CO-STAR: Raquel Welch made a big impression on Vietnam tours.

Helping Hope Bob Hope's World War II tours were no-frills affairs. He started out with a cast of four that was ready to perform at any foxhole near the front, as Frances Langford later said. They smiled through danger and deprivation: bombing raids, fungus attacks, sickness, and several close calls in uncomfortable planes. In addition to Hope, they were: JERRY COLONNA: A musician Hope pulled from behind a trombone and spotlighted on his radio show. Colonna had a wild sense of humor, a loud, raucous voice and a bushy mustache. Hope said he was 'the only man in the world who can kiss a girl and give her the brush-off at the same time.' FRANCES LANGFORD: A 'girl singer' with a powerful, sultry voice. She traded risque banter with Hope in slacks, midriff-baring tops, upswept hair and a snood. She also held hands with dying men and wrote a column called 'Purple Heart Diary' for the Hearst newspaper chain. Whenever she sang her signature song, 'I'm in the Mood for Love,' some serviceman would yell out, 'Sister, you've come to the right place!' TONY ROMANO: This guitar player was Hope's 'orchestra,' frequently the only accompaniment he had. In 1944, they were joined by Patty Thomas, a Broadway dancer who did kicks in skimpy skirts. Hope, Romano, Langford and Thomas reunited in the late-1980s, swapping memories in a video called 'Entertaining the Troops.' It offers one of the most candid profiles of Hope available.

By Steve DiMeglio
For The Desert Sun

He crashlanded in Australia during World War II. He almost froze in Greenland and evaporated in the heat of Morocco. And the Nazis shot at him and the Viet Cong tried to blow him up.

Winning the war of words In his work with the USO, Hope earned many honors, shared the stage with the world's biggest stars and travelled the globe.

And still, Bob Hope kept going back. Year after year after year.

Kept going back to some foreign country or countries to spend his holidays entertaining U.S. troops. For many soldiers, he was a wise-cracking Santa Claus who made laughter his greatest gift.

Have troupe, will fly was his motto. He played World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War.

"I saw your sons and your husbands, your brothers and your sweethearts. I saw how they worked, played, fought, and lived. I saw some of them die,'' Hope wrote in "I Was There,'' a book dedicated to those who served in World War II. "I saw more courage, more good humor in the face of discomfort, more love in an era of hate, and more devotion to duty than could exist under tyranny.''

Hope's trips were filled with fun and sadness. There were the narrow escapes from danger and the frantic efforts of getting as many as 70 people organized, rehearsed and in the air to places many of them had never heard of.

His stage was wherever he stopped walking. He performed at bomber bases and on decks of ships, at fighter bases and supply depots, in hospital wards and foxholes -- basically, wherever a few homesick servicemen were gathered.

He was the ultimate wise guy, delivering one-liners with perfect timing, mocking his own vanities and cowardice. And his rapid-fire delivery and habit of snatching his topics from daily newspapers made his shows a hit.

"The wonderful thing about doing these shows was they were mostly off-the-cuff,'' recalled guitarist Tony Romano, an original member of Hope's USO shows who went on to work with Hope for 40 years after that. "Bob and the rest of us would find out some information we could use, like favorite hangouts, favorite activities, that kind of stuff.

"Bob was like our general putting the shows together,'' Romano continued from his home in Sun City, about 11 miles from Hemet. "I met a lot of generals and great men. General Patton, General Eisenhower -- and Bob Hope ranks right there with them.''

Hope's tours of duty began with World War II. He was asked in 1941 to do a radio show for the military at March Field in Riverside. Told there would be 2,000 soldiers there, Hope couldn't resist.

"I could hear the sound that 2,000 joke-hungry servicemen could make -- all laughing and applauding,'' Hope wrote in the book "I Was There.'' "You can't say no to that.''

From there it was on to Alaska in 1942. In 1943, Hope made his first Christmas trip overseas to England, Africa, Sicily and Iceland.

Over the next 50 years, Hope and his troupe traveled to all seven seas, the four corners of the world, and most everywhere in between.

Sometimes Hope's travel accommodations were less than stellar.

"There was this C-118 that was so old, the No Smoking sign was in Latin and the plane's plumbing was outdoors,'' Hope once said.

But he kept going back. In 1960, he toured what Hope called the Bikini Circuit -- the Panama Canal zone, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Once, he stepped off the plane in Greenland and it was 36 below zero.

"Greenland -- where it's dark and it's just as well,'' Hope quipped.

On the other end of the thermometer, Hope played in Vietnam when it was 112 degrees.

When told he was being sent to Vietnam for the first time, Hope said it was the Pentagon's idea.

"They thought they'd try a new bomb,'' he said.

In 1964, Hope took his first of many Christmas trips to Vietnam. While he didn't bomb, he was almost bombed as downtown Saigon took the brunt of a Viet Cong surprise attack.

Later, in a captured secret Viet Cong document, it was revealed that some Viet Cong leadership rebuked some of its Saigon terrorists for failing to kill Hope and his entertainment troupe during that first visit to Vietnam. Seems the bombs, according to the document, exploded 10 minutes before Hope and his troupe arrived.

In 1967, Hope's troupe caused a rumble of its own -- or as Hope called it, Hurricane Raquel. It was that year when Raquel Welch's appearances rocked military bases all over southeast Asia.

"Loudest cheers I ever heard,'' Hope wrote of her dancing in front of a sea of green uniforms.

In 1968, dancing dynamite Ann-Margret and the Golddiggers provided their own TNT.

In 1972, Hope and his troupe took their last Christmas show tour with stops in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Guam and India.

But Hope didn't retire. For years he went up and down the West Coast performing at various military bases. And in 1990, Hope spent his holidays entertaining the troops in Saudi Arabia prior to Operation Desert Storm.

In 1995, Hope skipped his Christmas special for the first time since 1950. However, he taped a holiday message for Armed Forces Radio.

Hope's commitment to his tour of duty was never more tested than it was in 1963. That year, Hope's left eye began giving him trouble and he started seeing double. His surgery was known worldwide and the comedian received thousands of letters from servicemen offering Hope their own eyes.

The day after surgery, however, Hope was on a plane to Germany. After all, there was a Christmas holiday tour to make.