Holiday Hope

Bob Hope returned to Hollywood last week after two weeks, 25,000 miles, and a couple of near disasters on his 13th annual Christmas visit to American military men overseas. He went first to Korea this year and nearly lost half his troupe when one of the two helicopters they were traveling in developed engine trouble and had to flutter down blindly to a forced landing in a blizzard. This, if nothing else, gave a fascinating revelation of the seating order of Hope's entourage when he is on the move: the stricken helicopter contained Singer John Bubbles, Madman Jerry Colonna, Bandleader Les Brown, and only one female, Actress Janis Paige. Meanwhile, in the other chopper, were Hope, Jill St. John, Anita Bryant, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Ann Sidney, the British girl who is Miss World.

"We're in Korea to see how they've rearranged the mud," he told the soldiers, sounding like the veteran he is. "If you wonder why I keep coming back to Korea, I have the same travel agent you have." Then, trying one based on his vague resemblance to the Secretary of Defense, he added: "Everywhere we go we get a big reception. Thousands are waiting to cheer. They think I'm Secretary McNamara with shutdown orders."

Hope was in Saigon on Christmas Eve when terrorists bombed the officers' quarters known as the Hotel Brink. Doing a show on Christmas Day at a helicopter base in the Mekong Delta, Hope told the assembled troops: "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."

The troupe performed behind a barricade of protective sandbags before armed men with the sound of artillery in the distance, but the only casualty was Jill St. John, who was given a heavy crossbow as a gift. She dropped the ancient weapon on her foot and has been limping since. At Bienhoa Airbase, Hope tried one of his oldest one-liners, explaining to troops why he had come to Viet Nam. "The Defense Department has tried everything else," he said, "so why not me?" Why not, indeed? A headline last week in the New York Herald Tribune said HOPE IN VIET AS GENERALS BACK OFF. The article that went with it had nothing to do with Bob Hope, but the headline was right either way you read it.

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