Remembering Bob Hope at Christmastime

As we approach the end of another year, I can't help but reflect on the fact that fewer and fewer "old time" celebrities are still with us. Each year we lose more of them to simple age and that glorious by-gone area slips further away. Being a traditionalist, it does make me sad. I don't believe we truly have anyone who can replace or regenerate that golden era of entertainment. Many of them were more than entertainers, they became icons. This Christmas with so many of our soldiers overseas, I am reminded of just such a person.

He held the precarious mountaintop of fame longer and with more stamina than any other could ever imagine. When he passed on to his next big gig in July 2003 and I pondered his passing and his place among the greats, I realized that for me he is the most important entertainer who ever lived. The reason is not because of his vast talents from vaudeville to television or his irreverent humor. It's because I believe Mr. Hope may be responsible for my very existence.

All right, one might ask, how can you figure that any entertainer no matter how acclaimed can rightfully be entitled to such a sweeping declaration? Well, I'll tell you how. A lot of people may remember him for his movies, mainly the "road trips" with old Bing. A lot of people will remember him from his TV specials over many years. A lot of people will remember him for owning outright half of LA's San Fernando Valley. And a lot of people will remember him for his philanthropy. Most, however, should and I believe will remember him for his greatest legacy. A legacy that began in 1941 with a small little occurrence on a sleepy Sunday morning in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. That occurrence
touched off a minor little event called World War II. At that moment, Mr. Hope's fate was sealed.