Happy Birthday Bob Hope!

When AFRS was just forming, only those with professional broadcast experience and who were already in the military service, were recruited.  The headquarters were located at Sunset and Western on the Fox Studio lot in Hollywood.  We were getting acquainted and doing nothing much other than playing cards while waiting for our equipments to arrive.  You have the picture of the original crews.  When we finally received orders to go to Angel Island for shipping out, we were anxious to go.  We decided to have a farewell dinner.

At that time most of the broadcast studios were clustered on Sunset Boulevard a short distance from AFRS headquarters. A then famous restaurant and bar near the studios, named Brittinghams, was selected. Almost all of the AFRS guys were there and dinner was almost over when in came Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Jerry Colonna.  They joked with us and among themselves for about a half hour wishing us well until we met again.  And we did meet them later at Guadalcanal when as part of the USO tours, they came to entertain the troops.

That sincere gesture from busy, highly paid entertainers has remained in my memory since that evening more than half a century ago.  Crosby and Colonna are gone now. Bob Hope is tomorrow 100 and that means to me 100 Per cent genuine.

Ivan (Jack) Saddler 05/24/03