bob hope 1970 vietnam tour

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The Days Forward

West Point Class of 1969

Dec 22 2015

Bob Hope – 1970

The kick-off for the Bob Hope USO tour in 1970 was at West Point on December 15.  Since my dad was the Dean of the Academic board, one of three generals on the post, my mom and dad got to meet him after the show.  Mom mentioned that two of her sons were in Viet Nam, so he said he would get them together for Christmas, and asked for their names and addresses.  She thought nothing of it, and didn’t tell us.

Lo and behold, on December 23, an Army Major showed up at Danang where my brother Jack (USMA ’65), an Air Force pilot, was stationed.  He was supposed to get my brother to Bien Hoa airbase the next day, for the show on Christmas Day.  My brother, a Captain, went to his Commanding Officer with the Major, related the situation, and the CO said, “Well, if Bob Hope says so, I guess we better do it.”  There was no provision for in-country leave, but a plane with my brother on it left Danang for Bien Hoa the next day.

Also on December 23, a civilian came to Xuan Loc where I was an Engineer Platoon Leader, a First Lieutenant, in the 25 th Infantry Division.  He explained that there was one seat left on a chartered aircraft from Tan Son Nhut Airport, (Saigon), to JFK in New York, and if someone wanted to, he could take leave, pay the airfare, and go home for Christmas. I asked the junior enlisted soldiers first, then the Squad Leaders, then the Platoon Sergeant.  I turned to the man and said that no one wanted to go.  Immediately the Squad Leaders and Platoon Sergeant insisted that I go.  They said that there was no need to be a hero.  We had no missions, and all we would be doing is pulling Motor Stables (vehicle maintenance).  Reluctantly, I agreed.

I left the next morning for the flight.  I flew to JFK and was met there by my sister-in-law, Jack’s wife, who was, with other waiting wives, living at Stewart Air Force Base.

She drove me to West Point.  I rang the back doorbell at 2:00 AM Christmas Day.  My youngest sister came to the door, saw me, and screamed “Bobby’s home”.  I went upstairs to my bedroom.  When my mother saw me, she fainted.  It was a wonderful Christmas.

I had to go back on New Year’s Eve.  We left about 10PM heading west to an airbase near Anchorage, AK for refueling.  The crew had hats, whistles and confetti for the New Year’s celebration on board.  We went through several time zones, moving the clock back each time, so we never got to midnight before refueling.  We got off, and saw the Northern Lights.  Once back on board, and still before midnight, I and most all the passengers fell asleep instantly.  I was awakened by a stewardess who handed me a breakfast tray.  We were somewhere over the Pacific under a clear blue sky and had crossed the International Date Line.  It was now January 2.  I had missed New Year’s Day.

When I got back to my unit, the Platoon Sergeant said someone came looking for me an hour after I left.   The man didn’t say who he was, or why he was looking for me.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

I didn’t know Jack’s part in this until the next Christmas, when I saw him for the first time since he had come home from Viet Nam, and he related what had happened to him, and I pieced together the rest.

It turns out that an hour after I left on the 24th, someone from the USO tour came to get me.  Finding that I had left, he called back to Saigon, who called Danang, who radioed the plane in the air and had it return to Danang.

Unwittingly I had spoiled Bob Hope’s plan to get us together for Christmas.  It’s no wonder that he never spoke to me for the rest of his life.

Reader Interactions

Dec 17, 2020 at 2:13 pm

I saw Bob Hope 50 years ago in DaNang

Dec 26, 2020 at 4:35 pm

Even though my brother was stationed there, I guess he didn’t see him.

Oct 15, 2021 at 1:46 pm

I was a section Chief on Monkey Mt and I worked that day so my troops could go to the show. To my surprise Gen. Abrahms showed up in my shop to wish me a Merry Christmas

Jan 28, 2024 at 1:54 am

Me too, December 24th, 1970, Freedom Hill.

Dec 19, 2020 at 3:21 pm

I got wounded on December 18th 1970. Americal division (Chu-Lia). I was still in hospital pajamas and got the sit front row at the Bob Hope show. Never ever forget it.

Dec 26, 2020 at 4:40 pm

My only wound was a truck accident when one of my platoon’s drivers backed his dump truck instead of moving forward out of the borrow pit.

Apr 28, 2021 at 3:45 am

So was my brother Glen Bair.

May 27, 2023 at 8:49 pm

We were supposed to have front seats to that but Dec 12th I was evacuated to Japan. Met Cissy Kathy Barber while in hospital there. Family Affair.

Dec 24, 2020 at 12:48 pm

I saw the tour somewhere around Bien Hoa that December. Great story, Bob! Thanks!

Dec 26, 2020 at 4:45 pm

At least I had met Bob Hope at the Supe’s house when he was our Graduation Banquet speaker. I imagine you were there, too. Right?

Dec 24, 2020 at 2:10 pm

Great story. Thank you for sharing.

Prime has one of the earlier Hope Christmas tours and it is still fun to watch. No one like him today.

Merry Christmas and “ Thanks for the Memories”.

Dec 26, 2020 at 4:47 pm

I always watched his Christmas specials, so I have that memory, too.

Dec 24, 2020 at 5:24 pm

Great story, Bob … thanks. I saw Bob Hope on Christmas Day, 1971, in Long Binh. I had been to an orphanage earlier in the morning, and then saw Bob later in the afternoon. I was way way in the back, but at least I can say I was there.

Dec 26, 2020 at 4:51 pm

I wish I had been there, too, instead of having a story of what might have been.

Dec 25, 2020 at 3:59 pm

Thank, Bob, great memories and story!

Thanks for saying so.

Mar 12, 2021 at 4:34 pm

I was stationed in Korea in 1970. On 28 Dec 1970, I rode with 6 others in a 2.5 truck to Osan AFB to see Bob Hope’s USO show. I recorded the show’s audio on a cassette tape that I still have today.

Aug 10, 2021 at 6:03 pm

I’m sure it is a treasured keepsake. If I had it, I would replay it every Christmas time.

Aug 10, 2021 at 7:43 am

I saw Bob Hope’s USO show in Anchorage, Alaska before he heading back to the lower 48. Helped with the show by carrying Bob’s cue cards to his dressing room while he was being interviewed by news reporters before the show and by holding the cue cards during the show. Was able to get close up photos of Bob and the Gold Diggers, Gloria Loring, Johnny Bench and Miss World.

Aug 10, 2021 at 6:10 pm

You must have had the best seat in the house.

Bob Hope received the West Point Association of Graduates “Thayer Award” in 1968 for his many years of support for the troops, but he brought along many others over the years who also supported them, like the ones you mentioned.

Jul 21, 2023 at 7:16 pm

I was stationed in ChuLai with the Americal Division in 1970. A convoy of several trucks carried 4+dozen of us to DaNang on December 24, 1970 to see the Bob Hope USO Christmas show. There had to be several thousand soliders and sailors there at “Freedom Hill”. The entertainment was outstanding….great show. Funny, afterwards walking back to our 2 1/2 t truck….there were hundreds of olive green trucks….it took forever but we found it. Hell of a way to go to a concert…in a convoy wearing flak jackets ! Thanks for the memories Bob !

Aug 6, 2023 at 7:17 am

I was also at “Freedom Hill” had to have field glasses to see the stage. Went from “Bob Hope High” to collecting Marks personnel affects. That’s hitting both ends of the spectrum.

Jul 22, 2023 at 11:35 pm

I’m sure that you were glad to go. You were one of the lucky ones. You have a great memory to share, too.”

Dec 22, 2023 at 3:40 pm

I had the great honor and thrill to meet and accompany Bob Hope in the late 1960s at the University of Kentucky a few years before I married Mike. He was the headliner for a campus “concert” with Roger Miller as the secondary act. I was on the committee for this concert so got to pick him up at the airport, escort him around campus and be on stage with him as he hosted the Little KY Derby queen contest. What a thrill and memory.

Dec 24, 2023 at 11:49 pm

This show was one of the highlights of my career. I was a Platoon Leader in the 25th Inf Div. We were taken by helocopters out of the field the night prior to the show, not knowing why until we got to Long Binh. The next day we trucked to the show and back out to the field after the show. Bob Hope put on a terrific show. He LOVED the troops and we LOVED him in return!

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The Bob Hope Show, Christmas In Vietnam

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Amazing photos show the bob hope show from long binh, vietnam on christmas day, 1970.

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Bob Hope was a British-born American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and  a truly versatile artist. With a career spanning nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in over 70 films and shorts, including a series of “Road” movies co-starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. In addition to hosting the Academy Awards fourteen times (more than any other host), he appeared in many stage productions and television roles and was the author of fourteen books. The song “Thanks for the Memory” is widely regarded as Hope’s signature tune.

Celebrated for his long career performing United Service Organizations (USO) shows to entertain active service American military personnel—he made 57 tours for the USO between 1941 and 1991—Hope was declared an honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces in 1997 by the act of the U.S. Congress.

The Guinness Book of Records called him the most honored entertainer ever. And during his 1993 televised birthday celebration, 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 armed forces. 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 [butt] in the last forty years than any of Hope’s immediate family.”

During the Vietnam War years, he gave a number of high-rating television specials and sensed that the media had given him a broad endorsement for continuing on his GI mercy missions. Soon after his Christmas show 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 by ten minutes. He was later “mystified,” writes Faith, “and … increasingly intolerant of the pockets of dissent. Draft-card burnings on college campuses angered him…” “Can you imagine,” Hope wrote in a magazine article, “… that people in America are burning their draft cards to show their opposition and that some of them are actually rooting for your defeat?”  In the spring of 1973, Hope began writing his fifth book, The Last Christmas Show , which was dedicated to “the men and women of the armed forces and to those who also served by worrying and waiting.” He signed over his royalties to the USO.

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

In the Chaos of the Vietnam War, There Was One Thing You Could Rely On: Bob Hope’s Christmas Tours

One of the few constants of the Vietnam War—one eagerly anticipated by American troops, that is—was the annual Bob Hope Christmas Show. From 1964 to 1972, Hope included South Vietnam on his annual trips to visit troops during the holiday season, a tradition that started for him during World War II. “Back in 1941, at March Field, California…I still remember fondly that first soldier audience,” Hope once said. “I looked at them, they laughed at me, and it was love at first sight.”

“And did you read where President Johnson just requested another $50 billion to cover the rising cost of the war? Wouldn’t it be awful if we ran out of money and they repossessed the war?”

While only a small fraction of the 2.5 million troops who served in Southeast Asia actually got to attend Hope’s performances, for those who did he managed to break the monotony, ease the loneliness and give the troops in combat zones across Vietnam a couple of hours of laughter—and a memory for a lifetime. Bob Hope’s classic opening monologues of rapid-fire jokes always took jabs at the GIs and the specifics of the local situation.

Under a hot sun or a driving rain, his young audiences laughed and cheered the legendary comedian and his cast of singers, dancers and the musicians of Les Brown and his Band of Renown. Hope’s shtick included a constant, sometimes bawdy banter with the other performers, taking plenty of shots at the absurdities of military life while conveying a real sense of how difficult it was for the troops to be away from home during the holidays.

Hope began taking his show on the road after the United States entered World War II and the United Service Organization (USO) started sending Hollywood and radio entertainers to perform for military audiences at bases in North Africa, Europe and the South Pacific. Already a giant movie and radio star, Hope traveled overseas six times, logging more than a million miles during World War II. At the outset of the Cold War in 1948, when the Soviets closed all ground travel from West Germany to Berlin, Hope’s show followed the reserves sent by President Harry Truman to facilitate the airlift into the western sectors of Berlin. Later, Hope traveled to Korea in the early 1950s after North Korean troops invaded South Korea, and all during the 1950s his show played at military bases in Japan. By the 1960s, Hope’s Christmas shows for troops overseas had become a fixture of America’s traditional holiday season.

At Bien Hoa Air Base on Christmas Eve : “I asked McNamara if we could come and he said, ‘Why not, we’ve tried everything else!’ ”

As early as 1962, Hope wanted to go to Vietnam to perform for the growing contingent of American military advisers. Although planning moved at a steady pace for a 1963 show, the Pentagon ultimately pulled the plug on it because of what it considered too high a risk. Nevertheless, at age 61, Hope persisted and won approval for his first Vietnam shows in December 1964. With his new destination came a new twist to the shows: They would be filmed to be broadcast as holiday specials in early January of the next year.

These filmed productions required a new level of effort in organization and execution to bring them to a new domestic audience. Hope remained the star and the driving force behind his tours. Other leading performers such as Connie Stevens, Ann-Margret and Joey Heatherton welcomed the opportunity to join him, despite the stress of travel into a far-flung war zone and the hardships they encountered there. Hope’s Vietnam engagements were among the most dangerous ever for the funnyman and his entertainers.

On December 15, 1964, Hope’s contingent left Los Angeles aboard a military transport aircraft large enough to carry the support staff and all the entertainers, including Les Brown and his band, the reigning Miss World, Anita Bryant, actresses Janis Paige and Jill St. John and comic actor Jerry Colonna, who had been part of Hope’s group during World War II.

this article first appeared in vietnam magazine

The tour covered 25,000 miles and included stops at Wake Island and Guam. They flew on to Korea for a performance in which Hope opened his monologue by labeling South Korea as “Vietnam North.” He won thunderous applause when he cracked, “We had a little trouble landing in Seoul: Someone stole the runway.”

Security was exceptionally tight for Bob Hope’s first visit to Vietnam. Although the planners had made intricate arrangements through the offices of Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) prior to his December 24 landing, there had been no official announcements or confirmation of Hope’s visit. And the locations of all his shows remained secret. Even Hope and his staff never knew the name of the base they were to perform at until they landed. Reporters noted that plans for Hope’s visits to different areas were more secret than those for generals or Cabinet officials. Troops who made up the audiences were never told who would be visiting until the last minute.

Hope and his entourage were given stern warnings from MACV. While some were routine for any overseas travel—avoid all water and ice because none was safe to drink, and stay away from all milk products—the threats related to terrorism were especially serious. They were told to stay away from windows in restaurants and in their hotel rooms, and to keep their drapes closed. And a final caution: Drop to the floor when they heard an explosion. In spite of the dangers, the shows went on, but the sound of aircraft overhead during a performance always brought a startled look from Hope.

Although a Communist attack was a real possibility, Hope appeared relaxed, swinging a golf club, which became a constant prop during his monologues. “I love the runway you have here,” he quipped. “Great golfing country…even the runway has 18 holes.”

After the show, the group moved to Saigon, where the dire warnings of danger literally exploded into reality. Hope and most of the performers stayed at the Caravelle Hotel, while Brown and members of the band stayed at the Continental Palace. Both were close to the Brinks Hotel, which served as a bachelor officers quarters for the Americans. That afternoon, a bomb flattened the Brinks, sent glass and other debris into some rooms of the Continental and shook the Caravelle. No one in the troupe was injured, but the explosion left all the hotels without water or electricity. True to form, Hope stitched this incident into his act at Tan Son Nhut the next day: “I want to thank General Westmoreland for that wonderful welcome yesterday. We opened with a bang!” And at the small outpost in the Mekong Delta, he joked: “A funny thing happened to me when I was driving through downtown Saigon to my hotel last night. We met a hotel going the other way.”

Next up was a flight to Pleiku, a small helicopter base in the highlands near the border with North Vietnam, with heavy security in place for the visitors. Rumors had circulated that Hope’s group was headed their way, but no one was sure until the airplane landed and Bob Hope walked onto the stage. “What a welcome,” he declared. “Wherever we land we’re met by thousands of cheering servicemen…they think it’s Secretary McNamara with shut-down orders!”

Jill St. John did her stand-up routine with Hope, trading one-liners about her IQ and his golf score, and later in the show she performed the segment that became very popular with the servicemen, when they joined her on stage to dance the “Go-Go” to the beat of Les Brown’s band.

At Da Nang, the tour’s largest audience in Vietnam, Hope made light of the frequent changes in government that year: “Vietnam is a very democratic country, everyone gets to be president.” As usual, he joked about military cutbacks and the aircraft he was forced to fly in: “It’s one of the earlier jets…instead of afterburners, it has an oven and a bag of charcoal.”

The last show on the 1964 Vietnam tour was at the seaside city of Nha Trang. At this and every performance, after a brief prayer from the chaplain, Anita Bryant closed the show by singing the first verse of “Silent Night,” and asked the troops and other performers to join in on the second verse, a tradition that continued through all the show’s years. The group left Vietnam on December 28 and flew to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for a show before heading home. Arriving back in Los Angeles on December 30, Hope told reporters, “This was the most exciting Christmas trip since 1943.”

1964 NBC Broadcast: “Let’s face it… we’re the Big Daddy of this world”

The 1964 trip set the pace and the pattern for all of Bob Hope’s visits to American troops around the world for the next eight years. While the performers changed and the locations varied, Hope was always the star and began the shows by strutting on stage with his golf club in hand, firing off jokes tailored to each base. He always had the reigning Miss World and always tried to bring the troops the outstanding glamour star from back home. He started appearing onstage in military uniform shirts and jackets outlandishly decorated with patches, stripes, stars and insignias. And as the number of military personnel stationed in Vietnam grew each year, the tour’s length expanded too.

“We want to thank Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara for making this Christmas trip possible….Let’s face it, we’re the Big Daddy of this world….I talked to a lot of our fighting men over here and even though they’re putting up a great fight, against tremendous odds in this hide-and-seek war, they’re not about to give up, because they know if they walk out of this bamboo obstacle course, it would be like saying to the commies, ‘come and get it.’ That’s why they’re laying their lives on the line everyday….And they said thank you….I don’t think any of us ever had a better Christmas present.”

For the 1965 tour, Hope’s troupe flew for 22 hours in a C-141 and spent much of the flight in rehearsal. Stopping at Guam to refuel, the cast put on a full 2½ hour show.

The American escalation had a direct influence on Hope’s shows. Within a year, the number of American military bases had multiplied, troop levels increased eight-fold, to 180,000, and so had the size of Hope’s audiences. Two fighter escorts accompanied the entertainers to Tan Son Nhut on Christmas Eve, and the cast was rushed to the site of the show. Hope took the stage and announced to the crowd of 12,000 that he had to “come to Vietnam to see his congressman,” referring to the flood of members of Congress who made frequent jaunts to Vietnam at the time.

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The troupe flew next to Cam Ranh Bay, where Hope, sauntering across the stage wagging his golf club, scolded the troops: “I don’t know what you guys did to get here, but let that be a lesson to you!” Baking in the hot sun, the troops roared in agreement.

On their flight north to entertain the Marines at Chu Lai, Hope’s plane lost an engine on the way, and they arrived late. Hope then set the mood, opening with: “Other bases here in South Vietnam invited me; this one dared me!” Later, at Da Nang, the monsoons caught up with them, and they performed through a heavy downpour. It was here that Hope had some serious reflections on what he was seeing among the troops he was meeting. After the show, Hope told an interviewer: “The kids here seem more optimistic than those at home. They have more confidence in our leaders.”

Bob Hope performed 22 shows and visited five hospitals in 1965. Each show lasted more than two hours, and typically there were two performances a day. Every tour he made to South Vietnam drew the attention not only of American fighting forces, but of the enemy as well. It was not unusual for the Communists to fire on or attack a base shortly after the show ended. After each show at Pleiku in the Central Highlands, the Viet Cong would shell the area.

Christmas Tour 1966: “The country is behind you 50 percent”

In 1966, for the first time in many years, Bob Hope’s partner and friend since the tours in WWII, Jerry Colonna, was unable to join the troupe after suffering a stroke. Nevertheless, Hope’s company, featuring guest stars Phyllis Diller and Heatherton, left Los Angeles on December 16, and by Christmas they were at Cu Chi. Actress Chris Noel, who was asked by Hope to join the show for this performance, arrived on a chopper in time to join him and the troops for a traditional turkey dinner in the mess. Noticing some men precariously perched on tall poles before the show began, Hope asked during his opening monologue, “How did you get up there? LSD?”

The tenor of the Christmas tour of 1966 reflected changing attitudes in the United States regarding the course of the war, and Hope’s humor didn’t shy away from it. He reassured the troops that “the country is behind you 50 percent.” He then added, “I’m very happy to be here; I’m leaving tomorrow!”

While Hope largely kept his personal opinions out of his on-stage performances, he spoke freely with reporters off stage. At one stop, he announced he was definitely “hawkish” and expressed his desire that the “United States would move a little faster to end the war.”

By Christmas 1967, the number of American military in South Vietnam had reached almost 500,000, resulting in ever-larger audiences and making Hope’s appearances even more important for boosting morale. Joined on the tour by actresses Raquel Welch and Barbara McNair, Hope performed for 25,000 men and women at Long Binh who sat in a brutal sun while organizers fretted about security. He told the troops at Da Nang that Dow Chemical just got even with student protesters: “They came up with an asbestos draft card.” During a visit with the wounded, Hope asked one soldier, “Did you see the show or were you already sick?”

The next year, as audiences swelled, Hope added former Los Angeles Rams player turned actor Rosie Grier to his entourage, and Ann-Margret, who was a hit in her minidress and go-go boots. At Cu Chi, they had to travel in a safety pod of three aircraft to get in, and Hope noted, “Every time we come here, there is action!”

The 1969 tour left Los Angeles and stopped off in Washington for a state dinner with President Richard Nixon and a rehearsal at the White House, where Hope and guest stars Connie Stevens, The  Golddiggers from The Dean Martin Show and astronaut Neil Armstrong—who just a few months before had become the first man on the moon—tried out their material before taking it to Vietnam.

As with all great comedians, dissecting contemporary culture, politics and changing societal mores was a Hope staple. Widespread recreational drug use in America and among troops in Vietnam had become a comedic target by 1970 and a part of Hope’s routine. With all-star Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench as his foil, Hope chimed: “Where else can you spend eight months on grass and not get busted?”

With steady troop withdrawals in the early ’70s: “Wonderful to be working with you leftovers!”

But even Bob Hope couldn’t escape criticism in 1970 when he made references to drug use by the troops. NBC removed most of the drug jokes prior to its January broadcast. But, at a show at the 101st Airborne Division’s base, Hope got huge laughs during his opening monologue when he said: “I hear you guys are interested in gardening here. Our security officers said a lot of you are growing your own grass. I was wondering how you guys managed to bomb Hanoi without planes!”

Hope never knew when the brass would show up, but every year Generals William Westmoreland, Creighton Abrams and Fred Weyand and Admiral John McCain would find him on stage somewhere to thank him and his crew.

Decades removed, Bob Hope’s material still holds its own, and his jokes about military life ring as true now as they did then. Perhaps most jarring to today’s viewers, however, are his apparent sexist references to women during the shows. Hope was a man of his time, referring to his female performers as “girls,” frequently commenting on their measurements—nothing atypical for the era. His jokes were also harsh and sometimes negative about the countries where the troops were stationed.

The Bob Hope Christmas tours continued to go to Vietnam until 1972. On the last tour, the group spent less time in Vietnam because of the drastic decrease in the number of American troops by then. That year Hope greeted the Marines at Da Nang with, “Wonderful to be working for you leftovers!” But, he quickly added: “You guys are lucky because you get to go home, not like our representatives at the Paris Peace Talks.”

While steady troop withdrawals meant smaller audiences, there was no less commitment and enthusiasm from the performers. And even though they spent less time in Vietnam, the grueling 1972 Christmas tour lasted more than two weeks with shows at bases in the Philippines, Singapore, Guam and a Christmas morning performance for 1,200 SeaBees at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

During the final montage of photos and film of his last televised Vietnam Christmas special in 1972, Hope narrates film footage of Long Binh shot a year earlier, bustling with troops. “Well,” he said, showing the new footage of a deserted Long Binh, overgrown with weeds, “this is how [it] looks now…and this is how it should be…all those happy, smiling, beautiful faces are gone. But most of them are really where they belong, home with their loved ones.”

Judith Johnson recently retired as a professor and history department chair at Wichita State University. She is now working on a study of private contractors during the Vietnam War. For more on Hope, she recommends: Bob Hope, A Life in Comedy by William Robert Faith, and Five Women I Loved: Bob Hope’s Vietnam Story by Bob Hope.

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Thursday, December 11, 2014

Bob hope: christmas 1970, camp eagle, by byron edgington.

Bench: “I’m surprised you asked me to come with you on the tour, Bob.” 

Hope:  “Why are you surprised, Johnny?” 

Bench:  “’Cause I’m not a girl.”

15 comments:

Bryon, In the 3rd picture down, Lola Falana and Bob Hope dancing, to the left behind Lola's hear is a guy holding a camera and taking a picture from the side of the stage. That guy is me. I was a combat writer and combat photographer for the 101st Airborne in 1970 and 1971. I was able to meet and greet Bob Hope and Johnny Bench at the Phu Bai airport when they flew in and also back stage before the Christmas Show. One of the Chaplains at Phu Bai was a personal friend of Johnny Bench from Oklahoma. It is a small world after all. Craig Latham Coshocton, Ohio

What a rush, I was at Camp Eagle for the Bob Hope show on this date and it brings back a lot of memories. When they sugn Silent Night, I cried. Still have trouble with that yet today. I was serving with the 101st Abn Div at that time cause I started my in country tour of duty in June 1970. Many of my buddies didn't make it home, but I think of them every single day. Thanks for finding the picture of the show, wish I could find the film that was made, so I could get a copy. God Bless you for listing. Gerry Place 101st Abn Div (airmobile) 1970 to 1972 Quang Tri. S. Vietnam

I had been in county for 3 months in December of 1970. I served with A Btry 4/77 Field Artillery ARA (Aerial Rocket Artillery) at Phu Bai and was chosen from our Battery to see the Bob Hope show at Camp Eagle. I don't remember the date but I think it was a day or two before Christmas. We were sitting about half way back in a crowd of maybe 3000 to 4000 guys or more don't know for sure but the place was packed. One of the biggest cheers Bob Hope got is when he said "Here we are with the 101st Airborne at Camp Eagle, you guys see more action than a traffic cop on the Ho Chi Minh Trail." I don't know if he used that line in every show he did but from where we were sitting the trail was maybe 50 miles away. I did not know then that this would be the last Christmas for some, including 6 from our own Battery. "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." Vietnam Veterans of America

I was there...Camp Eagle Christmas time for the Bob Hope show. I was in the infantry of the 101st...allowed to come in from the field for the show as I was relatively close to the end of my year. It was great...shower, clean clothing, mess hall, mail...and I wandered out on the pad when Bob Hope arrived...just saw him and the group of brass in his company. Great couple of days.

Missed show. Socked in on mountain top "fog". Wish me and my brothers could have been there. 101st sgt brown

I was with you (socked in ) humped all day to an LZ but birds couldn't get, we were all disappointed,had been in the field for a long time.

Jim Zwit D/2/501st, 101st Airborne Div. That show will always live in my mind. The fortunate guys from our infantry unit got to hump about 4 clicks to QL 1 so we could load up in a cattle truck to Camp Eaagle to see the show. No shower, no clean clothes, just a great time! They put us up front just to the left of the stage. I will never forget singing, or should I say "crying" to Silent Night. Still have some great photos of that day.

I had arrived in Vietnam in Oct of 70 for my second tour, and as was usual for that time of the year the weather was awful. Rain and low clouds had restricted our combat missions to the piedmont and low hills to the west and along the DMZ as far west as FSB Fuller north of Quang Tri City in I CORP. By Christmas the weather had gotten nothing but worse. I was one of the three Platoon Leaders in C 3/17 AIR CAV. An informal truce had been in effect for several days and we were grounded in the hope it would last. I had spent Christmas morning down at the flight line with my crew chiefs in the revetments running up engines and tossing ground walnut shell through them to clean the turbines. Nothing beats bonding with the crews in the pouring cold rain to give a good start to Christmas. With that task complete, I was slogging down the road in ankle deep mud in the pouring rain headed for my hooch when a jeep pulled up next to me. Door pops open and BG Hill, Commanding Officer of the 1/5 MECH REG, the Troops direct commander returns my salute and says,"There has been contact north by the DMZ. 3/5 CAV has causalities and DUSTOFF is headed that way as soon as they can get cranked. I want you to get a gun team and cover them in and out." With that the door closes and off he goes...Merry Christmas....causalities...truce is off. A quick assessment of the weather convinced me that having a pair of helicopters sharing the same cloud wouldn't be a good idea. It has to be a single ship mission as we're not likely to have more than 100-200 ft ceiling in the hills where I'm sure the ground element is. Ducking into the COBRA hooch, I quickly described the situation to the Aircraft Commanders there and asked for a volunteer to go with me. CWO Russ Whipple grabbed his helmet and we hurried down to the revetments. Once cranked and slid out to the active, "Quang Tri Tower this is 'CHARLIE HORSE', request departure north". With the tower's clearance and best wishes we headed north at about 10 ft off the ground with the rain peeling off the canopy. Finding DUSTOFF wasn't hard but the low ceiling was going to make for some risky gun runs. We followed the medevac to the area of the LZ and started answering the ground fire with 2.75 rockets. It quickly became clear that we didn't have the altitude or the range for the rockets to arm and we were just shooting 17 pound explosive fence posts. 40mm cannon and mini-gun sufficed while two troopers were loaded onto the medevac and the extract was complete. Red and green tracers...after all it was Christmas. Monitoring the ground element on FM and the DUSTOFF on VHF, the ADF (All Direction Finder) was tuned to the military radio station back at the combat base, and the direction finding arrow pointed south back to the source giving us assurity we wouldn't break north into the DMZ. On the ADF, in the background of all the radio chatter was Bing Crosby singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas". That is one of the strongest memories I have of either tour. GOD Bless all who served! Merry Christmas Y'all

Served with the 20TASS (USAF) at Camp Eagle from March 1969 to March 1970. Actively participated in the Battle of Hamburger Hill in support of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. AFSC was 293X0 (radio operator) coordinating close air support.

Was there, sat to the right of the stage just behind Nguyen Cao Ky. Came in on a Huey, filthy and armed. Right back out after the show was over. Bob will always be my hero for what he did for the troops. Currahee and R.I.P. my Bravo 1/506th brothers. B. Allen

I was with a co 2/506 out in the field they pick myself and 5 others to come see the show, and the back to the field. I was so glad to get the change to see the hope show. DAVID YONTS

I was there. just had to walk over from my hootch down the street. I was a ch47 helicopter mechanic with the 101st. That place was a sea of O.D. green. They let all the guys coming out of the field sit down front. I was way in the back and I was honored to be sitting back behind all those guys down front. My days in Nam weren't nearly as hard as those guys.

I was one of the C-130 Pilots that brought the Bob Hope Christmas tour to three South Vietnam Bases over Christmas 1970. Great memory.

d brown I was stationed at macv, cicv did not see the show but the troops singning silent night was heart felt, thank you bob hope and all those who served in vietnam,

I will never forget that Bob Hope Christmas show. Never saw such a long caravan of military vehicles. We came down from Quang Tri, 1/61 Inf.5th Mech. Inf. Division (Red Dimond's) when Hope said this is closet to North Vietnam; what a loud protest from us. We were on the DMZ! great memory, it was awesome. My buddy was one of the Gold Diggers boyfriends! I deter an MP so he stuck in an they hugged and all the GIs' cheered loud as hell! Motor Sgt. Paul Cimmino

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• Cast & crew

The Bob Hope Christmas Special

Bob and crew entertain military personnel at stops through Southeast Asia and Europe. Bob and crew entertain military personnel at stops through Southeast Asia and Europe. Bob and crew entertain military personnel at stops through Southeast Asia and Europe.

• Mort Lachman
• Bill Larkin
• Connie Stevens
• The Golddiggers
• 1 nomination total

• Self - Miss World
• (as The Pierro Brothers)

• (as Dolores Reade)

• Self - Special Guest Star

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• (as His Eminence Terence Cardinal Cooke)
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• All cast & crew
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Did you know

• Trivia Aired without commercial interruption.
• Alternate versions 1997 VHS release runs 64 minutes rather than 90.
• Connections Featured in Hopes for the Holidays (1994)
• Soundtracks The Weight Written by Robbie Robertson Performed by Teresa Graves and Les Brown and His Band of Renown

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• January 15, 1970 (United States)
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• The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO
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• Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes

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The 1970 bob hope christmas show.

In December of 1970, Bob Hope brought his USO Christmas show to Da Nang Air Base.  On the tour with Bob Hope were Ursula Andress(actress), Lola Falama (dancer), Gloria Loring (singer), Bobbi Martin (musician), Jennifer Hosten (Miss World 1970), Johnny Bench (baseball player), "The Golddiggers" (dancers), and Les Brown and his "Band of Renown."

Phillip Tinkle (Charlie Company), John Howard (Alpha Company), and other long-time grunts still in the field from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry were selected to attend the show.  Not everyone could go, so those who went were a lucky few.

The trip to Da Nang began with most grunts being airlifted directly from the field to LZ Bronco.  From LZ Bronco, the grunts flew to Chu Lai and were assembled with the rest of the soldiers from the Americal Division attending the show.  They were then loaded onto a convoy of trucks for the drive up Highway 1 to Da Nang.

Here are some pictures of the trip and the show provided by Phillip Tinkle who was a rifleman with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry from July, 1970 to July, 1971.

Here, the convoy is leaving Chu Lai on Highway 1 very early in the morning.  Before leaving the rear areas in the Americal Division, everyone had to check in their weapons.  It was the first time that most grunts had been without their M-16s in months.  They felt like a part of themselves was missing.

Phillip took this picture as the convoy passed by a Buddhist Temple. Notice the flag pole has no flag.  The Buddists were probably trying to remain neutral during the war.

Because it was a three hour ride to Da Nang, the convoy had to stop for "comfort" breaks along the way.  You could call it roadside weed control.  Either way, it was a site to behold for any VC/NVA sniper who happened to be around, but luckily there wasn't one around.

This is Bob Hope on the stage holding a golf club and telling a joke like, "As soon as I arrived in Da Nang they gave me a 10-gun salute.... or so they told me on the operating table."

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Bob Hope - 1971 USO Show at Long Binh, Vietnam

Included on the new Bob Hope DVD "Entertaining the Troops."

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REEL ENTERTAINMENT: BOB HOPE'S TOURS ABROAD

Dating back to 1941, Bob Hope's holiday tours to entertain U.S. troops abroad are legendary. No entertainer has traveled so far or so often to entertain so many. For the record, an Act of Congress signed by President Clinton a year ago made Bob Hope an honorary veteran, the first in the history of the United States.

Most of these USO tours aired as television specials, and nine of them, spanning the Vietnam War years of 1964 to 1972, are available in a Real Entertainment home video set, "Bob Hope's Entertaining the Troops -- The Vietnam Years" ($79.99, approximately nine hours, in video stores).

The nine volumes with year, featured guests and places where shows were taped:

1964: Jill St. John, Anita Bryant, Janis Paige, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jerry Colonna, Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

1965: Joey Heatherton, Jack Jones, Carroll Baker, Kaye Stevens, Anita Bryant, Jerry Colonna and Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Ticonderoga. This special won an Emmy Award.

1966: Phyllis Diller, Vic Damone and Joey Heatherton, with stops in Vietnam, Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the USS Bennington.

1967: Raquel Welch, Barbara McNair, Miss World and Les Brown, at Saigon, Long Binh, Danang and Cam Rahn Bay and aboard the USS Ranger and the USS Coral Sea.

1968: Ann-Margret, Rosie Grier, Linda Bennett, Miss World and Les Brown, stopping in Vietnam, Korea, Midway, Thailand, and aboard the USS Hancock and USS New Jersey.

1969: Connie Stevens and Neil Armstrong, fresh from a walk on the moon, took this 15-day, 24,000-mile tour throughout Europe and Southeast Asia and produced one of television's all-time ratings champs.

1970: Ursula Andress, Johnny Bench, Lola Falana, the Goldiggers and Gloria Loring, from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, England, Germany, Thailand, Guam, Korea and Vietnam.

1971: Jim Nabors, Jill St. John, Alan Shepard, Vida Blue and Miss World, with stops at Honolulu, Wake Island, Okinawa, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and Cuba.

1972: Redd Foxx, Lola Falana and Roman Gabriel, with stops in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Diego Garcia Island, the Philippines, Wake Island, Shemya Island, Vietnam and aboard the USS Midway. CAPTION: Bob Hope chats on stage with, from left, Janis Paige, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, Anna Maria Alberghetti and Jill St. John as he entertains troops at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport with the 1964 USO Christmas show. ec

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On this day in history December 24, 1972, Bob Hope delivers last live Christmas show in Vietnam

Final performance was hope's 9th consecutive appearance during the war.

Bob Hope's daughter on her father's legacy and supporting the troops

Bob Hope’s daughter Linda Hope talks about her father's legacy supporting veterans

Comedian Bob Hope gave his last Christmas show to U.S. servicemen in Saigon on this day in history, Dec. 24, 1972.

The iconic entertainer, who starred in more than 50 films, kept up a tradition of visiting troops deployed overseas since WWII.

Hope’s 1972 show marked his ninth consecutive Christmas appearance in Vietnam, according to History.com.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, DECEMBER 23, 1888, DUTCH IMPRESSIONIST VINCENT VAN GOGH CUTS OFF HIS EAR

Hope took his first USO trip to Vietnam in 1964 to record a special holiday episode of "The Bob Hope Show."

The seasonal special soon became a smash hit — and he never showed up alone.

Bob Hope and Carroll Baker aboard the Ticonderoga, off the coast of Vietnam, in 1972. (CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

He often brought in major celebrities each year.

Among those who did shows with him: Ann-Margret, Lola Falana, Raquel Welch, Rosie Grier, Neil Armstrong and Sammy Davis Jr.

Comedian Bob Hope and actress Raquel Welch break through a decorated package labeled "To the G.I.'s" moments before boarding a MATS airline as Hope and his troupe of 60 people departed on his 17th annual Christmas tour of overseas military bases on Dec. 15, 1967. (Getty Images)

Hope’s longtime sideman Jerry Colonna was also known for playing Santa Claus, according to the USO.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, DECEMBER 11, 1972, APOLLO 17 ASTRONAUTS BECOME LAST HUMANS TO WALK ON THE MOON

Service members — as well as Americans who closely watched the specials in hopes of catching a glimpse of their soldiers — remember Hope's Vietnam-era tours fondly. 

Comedian Bob Hope stands at a microphone on stage as crowds of United States troops watch the Christmas show he put on for troops at the Camp Eagle army base, southeast of Hue, Vietnam, on Dec. 22, 1970. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

In later reflections highlighted by USO, soldiers who were selected to attend Hope’s performance in person remember their disbelief at seeing Hope in person, as well as other celebrities — as well as being issued clean uniforms.

As Hope’s time in Vietnam came to an end, he reflected on the last two decades of spreading joy to America’s troops.

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"I hope I can be excused a little sentimentality as I look back over 22 of these Christmas trips [and remember] the millions of servicemen and women who responded to our efforts with warmth, enthusiasm and affection," he said, according to USO.

Ann-Margaret entertains the troops in Vietnam with song and dance at the 9th Infantry Division Headquarters during Bob Hope's Christmas show on Dec. 27, 1968. (Getty Images)

Singer and actress Lola Falana entertains American troops in Da Nang, Vietnam, as part of a Bob Hope USO tour on Dec. 24, 1970. (Getty Images)

Hope was honored with South Vietnam’s highest civilian medal for his "anti-communist zeal" after endorsing then-president Richard Nixon’s bombing of North Korea.

Even though he was criticized for supporting government policies concerning the war, Hope believed it was his responsibility to "lift spirits by entertaining the troops," as History.com reports.

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Bob Hope lived to be 100 years old. 

On the morning of July 27, 2003, he passed away of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake, California, two months after his 100th birthday.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle .

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital.

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This Day In History : December 24

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Bob Hope gives his last show in Vietnam

Comedian Bob Hope gives what he says is his last Christmas show to U.S. servicemen in Saigon. Hope was a comedian and star of stage, radio, television and over 50 feature films.

Hope was one of many Hollywood stars who followed the tradition of traveling overseas to entertain American troops stationed abroad. The 1972 show marked Hope’s ninth consecutive Christmas appearance in Vietnam. Hope endorsed President Nixon’s bombing of North Vietnam to force it to accept U.S. peace terms, and received South Vietnam’s highest civilian medal for his “anti-communist zeal.” Although some antiwar protesters criticized Hope for supporting government policies in Vietnam, the comedian said he believed it was his responsibility to lift spirits by entertaining the troops.

Also on this day: President Nixon suspends Operation Linebacker II for 36 hours to mark the Christmas holiday. The bombing campaign against North Vietnam had been operating since December 18, when Nixon initiated the campaign to force the North Vietnamese back to the Paris peace negotiations. On December 28, the North Vietnamese announced that they would return to Paris if Nixon ended the bombing. The bombing campaign was halted and the negotiators met during the first week of January. They quickly arrived at a settlement—the Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 23, and a cease-fire went into effect five days later.

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Bob Hope's tours available on video Nine (1964 to 1972) are made into a set

By deseret news , martie zad, the washington post.

Dating back to 1941, Bob Hope's holiday tours to entertain U.S. troops abroad are legendary. No entertainer has traveled so far or so often to entertain so many. For the record, an Act of Congress signed by President Clinton a year ago made Bob Hope an honorary veteran, the first in the history of the United States.

Most of these USO tours aired as television specials, and nine of them, spanning the Vietnam War years of 1964 to 1972, are now available in a Real Entertainment home video set: "Bob Hope's Entertaining the Troops -- The Vietnam Years" ($79.99, approximately nine hours, in video stores).The nine volumes with year, featured guests and places where shows were taped:

1964: Jill St. John, Anita Bryant, Janis Paige, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jerry Colonna, Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

1965: Joey Heatherton, Jack Jones, Carroll Baker, Kaye Stevens, Anita Bryant, Jerry Colonna and Les Brown and his band, with stops in Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Ticonderoga. This special won an Emmy Award.

1966: Phyllis Diller, Vic Damone and Joey Heatherton, with stops in Vietnam, Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, Wake Island and aboard the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the USS Bennington.

1967: Raquel Welch, Barbara McNair, Miss World and Les Brown, at Saigon, Long Binh, Danang and Cam Rahn Bay and aboard the USS Ranger and the USS Coral Sea.

1968: Ann-Margret, Rosie Grier, Linda Bennett, Miss World and Les Brown, stopping in Vietnam, Korea, Midway, Thailand, and aboard the USS Hancock and USS New Jersey.

1969: Connie Stevens and Neil Armstrong, fresh from a walk on the moon, took this 15-day, 24,000-mile tour throughout Europe and Southeast Asia and produced one of television's all-time ratings champs.

1970: Ursula Andress, Johnny Bench, Lola Falana, the Goldiggers and Gloria Loring, from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, England, Germany, Thailand, Guam, Korea and Vietnam.

1971: Jim Nabors, Jill St. John, Alan Shepard, Vida Blue and Miss World, with stops at Honolulu, Wake Island, Okinawa, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and Cuba.

1972: Redd Foxx, Lola Falana and Roman Gabriel, with stops in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Diego Garcia Island, the Philippines, Wake Island, Shemya Island, Vietnam and aboard the USS Midway.

Vietnam 69-70

Vietnam Tour

Bob Hope Show in Vietnam – Christmas 1969

Bob Hope was doing a Christmas show tour of Vietnam in 1969 and happened to be in Phu Bai outside of Hue on Christmas day.  I am not sure where I was then, either at Camp Sally or Fire Base Sharon, both a little north of Hue, near Quang Tri.  

I found these pictures while looking through some old slides in the basement.  

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Campus protests over the Gaza war

She survived the 1970 kent state shooting. here's her message to student activists.

Rachel Treisman

Ohio National Guard members move toward students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, on May 4, 1970. They fired into the crowd, killing four students and injuring nine. AP hide caption

Ohio National Guard members move toward students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, on May 4, 1970. They fired into the crowd, killing four students and injuring nine.

When Roseann "Chic" Canfora arrived at Ohio's Kent State University in 1968, she says she was constantly being given leaflets by anti-war activists on campus — and throwing them away.

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was dragging on and deeply unpopular with a growing number of Americans. Over time, Canfora became one of them.

"It wasn't until I was personally touched, losing friends in that war and seeing the draft that would now take my brothers to that war, that I stopped throwing the anti-war leaflets away and I paid attention," she recalls in an interview with NPR.

She says she sees similarities with the students who are protesting at college campuses across the country today, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and university divestment from companies linked to Israel.

"They at least know that they don't want any famine and suffering and death done in their name," she says. "And so it's inspiring to see them having similar conversations that we had, saying 'We don't like what we're seeing and we need to speak out against it.' "

Consider This from NPR

For weeks students have protested the war in gaza — now things are escalating.

Colleges across the country are grappling with how to respond to the demonstrations, with many administrations calling in local and state police to disperse them. More than 2,000 people have been arrested at protests nationwide in the span of two weeks, with some injured in the process.

House Speaker Mike Johnson even called on President Biden to send the National Guard to Columbia University last week, days before New York City police cleared out and arrested some 300 protesters there.

Canfora is all too familiar with what can happen when the National Guard cracks down on campus demonstrations.

Roseann "Chic" Canfora was a student at Kent State University in 1970, and came back as a professional in residence after several decades working in public education. Bob Christy hide caption

Roseann "Chic" Canfora was a student at Kent State University in 1970, and came back as a professional in residence after several decades working in public education.

As a sophomore, she was among the protesters rallying on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of students , killing four and injuring nine — including her brother, Alan, who was one year her senior.

"My brother's roommate pulled me behind a parked car, and it was at that moment that I realized this was live ammunition because the car was riddled with bullets," she recalls. "The glass of the car windows was shattering above us, and we could hear the M1 bullets zipping past our heads and bumping into the ground in the pavement around us. And it was a horrifying 13 seconds."

Canfora emerged from the car to find Alan and came across several classmates injured, including two who later died.

"I ran to where I last saw him and saw the body of Jeff Miller at the foot of the hill, lying in a pool of blood," she remembers. "I first thought it was my brother until I saw the clothing that he was wearing ... One of our friends came up behind me and said, 'Alan and Tom both got hit.' "

Canfora was one of 25 people indicted in connection with the demonstration, and among the vast majority who were later exonerated.

Campus protests over the war in Gaza have gone international

"Those trials were eventually thrown out for lack of evidence that we had participated in a riot," she explains. "Even though we were grateful that those indictments were thrown out ... we had lost our opportunity to tell the world what happened that day."

Canfora has spent the intervening decades working to correct the record and preserve the legacy of May 4 — and now works as a professional-in-residence at Kent State, teaching journalism and helping plan its annual commemorative events.

The events at Kent State more than five decades ago, she says, hold some especially timely takeaways today.

"It's hard to believe that this will be our 54th year of returning to the Kent State campus to talk about what we witnessed and survived here, and to tell the truth that we know so that ... people learn the right lessons from what happened here so that students on college campuses can exercise their freedom of speech without the fear of being silenced or harmed," Canfora says.

The words and actions that led to May 4th

People ducking and running for cover near a parking lot during the shooting at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. News Service May 4 photographs. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. hide caption

People ducking and running for cover near a parking lot during the shooting at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.

Anti-war protests on college campuses intensified after April 30, 1970, when President Richard Nixon announced the U.S. invasion of Cambodia — a marked escalation of a war that many hoped was winding down.

Students nationwide held protests on May 1, a Friday. The situation in Kent intensified over the weekend , as demonstrators — including college students — clashed with police downtown, prompting Kent Mayor LeRoy Satrom to ask the governor to dispatch the Ohio National Guard to the city.

They arrived on Saturday night to find Kent State's wooden ROTC building on fire, burning to the ground. On Sunday, Canfora says students held a peaceful sit-in on campus, calling on the university president to get the National Guard off campus, to no avail.

"On Sunday night, three students were stabbed in the backs, in the legs by guardsmen and bayonets," she remembers. "And that was all a foreshadowing of what was to come the next day, on Monday."

Biden says he supports the right to protest but denounces 'chaos' and hate speech

Canfora says she can't talk about the use of excessive force — then and now — without "tying it to the inflammatory rhetoric that inspired that force."

Nixon referred to student protesters as "bums," while then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan said "if it takes bloodbath" to deal with campus demonstrators "let's get it over with." On May 3, Ohio Gov. Jim Rhodes described campus demonstrators as "the worst type of people that we harbor in America."

"We were too young and naïve at 18 and 19 years old to know the danger of those inflammatory words," Canfora says. "But we saw the repercussions of that when American soldiers turned their guns on American people — in fact, on American college students — because they were conditioned to see us as dangerous and an enemy. And we should all learn the lessons from that."

She points out that the commission on campus unrest that Nixon formed in June 1970 would issue a report calling the shootings "unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable," while an FBI report released later that year found reason to believe the Guard's claims of acting in self-defense were "fabricated subsequent to the event."

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After an almost decade-long legal battle , the Guardsmen settled out of court with more than two dozen defendants, though the state paid the families of injured students. The Ohio National Guard signed a statement that began, "In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, 1970 should not have occurred."

Canfora also draws parallels between the misinformation that ran rampant then and today, noting that "excuses" for the use of excessive force on campus began immediately after the shooting.

Students had two hours to leave campus, and she remembers watching the theories take off on television from her family's house.

"I had an aunt that came into our home while my brother was still bandaged from his wound saying, 'You know, there was a sniper [threatening the Guardsmen],'" she says. "It was very difficult for middle America to believe that American soldiers would turn their guns on American people without some provocation."

The shooting's legacy on Kent State campus activism

Alan and Chic Canfora, among others, take place in a panel discussion during the 15th Annual May 4 Commemoration in 1985. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives hide caption

Alan and Chic Canfora, among others, take place in a panel discussion during the 15th Annual May 4 Commemoration in 1985.

Canfora and other students who survived the shooting returned to campus every year to tell their story and try to counter the rhetoric of the National Guard.

But the university said in 1975 that "five years was long enough to remember" — prompting students to work with survivors to form the May 4th Task Force, which still organizes annual commemorations to this day. This year's includes the traditional candlelit walk around campus, a memorial service and special lectures.

Canfora says many years of activism led to wins like markers where the injured students fell on campus, so cars can no longer park there, a May 4th walking tour and visitor center with archives.

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"And most importantly, we have a university administration that doesn't ... distance themselves from the tragedy," she says. "But they embrace their history and they feel a responsibility as Kent State University to teach others what we learned from that, to make sure it never happens again on a college campus in this country."

Kent State University President Todd Diacon told NPR that the importance of kindness, respect, free speech and civic dialogue are "baked into our DNA now," including in its statement of core values and the work of its School for Peace and Conflict Studies, founded in 1971.

Students at Kent State University have been gathering on campus for vigils, signing statements of solidarity and advocating for things like divestment from weapons manufacturers, he says, but without breaking school rules on things like encampments.

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"I would say literally all of them have really honored who we are as an institution and our aspirations for civic dialogue," he says.

Diacon acknowledged that the situation is very different at other campuses around the country, and stressed that public universities like Kent State have much less leeway than private universities when it comes to restricting speech, and that even for public schools policies vary according to state law.

"I think there's no one size fits all when it comes to observing, or opining or evaluating how universities are addressing their situation," he says.

Lessons for schools and protesters today

National Guard personnel and jeeps at Kent State University, with a crowd in the background. News Service May 4 photographs. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. hide caption

National Guard personnel and jeeps at Kent State University, with a crowd in the background.

Even so, Diacon says, there are certain lessons from the shooting that are broadly applicable today.

One is the danger of armed action on a college campus, he says, particularly when it comes to the National Guard, who are not controlled by the university administration.

"I think a primary lesson from Kent State is you need to have local law enforcement in the lead if you're going to do something," he says.

He also echoes Canfora's point that the shootings did not happen in a vacuum — both in that they were not the only campus protests, and they followed an "dehumanization and demonization of opponents" due to increasingly polarizing rhetoric over the Vietnam War.

Canfora says she's inspired by what she's seeing from college students today, noting that they have much less free time for activism than her generation did — in part because so many have to work to afford tuition.

Her college tuition was $197 a quarter, and room and board came out to $450 a year, which she was able to pay for with her minimum-wage job and spending money from her mom. In contrast, she sees many of her own students balancing full course loads with 40-hour work weeks.

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"These students today don't have that time," she says. "And they are finding that time to act, to make their voices heard."

And that's important, she says, because — then and now — college students are "the conscience of America."

"If not a college campus, where else in our society, in this democracy, can we count on large groups of people to do exactly what these college students are doing: paying attention to the world, looking at what is being done in the world ... and coming up with strategies for opposing it if they don't agree with it?" she asks. "That's healthy. That shouldn't be something that is feared."

• Vietnam War
• national guard
• Israel-Hamas war
• campus protests
• kent state shooting