Did Ffdp Donate Money After Paris Attacks

American charitable organization

The United Service Organizations

Founded	February iv, 1941[1]
Blazon	Services
Focus	The USO strengthens America'south armed services service members by keeping them connected to family, dwelling house, and country, throughout their service to the nation.
Location	Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Area served	200+ centers worldwide
Cardinal people	J. D. Crouch Ii President and CEO
Revenue	Donations (a 501(c)(iii) non-profit)
Volunteers	30,000+
Website	www.uso.org

The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of War, and later on with the Section of Defense (DoD), relying heavily on individual contributions and on funds, goods, and services from various corporate and individual donors. Although it is congressionally-chartered, it is not a authorities bureau.

Founded during Globe War II, the USO sought to be the GI'due south "home away from abode" and began a tradition of entertaining the troops and providing social facilities. Involvement in the USO was 1 of the many ways in which the nation had come up together to support the war effort, with almost ane.5 million people having volunteered their services in some mode. The USO initially disbanded in 1947, only was revived in 1950 for the Korean War, after which it connected, too providing peacetime services. During the Vietnam War, USO social facilities ("USOs") were sometimes located in gainsay zones.

The organisation became specially known for its live performances, called camp shows, through which the entertainment industry helps boost the morale of servicemen and women. From the starting time, Hollywood was eager to show its patriotism, and many celebrities joined the ranks of USO entertainers. They went equally volunteers to entertain, and celebrities continue to provide volunteer entertainment in military machine bases in the U.S. and overseas, sometimes placing their own lives in danger past traveling or performing nether chancy conditions. In 2011, the USO was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

The USO has over 200 locations around the globe in 14 countries (including the U.S.) and 27 states. During a gala marking the USO's 75th anniversary in 2016, retired Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the current chairman of the USO Board of Governors, estimated that the USO has served more 35 million Americans over its history.^{[two] [3]}

History [edit]

Mission and goals [edit]

Actor Mickey Rooney, a World War Two Bronze Star recipient, honoring the USO in 2000

The USO was founded in 1941 by Mary Ingraham in response to a asking from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel. Roosevelt was elected every bit its honorary chairman. This request brought together six civilian organizations: the Conservancy Army, YMCA, Young Women'southward Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board. They were brought together under one umbrella to support U.Due south. troops, as opposed to operating independently as some had done during the Commencement World State of war. Roosevelt said he wanted "these private organizations to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces." According to historian Emily Yellin, "The government was to build the buildings and the USO was to raise private funds to carry out its main mission: boosting the morale of the war machine."^[4]

The first national entrada chairman was Thomas Dewey, who raised $sixteen million in the first year. The 2nd chairman was future senator Prescott Bush.^[iv] The USO was incorporated in New York on Feb four,^[1] with the first facility erected in DeRidder, Louisiana, 1941.^{[5] [half dozen]} More USO centers and clubs opened around the globe every bit a "Habitation Away from Dwelling" for GIs.^{[ citation needed ]} The USO club was a place to get for dances and social events, for movies and music, for a placidity place to talk or write a letter home, or for a gratis cup of coffee and an egg.^{[ clarification needed ]}

The USO too brought Hollywood celebrities and volunteer entertainers to perform for the troops. According to movie historian Steven Cohan, "most of all ... in taking dwelling on the route, it equated the nation with showbiz. USO camp shows were designed in their consign to remind soldiers of domicile." They did this, he noted, by "nurturing in troops a sense of patriotic identification with America through popular amusement."^[7] An commodity in Look mag at the fourth dimension, stated, "For the footling time the bear witness lasts, the men are taken directly to the familiar Main Street that is the goal of every fighting American far abroad from home." Maxene Andrews wrote, "The entertainment brought home to the boys. Their home." Actor George Raft stated at the beginning of the war, "Now it'southward going to exist upward to us to send to the men hither and abroad real, living entertainment, the songs, the dances, and the laughs they had back home."^[7]

USO promotional literature stated its goals:

"The story of USO camp shows belongs to the American people, for it was their contribution that made it possible. Information technology is an of import part in the life of your sons, your brothers, your husbands, and your sweethearts."^[7]

In 2011, the USO was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama "for contributions to lifting the spirits of America's troops and their families through the arts".^[8]

World War II [edit]

After being formed in 1941, in response to Globe State of war Two, "centers were established quickly ... in churches, barns, railroad cars, museums, castles, beach clubs, and log cabins."^[9] Most centers offered recreational activities, such equally property dances and showing movies. And at that place were the well-known free coffee and doughnuts. Some USO centers provided a oasis for spending a repose moment alone or writing a letter of the alphabet habitation, while others offered spiritual guidance and fabricated childcare available for military wives.

But the organization became mostly known for its live performances chosen Military camp Shows, through which the entertainment manufacture helped boost the morale of its servicemen and women. USO Camp Shows, Inc. began in October 1941,^[10] and by that fall and winter 186 military machine theaters existed in the United States. Overseas shows began in November 1941 with a tour of the Caribbean area. Inside five months 36 overseas units had been sent inside the Americas, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and during 1942 1,000 performed as part of seventy units. Average performers were paid $100 a week; top stars were paid $10 a day because their wealth allow them contribute more than of their talents.^[11]

These overseas shows were produced by the American Theatre Wing, which also provided food and entertainment for the armed services in their Stage Door Canteens. Funds from the sale of film rights for a story about the New York Canteen went toward providing USO tours of shows for overseas troops.^[12]

Following the Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, Edward One thousand. Robinson was the first movie star to travel to Normandy to entertain the troops.^{[13] [14]} He had already been active back domicile selling war bonds, and donated $100,000 to the USO. During his show, he said, "This is the most privileged moment of my life, the opportunity to be here with you."^[xv] The post-obit month, Camp Shows began in Normandy.

Until autumn 1944 overseas units independent five performers or fewer; The Barretts of Wimpole Street, using local theaters in France and Italy, was the starting time to employ an unabridged theater visitor, including scenery.^[11] At its high point in 1944, the USO had more than 3,000 clubs, and curtains were rising on USO shows 700 times a twenty-four hour period. The USO'due south fundraising efforts were controversial. An MGM moving-picture show, Mr. Gardenia Jones, created to assist the USO in its fundraising entrada, was almost withdrawn from theaters due to objections by the War Section, mainly because of scenes showing soldiers jumping with joy at the opportunity to shower in canteens and rest in overstuffed and comfortable USO chairs. The Army, noted the New York Times, "feels this is non adept for morale as it implies that in that location are no showers or other comforts for soldiers in military camps." The film starred Ronald Reagan, and then a captain in the Regular army Air Strength.^[16]

Fundraising was also aided past non-USO entertainment groups. Soldier Shows, which troops – oft experienced actors and musicians – organized and held their own performances, were common. The army formed a Special Services unit that organized such shows and supervised the USO, and the experience from the Soldier Shows led to Irving Berlin'due south Broadway prove This Is the Regular army. Performers and writers from throughout the regular army were recruited for the product; they remained soldiers and connected drills. Berlin, who had written and produced the similar Yip, Yip, Yaphank during World War I, took the entire 165-person bandage on tour in Europe in 1942, raising nearly $x million for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The post-obit year the show was made into a film by the aforementioned title, again starring Ronald Reagan.^{[17] [11]} The This Is The Army stage production toured worldwide until it closed in Oct 1945 in Honolulu.^[11] The USO was also supported by the National State of war Fund.^[18]

War correspondent Quentin Reynolds, wrote in an article for Billboard mag in 1943, that "Amusement, all phases of information technology – radio, pictures and live – should be treated every bit essential. You don't know what entertainment ways to the guys who exercise the fighting until yous've been up there with the men yourself. ... Yous can quote me as maxim that we should use amusement as an essential manufacture so long as it's for the boys in service. Anybody who has been there would insist on information technology. ... Hell, yous should accept seen how happy the G.I.s were when they heard the ballplayers were coming over. And John Steinbeck, only back from a chore every bit war correspondent, ... besides applauded show business as part of the state of war effort and its importance as a morale builder."^[19]

According to historian Paul Holsinger, between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 split up visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained. The USO too did shows in war machine hospitals, somewhen entertaining more than than 3 million wounded soldiers and sailors in 192 different hospitals. There were 702 different USO troupes that toured the world, some spending up to half dozen months per tour.^[20] In 1943, a United States Liberty ship named the SS U.S.O. was launched. She was scrapped in 1967.^[21]

Xx-eight performers died in the course of their tours, from aeroplane crashes, disease, or diseases contracted while on tour.^[11] In i such instance in 1943, a plane conveying a USO troupe crashed exterior Lisbon, killing singer and actress Tamara Drasin, and severely injuring Broadway singer Jane Froman. Froman returned to Europe on crutches in 1945 to once again entertain the troops. She later married the co-pilot who saved her life in that crash, and her story was fabricated into the 1952 film With a Song in My Heart, with Froman providing the actual singing vocalism.^[17] Others, such equally Al Jolson, the get-go entertainer to go overseas in World War Two, contracted malaria, resulting in the loss of his lung, cutting short his tour.^[22]

1 author wrote that by the stop of the war "the USO amounted to the biggest enterprise American show business has e'er tackled. The audition was millions of American fighting men, the theatre'due south location: the world, the producer: USO military camp shows"^[7] Performances continued after the stop of the war in 1945. 60 new units went to Europe later V-E Day, and 91 new units went to the Pacific subsequently V-J Day. The USO dissolved in Dec 1947, after having spent $240 million in contributions on Camp Shows, canteens, and other services. Special Services productions grew in number as replacement.^[eleven]

In 1991, 20th Century Pull a fast one on produced the film For the Boys, which told the story of two USO performers, and starred Bette Midler and James Caan. It covered a 50-twelvemonth timespan, from the USO's inception in 1941 through Operation Desert Storm, in 1991. Another movie was planned in 1950 but never made. Just x days afterward Al Jolson returned from entertaining troops in Korea, he agreed with RKO producers to star in a new movie, Stars and Stripes for E'er, about a USO troupe in the S Pacific during World War II. Unfortunately, he died a week later on as a result of physical exhaustion from his tour.

Women in the USO [edit]

According to Emily Yellin, many of the key pes soldiers in the USO'southward mission were women who were "charged with providing friendly diversion for U.Southward. troops who were mostly men in their teens and twenties."^[4] USO centers throughout the globe recruited female person volunteers to serve doughnuts, dance, and just talk with the troops. USO historian Julia Carson writes that this "nostalgic hour," designed to cheer and comfort soldiers, involved "listening to music – American style" and "looking at pretty girls, like no other pretty girls in the world – American girls."^[23]

African-American women scrambled to rally the community around the soldiers and create programs for them. Past 1946, hostesses had served more than than two thousand soldiers a day while also providing facilities for the wounded and convalescent who were on leave. They went to blackness businesses and fraternal organizations in order to observe sponsorship for their USO group, and subsequently expanded to fulfill the needs of soldiers during the Korean State of war. Moreover, they worked to merge blackness and white USOs into one desegregated unit of measurement. As black historian Megan Shockley noted, "Their work for the desegregation of USOs had begun during Globe War Ii, and it finally paid off."^[24]

Women were besides key entertainers who performed at shows. Stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth had traveled over a 1000000 miles. Yellin notes that on one tour, Hayworth visited six camps, gave thousands of autographs, and "came dorsum from Texas with a full-fledged nervous breakdown from over-enthusiasm!"^[4] Opera vocalizer Lily Pons, later on she had performed a "serious" opera song to troops in Burma, "an applause erupted that stunned fifty-fifty the most seasoned performers." She later wrote in a letter, "Every woman back dwelling house wears a halo now, and those who represent her had ameliorate keep theirs on, too."^[4]

Writer Joeie Dee pointed out that "for women entertainers, traveling with the USO made information technology possible to be patriots and adventurers as well as professionals." She adds, however, that the G.I.s in the USO audiences "tended to see these women in a different light – as reminders of and even substitutes for their girls dorsum home, every bit a reward for fighting the war, as embodiments of what they were fighting for."^[25] Edward Skvarna remembers 1943, when he met Donna Reed at a USO canteen and asked her to dance. "I had never danced with a glory earlier, so I felt delighted, privileged fifty-fifty, to meet her. ... Just I actually felt she was like a girl from back home." Jay Fultz, author of a biography of Reed, states that soldiers "often wrote to her equally if to a sister or the girl next door, confiding moments of homesickness, loneliness, privation and anxiety."^[26]

Women entertainers [edit]

United states Coast Guard, 1st show in Vietnam, 1970

1 female entertainer wrote near conditions while performing:

We've played to audiences, many of them ankle deep in mud, huddled under the ponchos in the pouring rain (it breaks your heart the start ii or iii times to see men and so hungry for entertainment.) Nosotros've played on uncovered stages, when we, as well as the audience, got pelting-soaked. We've played with huge tropical bugs flying in our hair and faces; we've played to audiences of thousands of men, audiences spreading from our very feet to far up a hillside and many sitting in the trees. ... We've played to audiences in minor units of 500 or then, and much oftener to audiences of 8 to ten,000. Every night we play a different place.^[four]

Vocalist-actress-dancer Ann Miller described performing for badly wounded soldiers. She did twoscore-8 shows for "broken soldiers," who were generally lying on stretchers in the lobbies of hotels, watching as she entertained them. Yellin writes, "During her last prove she collapsed and had to exist taken dwelling house on an Army plane."^[4] Afterwards, Miller described the feel:

We went from ward to ward to ward, singing and dancing and trying to boost the morale of these men. Information technology was just hell. ... I just cruel apart and I think the shock of seeing those men with their artillery and legs blown off – it was only frightening. Only when you do it, you practise it. You attempt to assist them, effort to sing and dance. You try to keep their spirits up. It'due south heartbreaking.^[4]

Korean State of war [edit]

Al Jolson, the first star to perform in Korea, September 17, 1950

In 1947, the USO was disbanded,^[27] due partly to lack of funds.^[28] In 1951, when the United states of america entered the Korean State of war, Secretarial assistant of Defence force George Marshall and Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews requested that the USO be reactivated "to provide back up for the men and women of the armed forces with help of the American people." According to war historian Paul Edwards, between 1952 and 1953, non a day went by without the USO providing services somewhere in Korea. At home or overseas, in 1952 it was serving three.five million in the military machine using much the same methods of operation as information technology did in World State of war Ii.

Many stars, both well-known and new, came to perform, including Bob Hope, Errol Flynn, Debbie Reynolds, Piper Laurie, Jane Russell, Paul Douglas, Terry Moore, Marilyn Monroe, Danny Kaye, Rory Calhoun, Mickey Rooney, Linda Coleman, Al Jolson and many others. Hispanic-American soldiers were entertained by artists such as Pérez Prado's Testify featuring Evita Muñoz as his invited mambo dancer. Jolson was the first to volunteer, but due to lack of USO funds traveled to Korea at his own expense^[29] (he was also the get-go to entertain troops during World State of war II).^[30]

Veterans have recalled many of the USOs events, sometimes in vivid item:

On that cold, clouded solar day, in that location were more than than five yard troops in the audience. They sat on the ground or up on the hillside. When everyone was settled, Danny Kaye opened the show by going to the microphone, looking at his large audition, and shouting, "Who'south holding back the enemy?" The GIs roared with laughter. Nosotros were thrilled to have Kaye and his entertainers in our surface area. We especially liked the young women in the show. Danny was okay, with his stories and jokes, but afterward all, we knew what American men looked like.^{[32] : 51}

Author Linda Granfield in describing the show, writes, "For two hours, the men could forget they were soldiers at state of war. After the show, they returned to the fighting in the hills. Some in that audition never fabricated it dorsum."^[32] By the end of the war, over 113,000 American USO volunteers were working at 294 centers at home and abroad.^[33] And 126 units had given 5,422 performances to servicemen in Korea and the wounded in Japan.

Vietnam War [edit]

The USO was in Vietnam before the first combat troops arrived, with the first USO club opened in Saigon in Apr 1963. The 23 centers in Vietnam and Thailand served as many equally a million service members a month, and the USO presented more than than 5,000 performances during the Vietnam War featuring stars such as John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis Jr., Raymond Burr, Phyllis Diller, Martha Raye, Joey Heatherton, Wayne Newton, Jayne Mansfield, Redd Foxx, Rosey Grier, Anita Bryant, Nancy Sinatra, Jimmy Hawkins, Jimmy Boyd, Lola Falana, George Peppard and Bob Hope. Philip Ahn, the kickoff histrion of Korean descent to become a Hollywood star, became the first Asian American USO performer to entertain troops in Vietnam.^[34]

In addition, the USO operated centers at major U.S. airports to provide a lounge and place to slumber for American servicemen between their flights. Vietnam historian James Westheider noted that the USO "tried to bring a picayune America to Vietnam." Volunteer American civilians, who did 18-month tours, staffed the clubs. According to Westheider, "The young women wore miniskirts – no slacks were allowed." Each club had a snack bar, gift shops, a barbershop, photograph developing, overseas telephone lines, and hot showers.^[35]

When providing entertainment, the USO did its best to attract known stars from back habitation to help relieve the stresses of war. Senator John Kerry recalled how important this kind of diversion would go. He remembered a "Bob Promise Follies" USO show, which included actress Ann-Margret, Miss America, football star Rosey Grier, and others. According to Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley, "When the Swift finally made it back to the My Tho River, the crew confronted the heartbreaking sight of a huge Navy landing arts and crafts ferrying the troops back. The USO show was over." Kerry later wrote, "The visions of Ann Margret and Miss America and all the other titillating personalities who would take made us feel and then at dwelling house hung around united states of america for a while until we saw three Chinook helicopters take off from the field and presumed that our dreams had gone with them."^[36]

Only for GIs who saw the testify, it was worth it: "We turned to watch Ann perform, and for nearly two minutes of American beauty, the state of war was forgotten. Everyone fully understood merely what was really worth fighting for. ... The show was fantastic, but the escape the Bob Hope tour provided us in expectation for days before, and after, helped us proceed in bear on with what nosotros were there for – God, Country, apple pie ... and Ann-Margret!"^[37]

The visits past the stars meant a lot to the men and women in Vietnam. "It was not just the entertainment; it meant that they were non forgotten that far away from domicile," writes Westheider.^[35] He adds that the tours fabricated a "deep impression" on the stars as well. Singer and actress Connie Stevens remembered her 1969 bout with Bob Promise, when she decided to go despite the fact she had two children both under the age of ii. Today, she claims that "veterans were still stopping her and thanking her for visiting Vietnam over 30 years after."^[35]

Similarly, Ann-Margret during a volume signing was approached by a veteran who asked her to sign a photo he took of her performing in Vietnam. Although the book'due south publishing representative for the signing consequence would not allow her to sign annihilation other than her book, the veteran's wife recalls:

She took 1 look at the photo, tears welled upwardly in her eyes, and she said, 'This is one of my gentlemen from Viet Nam and I most certainly volition sign his photo. I know what these men did for their country and I always have fourth dimension for 'my gentlemen.'^[38]

In November–December 1968 the Sig Sakowitz troop from Chicago performed over 36 shows in South Vietnam with the USO in: Pleiku, Dalat, Danang, Cam Ran Bay, Phu Bai, Phu Loy, Hue, Natrang, Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon and places in the boonies known merely to military intelligence and the lonely soldiers yearning for a gustation of home. The troop consisted of Doublemint Twins Terrie and Jennie Frankel, Gaslight Club singer Sara Sue, Comedian Tony Diamond and personality Sig Sakowitz. Shows were as well performed with comedian Joey Bishop of the Rat Pack.^[39]

George Peppard, successful star of phase, TV and move pictures, arrived in Vietnam for a USO HANDSHAKE TOUR in 1970 to visit the military machine in the hospitals and out in the "boonies."... He showed a keen interest in the men's mission while they were hungry for news of life back in the "World."... Polaroid pictures were taken by Mr. Peppard'due south escort officer, autographed, and given to the men.^[xl]

Lebanese peacekeeping [edit]

In 1983, a encarmine ceremonious war was raging in Lebanon. In an effort to cease the violence in the region a Multinational Forcefulness of peacekeepers composed largely of U.S., Italian and French armed service members was created and sent to the region to endeavour a restoration of order. Equally role of the multinational force the United states of america mobilized an expeditionary strength composed of members of the United States Marine Corps and elements of the United States 6th Fleet which operated out of the Mediterranean Ocean.^[41]

Conveying on a tradition he had begun in World War II of spending Christmas with U.S. forces overseas, Bob Hope and his troupe of entertainers gave a testify on lath the battleship USSNew Jersey on December 24, 1983. Four hundred Marines stationed in Beirut attended the bear witness.^[42]

Italy [edit]

American troops take been deployed in Italy since the stop of World War II. In 1988, a machine bomb targeted the USO lodge in Naples, which killed five people including a U.S. Navy officeholder.

Gulf State of war [edit]

To back up troops participating in Operation Desert Shield, USO centers opened in Saudi arabia. Entertainers performing for the troops included Bob Promise, Jay Leno, Steve Martin, Delta Burke, Ann Jillian, Gerald McRaney, Marie Osmond, the Arrow Sisters, country singer Gina James, and Bob Hope on his final USO tour.^[43]

Afghanistan and Iraq [edit]

To support troops participating in Operations Indelible Freedom and Iraqi Liberty, USO centers opened in Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. USO centers number more than 160 around the earth. In those years, the USO opened centers at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Elation, Texas; Fort Carson, Colorado; and Afghanistan. The USO provides a diverseness of programs and services, including orientation programs, family unit events, free Cyberspace and e-mail service access, complimentary drinks and snacks, complimentary phone calls abode and recreation services. 1 of the newer programs, called "USO in a Box," delivers program materials ranging from DVD players and videos to musical instruments to remote forwards operating bases in Afghanistan.

U.S. military personnel and their families visit USO centers more eight million times each year.

Bruce Willis visited Baghdad, Camp Kir Kush and Army camp Caldwell, Republic of iraq around December 2003. Mr. Willis visited military bases in Republic of iraq during his visit in Iraq.^[44]

From June 8 to 11, 2009, TV personality Stephen Colbert traveled to Iraq to film his bear witness The Colbert Report for four days in a USO sponsored upshot.

Other entertainers who have traveled to the Middle East to perform include Al Franken (who made vi USO tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Transitional islamic state of afghanistan before being elected a Us Senator from Minnesota), Robin Williams, Craig Ferguson, Gary Sinise, Zac Brown, Five Finger Expiry Punch, Artie Lange, Gary Dell'Abate, Nick DiPaolo, Jim Florentine, Jim Norton, Dave Attell, Avenged Sevenfold, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Drowning Puddle, Toby Keith (with special guest Gina James), Montgomery Gentry, Kellie Pickler, Mayra Veronica, Carlos Mencia, O.A.R., Trace Adkins, Kathleen Madigan, Louis C.K.,^[45] Dane Cook, Lewis Black, Third Day, Colin Quinn, Kathy Griffin and Neil McCoy.^[46]

The USO has provided services for the annual "Tribute to the Troops" special of World Wrestling Amusement. They accept aired WWE RAW from Afghanistan and Republic of iraq every Christmas in the United States in a pre-taped show from the combat zone.

On July sixteen, 2012, Hollywood thespian Charlie Sheen announced that he would donate at least $1 million to the USO. This would be among the largest single monetary donations ever given to the organisation.^[47]

Services [edit]

The USO provides services to troops before, during, and later on deployment through staffed and unstaffed USO centers inside and outside combat zones.

Functioning Phone Home [edit]

USO centers in gainsay zones provide gratis phone calls home and internet access to service members through its private telephone network and high-speed net.

Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program [edit]

The Bob Hope Legacy Reading program allows service members tape and send a video of themselves reading a volume to their children at home.^{[48] [49]}

USO Care Bundle Program [edit]

The arrangement sends toiletry and snack care packages to servicemen including travel-sized hygiene products of which 170,000 were shipped in 2019, healthy snacks, and beverage mixes.^[50] During the COVID-xix pandemic, the arrangement assembled thousands of intendance packages for troops in mandatory 14-mean solar day quarantine en-route abode.^[51]

USO Special Delivery [edit]

The USO hosts baby showers for military parents-to-be. The baby showers allow pregnant war machine spouses to network and form a community while their spouses are deployed.^[52]

USO2GO [edit]

USO2GO is a service that provides customizable kits to military servicemen stationed in areas without a USO Middle containing toiletries and snacks, furniture, electronics, and/or anything else they might need. Since 2008, the USO has shipped more than 2,000 kits to places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, and others.

Entertainment [edit]

The USO has hosted more 8.1 million heart celebrity visits across the globe.^[53]

Honoring Bob Hope [edit]

In 1997, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Promise by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. war machine."^{[54] [55]} According to Hope biographer William Faith, his reputation has become ingrained in the "American consciousness" considering he had flown millions of miles to entertain G.I.s during both wartime and peace. His contribution to the USO began in 1941 and ended with Operation Desert Shield in 1991, spending 48 Christmases overseas with American service personnel.^[43] He was always treated equally "an nugget to the U.S. Government with his willingness to entertain whenever they needed him."^[55] Later on WWII was declared over, the USO had sent out an "impassioned bulletin" request entertainers not to abandon the GIs now that the war was over. Hope was amidst the first to say yes. The Military machine Order of the Purple Heart notes that "his contributions to the USO are well known: they are legend."^[56]

As a event of his not-stop entertainment to both the civilian population and the military, he received numerous other honors over the years: a C-17 Air Force plane was named The Spirit of Bob Hope; a naval vessel was named the USNS Bob Hope; and streets, schools, hospitals, and a golf tournament were also named in his honor. A Senate resolution declared him "a part of American sociology." The Guinness Volume of Records called him the most honored entertainer e'er. And during his 1993 televised birthday commemoration, when he turned 90, General Colin Powell saluted Hope "for his tireless USO trouping", which was followed by onstage tributes from all branches of the military machine. General William Westmoreland spoke about his loyalty to the GI throughout the gritty Vietnam years. And bandleader Les Brown, who was with him during many of his tours, mentioned that his band "had seen more of Hope's ass in the terminal 40 years than any of Hope'due south immediate family."^[55]

War contributor Quentin Reynolds wrote in 1943, "He and his troupe would do 300 miles in a jeep, and give iv shows ... One of the generals said Hope was a showtime charge per unit military target since he was worth a partitioning; that that's about xv,000 men. Presumably the Nazis appreciated Hope'southward value, since they thrice bombed towns while the comic was there."^[19]

During the Vietnam State of war years he gave a number of high-rating television specials and sensed that the media had given him a wide endorsement for continuing on his GI mercy missions. Presently subsequently his Christmas prove in Saigon in 1967, he learned that the Vietcong had planned a terrorist attack at his hotel against him and his entire troupe, missing him past 10 minutes. He was later "mystified," writes Faith, "and ... increasingly intolerant of the pockets of dissent. Draft-card burnings on higher campuses angered him ..." "Can you imagine," Hope wrote in a mag article, "... that people in America are burning their draft cards to prove their opposition and that some of them are actually rooting for your defeat?"^[55] In the spring of 1973, Hope began writing his fifth volume, The Final Christmas Show, which was dedicated to "the men and women of the armed forces and to those who as well served by worrying and waiting." He signed over his royalties to the USO.

His final Christmas evidence was during Operation Desert Shield in 1990. The show was non easy, notes Faith. "There were so many restrictions. Hope'southward jokes were monitored by the State Department to avoid offending the Saudis ... and the media was restricted from covering the shows ... Because in Saudi arabia national custom prescribes that women must be veiled in public, Ann Jillian, Marie Osmond, and the Pointer Sisters were left off Hope'south Christmas Eve show."^[55]

In 2009, Stephen Colbert performing his last episode of weeklong taping in Republic of iraq for his The Colbert Report show, carried a golf game club on stage and dedicated it to Bob Promise's service for the USO.

Accountability [edit]

The USO has a paid staff of approximately 800. Additionally, more than 44,000 USO volunteers provide an estimated 371,417 hours of service annually. As reported by the USO, the unpaid volunteer to paid employee ratio overseas is xx to 1. Within the United States, the number is "significantly higher."

The Charity Navigator gave the United Service Organizations a three-star overall rating, a 2-star fiscal rating and a 4-star accountability and transparency rating.^[57]

Run into also [edit]

• Gilla Gerzon (Former director, USO Haifa)
• Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), an system established to provide amusement for British armed forces personnel during World State of war II

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Our Proud History: Important Dates in USO History". USO Web Site. USO Inc. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
2. ^ "From World State of war II to Transitional islamic state of afghanistan: USO Marks 75th Anniversary", Department of Defense, February 5, 2016
3. ^ "Happy 75th Anniversary USO!", Huffington Post, Feb 4, 2016
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External links [edit]

• Official website
• bobhopeuso.org
• USO Clubs in World War 2
• "Entertaining the Troops" moving picture, public television receiver, 1 hour
• Bob Promise USO studio evidence video recording
• Movie clips: WWII tour, from Jolson Sings Again (1949)
• USO World Gala, 2008: President Bush speech Text and video, Oct 1, 2008
• The short flick Big Picture show: United Service Organization (USO): Wherever They Go is available for free download at the Net Archive.
• The short moving-picture show Staff Film Written report 66-25A (1966) is bachelor for free download at the Internet Archive.
• The brusque film USO – thirty Years of Service (1971) is available for free download at the Net Archive.
• USO Camp Shows publicity records, 1941–1955, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• United Service Organizations, Inc. : hearing before the Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-4th Congress, first session ... December ix, 1975.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Service_Organizations

Posted by: halloransaing1944.blogspot.com

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