“The American G.I.’s home away from home.”
The year is
1940 and the American military is growing in leaps and bounds in response to the threat of our entry into
World War II. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a challenge to six private organizations to handle the on-leave recreation needs of the members of the Armed forces. The six organizations, the
YMCA,
YWCA,
National Catholic Community Service, the
National Jewish Welfare Board, the Traveler’s Aid Association and the
Salvation Army combine their resources and talents and the United Services Organization is born in New York in February
1941. By
1944, USO’s were found in over 3,000 locations in the states and staffed primarily by volunteers. President Roosevelt is offered the position as Honorary Chairman of the USO and he accepts. This tradition has been carried on by every President who has followed.
Later in
1941, the entertainment industry, either out of a sense of
patriotism or good publicity, chime in. USO “Camp Shows” begin with entertainers either waiving their pay and/or sacrificing working conditions begin to put on shows at bases in the United States. With American entry into World War II, the Camp Shows were expanded to bring live entertainment to troops stationed overseas.
Bob Hope made his first USO tour in
1942 and the partnership he formed with the USO wound up lasting for more than five decades. All in all, between 1941 and
1947, approximately 7,000 “soldiers in greasepaint” put on 428,521 USO shows. The concept has endured and today is known as the “USO Celebrity Event”.