BOB HOPE FOR THE AGES
What could be added about the military's best friend?
What more needs to be said after his timely death
climaxed decades of service in good humor for all?
Humbly, at 17 years younger, my field notes recount:
During World War Two in the 1940s, he was up front.
He was there. His company members in harms way.
He reflected home. He was hometown America.
Service guys fed on his medicine show for weeks.
His stories told again, then retold to those not there.
He left bits of himself. He passed hope to each of us.
He was you. He was I. He was, at all times, himself.
Delightfully, he was every male yearning for her.
Being in his presence were highlights unparalleled.
A performance in the Pacific Theater in 1944 was tops.
Shaking his hand in 1946, a lifetime wish come true.
A 1970 chance introduction included a chat with the man.
My hero? My idol? My Champion? Yes, all of the above.
He was far more than the pattern for other entertainers.
He was the software, the hardware, the complete program.
The words, Bob Hope, define what each of us strives to be.