Sunday, March 16, 2008

Who is your favorite comedian, and why?



My favorite comedian would have to be BOB HOPE! I grew up watching him with my dad. One of the reasons why he is my fave is all the work he done for the military over the years. No one else has given of their time and put their life in danger like Bob did, all because he wanted to bring a little bit of home to the troops. I never had the chance to see Bob myself, he died July 27, 2003 (at 100) while I was serving in Iraq. It was a sad day. My Uncle Jim did get a chance to see him while serving in Vietnam.

The following taken from Wikipedia

Hope performed his first United Service Organizations (USO) show on May 6, 1941, at March Field, California. He continued to travel and entertain troops for the rest of World War II and later during the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. When overseas he almost always performed in Army fatigues as a show of support for his audience. Hope's USO career lasted half a century, during which he headlined approximately sixty tours. For his service to his country through the USO, Hope was awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1968.

Of Hope's USO shows in World War II, writer John Steinbeck, who was then working as a war correspondent, wrote in 1943:

When the time for recognition of service to the nation in wartime comes to be considered, Bob Hope should be high on the list. This man drives himself and is driven. It is impossible to see how he can do so much, can cover so much ground, can work so hard, and can be so effective. He works month after month at a pace that would kill most people.[8]
A 1997 act of Congress signed by President Clinton named Hope an "Honorary Veteran". He remarked, "I've been given many awards in my lifetime — but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most — is the greatest honor I have ever received."

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