Everybody's friend, Bob Hope, was the commedian of commedians, the comic icon of our generation, and such a friend to the troops!

The Bob Hope Radio Shows were heard from January 1935 to April 1955 on Blue Network, CBS, and NBC. In the early 50's he was also very popular on television, which is where most of you got to know him. In honor of his life, we're airing a special program with Jack Benny.

A hundred and two years ago on May 29, was born in England a young “Leslie Townes Hope.” First brought to America at the age of four by his stone-mason father and his mother (a former performer on the Welsh stage) Leslie soon adopted the name Bob to avoid ribbings by the other kids. Rising through a series of odd jobs, including that of Golden Gloves boxer, Hope found his way to the vaudeville stage, radio studio, and Hollywood set, to become one of the greatest stars of his day.

On May 6th 1941 Bob made the first of what would become a 50-year tradition in remote appearances benefiting our armed forces. Here's the story from www.BobHope.com.

Bob Hope's unwavering commitment to the morale of America's servicemen and women is entertainment history, indeed, world history. Many say 'legend.' For nearly six decades, be the country at war or at peace, Bob, with a band of Hollywood gypsies, has traveled the globe to entertain our service men and women.

The media dubbed him "America's No. 1 Soldier in Greasepaint." To the GIs, he was "G.I. Bob" and their clown hero. It began in May, 1941 when Bob, with a group of performers, went to March Field, California, to do a radio show for airmen stationed there.

Throughout World War II, with only two exceptions, all of Bob's radio shows were performed and aired from military bases and installations throughout the United States and theaters of war in Europe and the South Pacific. His first trip into the combat area was in 1943 when he and his small USO troupe - Frances Langford, Tony Romano and Jack Pepper visited US military facilities in England, Africa, Sicily and Ireland. In later years his itinerary included the South Pacific.

Bob began what was to become a Christmas custom in 1948. He, with wife Dolores, went to Germany at the request of then Secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, to entertain the troops involved in the Berlin Airlift.

With the end of the Vietnam conflict in sight, Hope hailed his 1972 trip as his "last Christmas show." But each Christmas that followed, he was somewhere in the country doing a show at a military base or veterans hospital. In 1983 the call came from Beirut and Hope was "on the road again." In 1987, Hope flew around the world to entertain servicemen and women in the Pacific. Atlantic and Indian Oceans and in the Persian Gulf.

He embarked on a goodwill tour in May, 1990 to entertain military personnel stationed in England, Russia, and Germany. At Christmas that year, he and wife Dolores, were in Saudi Arabia entertaining the men and women of "Operation Desert Storm." 1994 was a good year for Bob, His "Bob Hope: The First 90 Years," produced by daughter Linda Hope, won an Emmy. And he returned to his native England for a personal appearance tour in June, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

1996 marked the publication of Bob's collection of Presidential humor called "Dear Prez, I Wanna Tell Ya", and in November, he aired his 296th television special for NBC, Bob Hope Laughing with the Presidents." The show featured appearances by President and Mrs. Clinton, President and Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs. Ford, Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower. Bob's co-host was Tony Danza.

May 1997, New Orleans - Bob stood by as Dolores christened the USNS Bob Hope (AKR 300), the first of a new class of ships named after Bob. Not to be outdone, one month later the US Air Force dedicated a new C-17 in his name. (In 2001, the C-17 the 'Spirit of Bob Hope,' transported the pilots and crew of the reconnaissance plane downed in China back safe and sound to Hawaii.)

Five times Bob has been honored by the United States Congress. But, in October 1997, Bob received one of his greatest tributes when Resolution 75 was unanimously passed by members of both houses making him an Honorary Veteran - the first individual so honored in the history of the United States. He was feted in the US Capitol Rotunda by members of congress, military personnel and veterans. The next day, Bob, family and friends were guests in the oval office for the signing of the resolution by President Clinton.

Bob's next visit to Washington, D.C. was in May 2000 when he officially opened the Bob Hope Gallery of American Enterainment at the Library of Congress. In July 2001, the 'Pentagon' (US Army Adjutant General Corps) paid a visit to Bob Hope's home in Toluca Lake, California for the presentation of the Order of Horatio Gates Gold Medal for his life-long contributions toward maintaining the high morale of soldiers around the world. And on his 99th birthday, May 29, 2002; The Chapel at the Los Angeles National Cemetery was named The Bob Hope Veterans Chapel.

Of course, as we all know Bob Hope died July 2003 at his home in Tuluca Lake, California. Thanks for the memories... and for those military men and women who were in his overseas shows, the memories are far more vivid and sweet. And it's appropriate that we remember on this Memorial Day weekend that includes Mr. Hope's birthday.

Some say the men and women who grew up during the depression and served in WW2 are anywhere from 75 to 90 years of age and leaving this time and space dimension at the rate of nearly 1,500 a day... that's over 10,000 a week

We need to realize what is happening. I remember when there were still Civil War Veterans and Spanish American War Veterans. All the WW1's are gone and this generation is the next. I want to thank my niece, Christine Shaw, who lives in Flagstaff, AZ for sending this simple, sincere, and moving website.

Click the first link below and then begin to scroll to read and listen to a moving story and photographs that this Doctor has put together. Then click the second link that will introduce you to some incredible moving photos from Iraq.

Below is an excellent story by Ronnie Thomas, a reporter for the Decatur Daily, Decatur Alabama. It's about "one of those special people" we are losing. The story was written for last fall's Veteran's Day.

Wallace Willingham was 65 years old before he began to say much about his experiences in World War II. And then it was only at the prodding of his children. As youngsters, they tore apart their father's book about the Army's 87th Infantry Division, hoping to learn at least something of what their dad endured, after he balked at their questions.

"Were you ever shot at?" they would ask.

"Sometimes," he'd say.

So that his grandchildren and great-grandchildren also would know what he did in the war, he gathered a cache of old material, including maps, newspaper clippings, letters and photographs from storage to show them. The framed documents now occupy a place of honor on a den wall of his Betty Street Southwest home. As American soldiers battle insurgents in Iraq, the retired minister prays for them, and he honors them. He bonds with them, too, and he believes they are as much of a "greatest generation" as he was.

And he realizes that some toss "hero" about loosely. "A hero is one who does what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences," he said. "Our men and women in Iraq are heroes."

The Army drafted Willingham, now 78, out of Jacksonville High School in 1944 as an 11th-grader. He said he could have gotten a deferment because of farming, but he was ready to go.

"Anyway, who could have imagined a Depression-era Alabama farm boy getting a ride on the Queen Mary?" he said.

The luxury ship that the Allies transformed to a troop carrier docked in Scotland. In January 1945, Willingham crossed the English Channel to Le Havre, France. His unit pushed into Belgium, where fierce fighting continued in the aftermath of the major German offensive at Bastogne, known as the Battle of the Bulge.

While holding a position on a hillside in Saint-Hubert, west of Bastogne, Willingham watched famed Gen. George S. Patton Jr. riding in a jeep, reviewing the troops. Later, as Willingham's unit prepared to join the attack on the Siegfried Line — Adolph Hitler's fortification along the French and German border — Patton came for a speech to the commanders of several divisions of his 3rd Army, to "tell them what we were going to be facing." Willingham said Patton noted, "We're going to Berlin and raise the American flag, but there will be some dog tags brought back."

Willingham recounted a somewhat humorous incident that occurred near the Mosel River when he and fellow scout John Sherrer of Queens, N.Y., and four others went on patrol to nab a German soldier to interrogate about troop movements.

"It was dark, and we came upon an older fellow dressed in a uniform," he said. "We returned to camp with a local firefighter. A newspaper account ran the headline, '87th captures fire department.' But our officers told us not to fret, that he was as good as an SS trooper in giving us what we needed. We took him back, thanked him and released him."

On another patrol, Willingham and another soldier walked down a road when an 88 mm shell dropped between them. "We would have been gone for sure, but luckily, it was a dud," he said. "All I could think of at the moment was that mother had me on a prayer list at church. And I pressed the little Gideon Bible that I carried in my jacket pocket closer."

Nicknamed "Tuffy" by the men in his platoon, the scrappy Willingham crossed the Rhine River near Rheims, Germany, on March 25, 1945, his 19th birthday. "As we fought to hold our ground, and it became more desperate for the Germans the tougher the war became," he said, "we faced five counterattacks, at times the enemy coming at us with fixed bayonets that involved some hand-to-hand combat."

Willingham's outfit drove south of Berlin and pushed to the Czechoslovakian border, where they met Russian soldiers. The war in Europe ended in May 1945, and after a 30-day leave, Willingham prepared to be a part of the force that would invade Japan. But atomic bombs dropped on two Japanese cities in early August forced surrender the next month.

Only after he felt that his mission was complete did Willingham seek help for frostbite, which he suffered in one of his legs fighting during the bitter winter. He spent the last months of 1945 in a hospital at Camp Atterberry, Ind., near Indianapolis, where the Army discharged him.

Among his medals is the Bronze Star, which he received "for meritorious achievement in ground combat against an armed enemy."

Norman Plunkett

God is good -- ALWAYS!

And especially as He floods you with all the grace you need no matter what the situation. As you trust Him, God's grace is always just enough and always on time.