Jon Kyl, August 1, 2003

Arizona was the setting for one of Bob Hope’s last feature films. The 1972 comedy, "Cancel My Reservation," involved a talk show host who takes a vacation in Arizona and wrongly becomes a suspect in a murder.

The film, with cameos by John Wayne, Johnny Carson, and Bing Crosby, was not his biggest hit. But it hardly mattered since Bob Hope was already a beloved icon. The self-deprecating comedian, who died this week at the age of 100, could even milk his box-office disappointments for laughs.

Explaining himself in one of his movies, he quipped: "My act is known all over Europe. That's why I go to America." Referring to his continual failure to win an Oscar, he said: "Welcome to the Academy Awards -- or as it’s called at my house, Passover."

It’s hard to comprehend that his legendary show business career was just a warm-up. His biggest accomplishments were on stages in Germany, South Korea, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia where he danced, sang, joked, and served as an unflagging source of inspiration to U.S. troops.

More than that, Bob Hope was an unapologetic defender of old-fashioned American values -- even when they were mocked by a radical counterculture in the 1960s. He was an immigrant who came to our shores at the age of 4 and came to love America with the zeal of a convert.

Bob Hope recorded more than 400 radio broadcasts to American soldiers during World War II (Hope's first five broadcasts in 1945 were aired from an air base in Yuma). He visited troops during every other major conflict right through the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

His appearances were occasionally fraught with danger. Hope and his troupe survived a number of close calls while visiting soldiers in combat zones, including one assassination attempt by the Viet Cong in 1964. That Christmas Eve, a disguised Viet Cong truck loaded with 300 pounds of dynamite exploded at a hotel where Hope and his entourage were staying. The group’s arrival at the hotel had been pushed back only because a cue-card man was late getting the cards off of their plane.

In typical style, Hope turned the harrowing incident into a joke: "I want to thank you for your welcome to Saigon. As I came into town, I saw a hotel go the other way."

His visits with troops also evoked controversy, especially during the 1960s. Many critics of the Vietnam War claimed that Hope’s show of support for American soldiers amounted to an endorsement of the Johnson and Nixon administrations’ policies in Southeast Asia. Others, particularly many of his colleagues in the entertainment industry, simply found Hope’s old-fashioned patriotism and gentle humor out of touch with the times.

Hope used an appearance at the 1970 Academy Awards to respond this way: "At a time when our moral values need to be restated and reaffirmed, I personally would like to see this industry lead the American people back to their true heritage of freedom. . . But freedom with honor and decency and a real respect for law and order and for the things that made this country great: our institutions, our respect for the rights of others and loyalty to our form of government."

For his efforts to lift troops’ morale (as well as his devotion to POWs), Hope received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and a Distinguished Service Medal from every single branch of the U.S. military. In 1997, he was named an honorary veteran by the U.S. Congress.

For a glimpse of the love soldiers had for him, read through the hundreds of messages left on a tribute web page. Here’s a typical comment:

"I was a 22 year old Marine in DaNang, Vietnam, when I saw 2 of your wonderful Christmas USO shows. . . There were a lot of us that stood out in the pouring rain for hours to see you. Just before the show started a stagehand came out and pulled the "mike" back under the overhang of the stage, you came out just after that and put the "mike" back out in the rain, and said if we could stand in the rain to see you, you would perform in the rain for us. I'll never forget that."

Thanks, Bob.

Jon Kyl is a Republican senator from Arizona.