(Allen Fasoldt/Stars and Stripes)

Pleiku, South Vietnam, Dec. 20, 1966: Diane Shelton, baton twirling champion, waits behind the stage for her performance at the Bob Hope Christmas Show. Hope’s legendary variety-style holiday show toured bases, trenches and hillsides for decades with a vast array of entertainers starting in World War II. In 1964 Hope took the first of nine USO trips to Vietnam. He would record his final “Bob Hope Chirstmas Show” from Vietnam in 1972, but continued touring with the USO until 1990. Of the service members he preformed for Hope said in 1991, “It’s the best audience.”

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