due to the entertainer acquiring jungle rot on his feet. It came from wearing boots in the humid environment. A fungus formed that stayed with him for most of his life. The women who went on the tour had a rough time. Facilities were established for men only. Frances Langford and Patty Thomas became fast friends because of their mutually shared hardships. Their friendship lasted through their lives.

Linda Hope saw the tremendous feelings her father had toward service people and those that worked so hard to give back to the country [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope is the daughter of famed comedian Bob Hope and entertainer Dolores Hope]. People meant so much to him and gave so much back to him. He never regretted a moment of what he did. His values are perpetuated today. The men of World War 2 gave for their country and Bob Hope gave what he could give. It was important to him to give to others. Even during the Vietnam War with the controversy about involvement, Bob Hope wanted to give to the troops there. [Annotator’s Note: Linda Hope discusses the family home and its gardens including where the victory garden and chickens were located. The home was built in 1939.] The Hollywood Canteen was part of the Hopes’ work with the service people. The War Bond drives were also important in the effort to get rid of Hitler. The celebrities did what they could. Everyone has a way to give back to others whether it is helping out at church or at a school or just reaching out to other people. Bob Hope would be blown away by the spectacular National WWII Museum. It vividly portrays what people did during those times. Their courage was amazing. When touring the museum, people should put away their cell phones and focus on what life was like back during those times. In 1903, when her dad was born, the Wright brothers made their first flight. The airplane was so important to World War 2. Moving mail was so much quicker rather than in World War 1 when letters from overseas had to travel by ship. People do not have a perspective of what life was like before modern conveniences. Washing clothes was an ordeal back in the 1930s and 1940s. Virtual reality could be helpful in portraying the past times. Travel today takes hours, not days, like in prior decades. The first time Ms. Hope realized the danger her father was facing in his touring was when a gun fired in their home [Annotator’s Note: see clip titled Lifelong Friendships]. The family viscerally realized that there was danger in what their father was doing. As she grew older, she saw combat on newsreels at the movies and understood the danger her dad faced. Both she and her mother worried about him. They felt blessed that he would return to them after touring. Some children would not see their dad until after the war or perhaps not even then. They would pray for her dad to be blessed wherever he was when he was away. They missed him a lot when he was gone. They knew he would be back. He was fun when he was at home. The humor in the family was infectious. Both of her parents were of good humor. The war affected Linda Hope because of the lessons she learned about the sacrifices people made during that era. She is grateful for the experiences she had and the knowledge that people cared about the world and preventing Hitler from having his way. Now that her dad is gone, she wants to perpetuate his memory and the way he touched the lives of others.