United Service Organization: Difference between revisions

From Robin's SM-201 Website
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (Text replacement - "Mickey Rooney" to "Mickey Rooney")
m (Text replacement - "Gary Cooper" to "Gary Cooper")
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 48: Line 48:
From 1941 to 1947, the USO presented more than 400,000 performances, featuring entertainers such as:  
From 1941 to 1947, the USO presented more than 400,000 performances, featuring entertainers such as:  
<div style='-moz-column-count:4; column-count:4;'>
<div style='-moz-column-count:4; column-count:4;'>
* Abbott and Costello<br>* Larry Adler<br>* Brian Aherne<br>* [[Louise Allbritton]]<br>* Morey Amsterdam<br>* Marian Anderson<br>* The [[Andrews Sisters]]<br>* Armida<br>* [[Jean Arthur]]<br>* [[Fred Astaire]]<br>* [[Gene Autry]]<br>* [[Lauren Bacall]]<br>* Fay Bainter<br>* [[Lucille Ball]]<br>* Desi Arnaz<br>* Tallulah Bankhead<br>* [[Lynn Bari]]<br>* Count Basie<br>* Peg Leg Bates<br>* Constance Bennett<br>* Jack Benny<br>* Edgar Bergen<br>* Ingrid Bergman<br>* Milton Berle<br>* Eubie Blake<br>* Ben Black<br>* Ben Blue<br>* Ray Bolger<br>* [[Humphrey Bogart]]<br>* Mary Brian<br>* Hillary Brooke<br>* Phyllis Brooks<br>* Joe E. Brown<br>* Willie Bryant<br>* George Burns and Gracie Allen<br>* Charles Butterworth<br>* [[James Cagney]]<br>* Joseph Calleia<br>* Cab Calloway<br>* Judy Canova<br>* Eddie Cantor<br>* Charley Chaney<br>* June Clyde<br>* Jerry Colonna<br>* Gary Cooper<br>* Katharine Cornell<br>* [[Bing Crosby]]<br>* [[Bebe Daniels]]<br>* [[Linda Darnell]]<br>* [[Bette Davis]]<br>* [[Joan Davis]]<br>* Dennis Day<br>* [[Olivia De Havilland]]<br>* Joe DeRita<br>* [[Marlene Dietrich]]<br>* Doraine and Ellis<br>* Morton Downey<br>* Ellen Drew<br>* [[Irene Dunne]]<br>* [[Deanna Durbin]]<br>* Jimmy Durante<br>* Ann Dvorak<br>* Nelson Eddy<br>* Duke Ellington<br>* Skinnay Ennis<br>* Maurice Evans<br>* [[Jinx Falkenburg]]<br>* Glenda Farrell<br>* Joey Faye<br>* Leslie Fenton<br>* Gracie Fields<br>* Shep Fields<br>* [[W. C. Fields]]<br>* Joan Fontaine<br>* Harrison Ford<br>* The Four Evans<br>* [[Kay Francis]]<br>* Jane Froman<br>* Reginald Gardiner<br>* Ed Gardner<br>* [[Judy Garland]]<br>* Billy Gilbert<br>* [[Betty Grable]]<br>* Cary Grant<br>* John Garfield<br>* William Gargan<br>* Greer Garson<br>* Paulette Goddard<br>* Benny Goodman<br>* Jack Haley<br>* Adelaide Hall<br>* Moss Hart<br>* [[Susan Hayward]]<br>* [[Rita Hayworth]]<br>* Jascha Heifetz<br>* Hildegarde<br>* Celeste Holm<br>* [[Bob Hope]]<br>* Lena Horne<br>* Marsha Hunt<br>* Alberta Hunter<br>* Betty Hutton<br>* Allen Jenkins<br>* George Jessel<br>* Al Jolson<br>* Boris Karloff<br>* Danny Kaye<br>* Gene Kelly<br>* Guy Kibbee<br>* Andre Kostelanetz<br>* Gene Krupa<br>* [[Kay Kyser]]<br>* [[Veronica Lake]]<br>* Hedy Lamarr<br>* [[Dorothy Lamour]]<br>* [[Carole Landis]]<br>* [[Frances Langford]]<br>* Laurel and Hardy<br>* Gertrude Lawrence<br>* [[Anna Lee]]<br>* [[Gypsy Rose Lee]]<br>* Vivien Leigh<br>* Joan Leslie<br>* Joe E. Lewis<br>* Beatrice Lillie<br>* Rhoda Lipschutz<br>* [[Carole Lombard]]<br>* Edmund Lowe<br>* Paul Lukas<br>* Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne<br>* [[Ida Lupino]]<br>* Jeanette MacDonald<br>* Tex McCrary<br>* Joel McCrea<br>* Hattie McDaniel<br>* Dorothy McGuire<br>* Frank McHugh<br>* Frederic March<br>* Olga "Gypsy" Markoff<br>* Marion Martin<br>* Mitzi Mayfair<br>* [[Marilyn Maxwell]] <br>* Mike Mazurki<br>* the Marx Brothers<br>* Adolphe Menjou<br>* Una Merkel<br>* Ray Milland<br>* Glenn Miller<br>* Maria Montez<br>* Constance Moore<br>* Garry Moore<br>* Tim Moore<br>* Chester Morris<br>* Zero Mostel<br>* George Murphy<br>* Mildred Natwick<br>* Merle Oberon<br>* Pat O'Brien<br>* Minerva Pious<br>* Lily Pons<br>* [[George Raft]]<br>* Luise Rainer<br>* Gregory Ratoff<br>* [[Martha Raye]]<br>* Ossy Renardy<br>* Paul Robeson<br>* [[Edward G. Robinson]]<br>* The Rockettes<br>* [[Ginger Rogers]]<br>* Tony Romano<br>* [[Mickey Rooney]]<br>* [[Rosalind Russell]]<br>* Ann Rutherford<br>* Ann Savage<br>* [[Randolph Scott]]<br>* Jack Sharkey<br>* Artie Shaw<br>* Ann Sheridan<br>* [[Dinah Shore]]<br>* Phil Silvers<br>* [[Frank Sinatra]]<br>* Ray Sinatra<br>* Noble Sissle<br>* Kate Smith<br>* Ann Sothern<br>* Jo Stafford<br>* Barbara Stanwyck<br>* Tamara Swan<br>* Bill Stern<br>* Isaac Stern<br>* James Stewart<br>* Fred Stone<br>* Gloria Stuart<br>* Ed Sullivan<br>* Akim Tamiroff<br>* Danny Thomas<br>* Three Bon Bunnies<br>* [[Gene Tierney]]<br>* Martha Tilton<br>* Arthur Tracy<br>* Spencer Tracy<br>* Arthur Treacher<br>* Sophie Tucker<br>* [[Lana Turner]]<br>* [[Helen Twelvetrees]]<br>* Vera Vague<br>* Gus Van<br>* Fats Waller<br>* Ethel Waters<br>* [[John Wayne]]<br>* Senor Wences<br>* [[Mae West]]<br>* Arleen Whelan<br>* Chill Wills<br>* Paul Winchell<br>* Anna May Wong<br>* Keenan Wynn and Vera Zorina.
* Abbott and Costello<br>* Larry Adler<br>* Brian Aherne<br>* [[Louise Allbritton]]<br>* Morey Amsterdam<br>* Marian Anderson<br>* The [[Andrews Sisters]]<br>* Armida<br>* [[Jean Arthur]]<br>* [[Fred Astaire]]<br>* [[Gene Autry]]<br>* [[Lauren Bacall]]<br>* Fay Bainter<br>* [[Lucille Ball]]<br>* Desi Arnaz<br>* Tallulah Bankhead<br>* [[Lynn Bari]]<br>* Count Basie<br>* Peg Leg Bates<br>* Constance Bennett<br>* Jack Benny<br>* Edgar Bergen<br>* Ingrid Bergman<br>* Milton Berle<br>* Eubie Blake<br>* Ben Black<br>* Ben Blue<br>* Ray Bolger<br>* [[Humphrey Bogart]]<br>* Mary Brian<br>* Hillary Brooke<br>* Phyllis Brooks<br>* Joe E. Brown<br>* Willie Bryant<br>* George Burns and Gracie Allen<br>* Charles Butterworth<br>* [[James Cagney]]<br>* Joseph Calleia<br>* Cab Calloway<br>* Judy Canova<br>* Eddie Cantor<br>* Charley Chaney<br>* June Clyde<br>* Jerry Colonna<br>* [[Gary Cooper]]<br>* Katharine Cornell<br>* [[Bing Crosby]]<br>* [[Bebe Daniels]]<br>* [[Linda Darnell]]<br>* [[Bette Davis]]<br>* [[Joan Davis]]<br>* Dennis Day<br>* [[Olivia De Havilland]]<br>* Joe DeRita<br>* [[Marlene Dietrich]]<br>* Doraine and Ellis<br>* Morton Downey<br>* Ellen Drew<br>* [[Irene Dunne]]<br>* [[Deanna Durbin]]<br>* Jimmy Durante<br>* Ann Dvorak<br>* Nelson Eddy<br>* Duke Ellington<br>* Skinnay Ennis<br>* Maurice Evans<br>* [[Jinx Falkenburg]]<br>* Glenda Farrell<br>* Joey Faye<br>* Leslie Fenton<br>* Gracie Fields<br>* Shep Fields<br>* [[W. C. Fields]]<br>* Joan Fontaine<br>* Harrison Ford<br>* The Four Evans<br>* [[Kay Francis]]<br>* Jane Froman<br>* Reginald Gardiner<br>* Ed Gardner<br>* [[Judy Garland]]<br>* Billy Gilbert<br>* [[Betty Grable]]<br>* Cary Grant<br>* John Garfield<br>* William Gargan<br>* Greer Garson<br>* Paulette Goddard<br>* Benny Goodman<br>* Jack Haley<br>* Adelaide Hall<br>* Moss Hart<br>* [[Susan Hayward]]<br>* [[Rita Hayworth]]<br>* Jascha Heifetz<br>* Hildegarde<br>* Celeste Holm<br>* [[Bob Hope]]<br>* Lena Horne<br>* Marsha Hunt<br>* Alberta Hunter<br>* Betty Hutton<br>* Allen Jenkins<br>* George Jessel<br>* Al Jolson<br>* Boris Karloff<br>* Danny Kaye<br>* Gene Kelly<br>* Guy Kibbee<br>* Andre Kostelanetz<br>* Gene Krupa<br>* [[Kay Kyser]]<br>* [[Veronica Lake]]<br>* Hedy Lamarr<br>* [[Dorothy Lamour]]<br>* [[Carole Landis]]<br>* [[Frances Langford]]<br>* Laurel and Hardy<br>* Gertrude Lawrence<br>* [[Anna Lee]]<br>* [[Gypsy Rose Lee]]<br>* Vivien Leigh<br>* Joan Leslie<br>* Joe E. Lewis<br>* Beatrice Lillie<br>* Rhoda Lipschutz<br>* [[Carole Lombard]]<br>* Edmund Lowe<br>* Paul Lukas<br>* Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne<br>* [[Ida Lupino]]<br>* Jeanette MacDonald<br>* Tex McCrary<br>* Joel McCrea<br>* Hattie McDaniel<br>* Dorothy McGuire<br>* Frank McHugh<br>* Frederic March<br>* Olga "Gypsy" Markoff<br>* Marion Martin<br>* Mitzi Mayfair<br>* [[Marilyn Maxwell]] <br>* Mike Mazurki<br>* the Marx Brothers<br>* Adolphe Menjou<br>* Una Merkel<br>* Ray Milland<br>* Glenn Miller<br>* Maria Montez<br>* Constance Moore<br>* Garry Moore<br>* Tim Moore<br>* Chester Morris<br>* Zero Mostel<br>* George Murphy<br>* Mildred Natwick<br>* Merle Oberon<br>* Pat O'Brien<br>* Minerva Pious<br>* Lily Pons<br>* [[George Raft]]<br>* Luise Rainer<br>* Gregory Ratoff<br>* [[Martha Raye]]<br>* Ossy Renardy<br>* Paul Robeson<br>* [[Edward G. Robinson]]<br>* The Rockettes<br>* [[Ginger Rogers]]<br>* Tony Romano<br>* [[Mickey Rooney]]<br>* [[Rosalind Russell]]<br>* Ann Rutherford<br>* Ann Savage<br>* [[Randolph Scott]]<br>* Jack Sharkey<br>* Artie Shaw<br>* Ann Sheridan<br>* [[Dinah Shore]]<br>* Phil Silvers<br>* [[Frank Sinatra]]<br>* Ray Sinatra<br>* Noble Sissle<br>* Kate Smith<br>* Ann Sothern<br>* Jo Stafford<br>* Barbara Stanwyck<br>* Tamara Swan<br>* Bill Stern<br>* Isaac Stern<br>* James Stewart<br>* Fred Stone<br>* Gloria Stuart<br>* Ed Sullivan<br>* Akim Tamiroff<br>* Danny Thomas<br>* Three Bon Bunnies<br>* [[Gene Tierney]]<br>* Martha Tilton<br>* Arthur Tracy<br>* Spencer Tracy<br>* Arthur Treacher<br>* Sophie Tucker<br>* [[Lana Turner]]<br>* [[Helen Twelvetrees]]<br>* Vera Vague<br>* Gus Van<br>* Fats Waller<br>* Ethel Waters<br>* [[John Wayne]]<br>* Senor Wences<br>* [[Mae West]]<br>* Arleen Whelan<br>* Chill Wills<br>* Paul Winchell<br>* Anna May Wong<br>* Keenan Wynn and Vera Zorina.


</div>
</div>
Line 82: Line 82:
* [[James Cagney]]
* [[James Cagney]]
* James Stewart
* James Stewart
* Gary Cooper
* [[Gary Cooper]]
* Danny Kaye
* Danny Kaye
* The Rockettes
* The Rockettes
Line 101: Line 101:


<div style='-moz-column-count:4; column-count:4;'>
<div style='-moz-column-count:4; column-count:4;'>
* Errol Flynn
* [[Errol Flynn]]
* [[Debbie Reynolds]]
* [[Debbie Reynolds]]
* Donald O'Connor
* Donald O'Connor

Revision as of 04:31, 2 October 2022

Copyright info not available/ownership unkown

The United Service Organizations


This article is part of
"The Pin-up Girl History Project"
Click here for Pin-up girl page
"The Showgirl/Dancer History Project"
Click here for Show girls category page
"The Movie Star History Project"
Click here for Movie Star category page
"The Early Television History Project"
Click here for Early Television History category page
"The WWII History Project"
Click here for World War II History category page
Click here for Special History Projects information

Mission and goals

The USO was founded in 1941 by Mary Ingraham in response to a request from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel. Roosevelt was elected as its honorary chairman. This request brought together six civilian organizations: the Salvation Army, YMCA, Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board. They were brought together under one umbrella to support U.S. troops. Roosevelt said he wanted "these private organizations to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces." According to historian Emily Yellin, "The government was to build the buildings and the USO was to raise private funds to carry out its main mission: boosting the morale of the military."

The first national campaign chairman was Thomas Dewey, who raised $16 million in the first year. The second chairman was future senator Prescott Bush. The USO was incorporated in New York on February 4, with the first facility erected in DeRidder, Louisiana,1941. More USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a "Home Away from Home" for GIs. The USO club was a place to go for dances and social events, for movies and music, for a quiet place to talk or write a letter home, or for a 'free cup of coffee and an boiled egg'.

The USO also brought Hollywood celebrities and volunteer entertainers to perform for the troops. According to movie historian Steven Cohan, "most of all ... in taking home on the road, it equated the nation with showbiz. USO camp shows were designed in their export to remind soldiers of home." They did this, he noted, by "nurturing in troops a sense of patriotic identification with America through popular entertainment." An article in Look magazine at the time, stated, "For the little time the show lasts, the men are taken straight to the familiar Main Street that is the goal of every fighting American far away from home." Maxene Andrews wrote, "The entertainment brought home to the boys. Their home." Actor George Raft stated at the beginning of the war, "Now it's going to be up to us to send to the men here and abroad real, living entertainment, the songs, the dances, and the laughs they had back home."

USO promotional literature stated its goals:

"The story of USO camp shows belongs to the American people, for it was their contribution that made it possible. It is an important part in the life of your sons, your brothers, your husbands, and your sweethearts."

In 2011, the USO was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama "for contributions to lifting the spirits of America's troops and their families through the arts


The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military worldwide.

World War II

After being formed in 1941, in response to World War II, "centers were established quickly ... in churches, barns, railroad cars, museums, castles, beach clubs, and log cabins." Most centers offered recreational activities, such as holding dances and showing movies. And there were the well-known free coffee and doughnuts. Some USO centers provided a haven for spending a quiet moment alone or writing a letter home, while others offered spiritual guidance and made childcare available for military wives.

But the organization became mostly known for its live performances called "Camp Shows", through which the entertainment industry helped boost the morale of its servicemen and women. USO Camp Shows, Inc. began in October 1941, and by that fall and winter 186 military theaters existed in the United States. Overseas shows began in November 1941 with a tour of the Caribbean. Within five months, 36 overseas units had been sent within the Americas, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and during 1942 1,000 performed as part of 70 units. Average performers were paid $100 a week; top stars were paid $10 a day because their wealth let them contribute more of their talents.

These overseas shows were produced by the American Theatre Wing, which also provided food and entertainment for the armed services in their Stage Door Canteens. Funds from the sale of film rights for a story about the New York Canteen went toward providing USO tours of shows for overseas troops.

Following the Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, Edward G. Robinson was the first movie star to travel to Normandy to entertain the troops. He had already been active back home selling war bonds, and donated $100,000 to the USO. During his show, he said, "This is the most privileged moment of my life, the opportunity to be here with you." The following month, Camp Shows began in Normandy.

Note: Gerald L. Roberts (Robin's father) was one of the Navy Beach Master personnel who served at Normandy - His name is engraved on the 'Wall of Remembrance' at Normandy

Until fall of 1944 overseas units contained five performers or fewer; The Barretts of Wimpole Street, using local theaters in France and Italy, was the first to use an entire theater company, including scenery. At its high point in 1944, the USO had more than 3,000 clubs, and curtains were rising on USO shows 700 times a day. The USO's fundraising efforts were controversial. An MGM film, Mr. Gardenia Jones, created to assist the USO in its fundraising campaign, was nearly withdrawn from theaters due to objections by the War Department, mainly because of scenes showing soldiers jumping with joy at the opportunity to shower in canteens and rest in overstuffed and comfortable USO chairs. The Army, noted the New York Times, "feels this is not good for morale as it implies that there are no showers or other comforts for soldiers in military camps." The film starred Ronald Reagan, then a captain in the Army Air Force.

Fundraising was also aided by non-USO entertainment groups. "Soldier Shows," which troops – often experienced actors and musicians – organized and held their own performances, were common. The army formed a Special Services unit that organized such shows and supervised the USO, and the experience from the "Soldier Shows" led to Irving Berlin's Broadway show "This Is the Army". Performers and writers from throughout the army were recruited for the production; they remained soldiers and continued drills. Berlin, who had written and produced the similar "Yip, Yip, Yaphank" during World War I, took the entire 165-person cast on tour in Europe in 1942, raising nearly $10 million for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The following year the show was made into a film by the same title, again starring Ronald Reagan. The "This Is The Army" stage production toured worldwide until it closed in October 1945 in Honolulu.

War correspondent Quentin Reynolds, wrote in an article for Billboard magazine in 1943, that "Entertainment, all phases of it – radio, pictures and live – should be treated as essential. You don't know what entertainment means to the guys who do the fighting until you've been up there with the men yourself. ... You can quote me as saying that we should use entertainment as an essential industry so long as it's for the boys in service. Anybody who has been there would insist on it. ... Hell, you should have seen how happy the G.I.'s were when they heard the ballplayers were coming over. And John Steinbeck, just back from a chore as war correspondent, ... also applauded show business as part of the war effort and its importance as a morale builder."

According to historian Paul Holsinger, between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 separate visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained. The USO also did shows in military hospitals, eventually entertaining more than 3 million wounded soldiers and sailors in 192 different hospitals. There were 702 different USO troupes that toured the world, some spending up to six months per tour. In 1943, a United States Liberty ship named the SS U.S.O. was launched. She was scrapped in 1967.

Twenty-eight performers died in the course of their tours, from plane crashes, illness, or diseases contracted while on tour. In one such instance in 1943, a plane carrying a USO troupe crashed outside Lisbon, killing singer and actress Tamara Drasin, and severely injuring Broadway singer Jane Froman. Froman returned to Europe on crutches in 1945 to again entertain the troops. She later married the co-pilot who saved her life in that crash, and her story was made into the 1952 film "With a Song in My Heart", with Froman providing the actual singing voice. Others, such as Al Jolson, the first entertainer to go overseas in World War II, contracted malaria, resulting in the loss of his lung, cutting short his tour.

One author wrote that by the end of the war "the USO amounted to the biggest enterprise American show business has ever tackled. The audience was millions of American fighting men, the theatre's location: the world, the producer: USO camp shows" Performances continued after the end of the war in 1945. 60 new units went to Europe after V-E Day, and 91 new units went to the Pacific after V-J Day. The USO dissolved in December 1947, after having spent $240 million in contributions on "Camp Shows", canteens, and other services. Special Services productions grew in number as replacement.

In 1991, 20th Century Fox produced the film, "For the Boys", which told the story of two USO performers, and starred Bette Midler and James Caan. It covered a 50-year timespan, from the USO's inception in 1941 through 'Operation Desert Storm', in 1991. Another movie was planned in 1950 but never made. Just 10 days after Al Jolson returned from entertaining troops in Korea, he agreed with RKO producers to star in a new movie, "Stars and Stripes for Ever", about a USO troupe in the South Pacific during World War II. Unfortunately, he died a week later as a result of physical exhaustion from his tour.

List of World War II entertainers

From 1941 to 1947, the USO presented more than 400,000 performances, featuring entertainers such as:

Women in the USO

According to Emily Yellin, many of the key foot soldiers in the USO's mission were women who were "charged with providing friendly diversion for U.S. troops who were mostly men in their teens and twenties." USO centers throughout the world recruited female volunteers to serve doughnuts, dance, and just talk with the troops. USO historian Julia Carson writes that this "nostalgic hour," designed to cheer and comfort soldiers, involved "listening to music – American style" and "looking at pretty girls, like no other pretty girls in the world – American girls."

African-American women scrambled to rally the community around the soldiers and create programs for them. By 1946, hostesses had served more than two thousand soldiers a day while also providing facilities for the wounded and convalescent who were on leave. They went to black businesses and fraternal organizations in order to find sponsorship for their USO group, and later expanded to fulfill the needs of soldiers during the Korean War. Moreover, they worked to merge black and white USOs into one desegregated unit. As black historian Megan Shockley noted, "Their work for the desegregation of USOs had begun during World War II, and it finally paid off."

Women were also key entertainers who performed at shows. Stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth had traveled over a million miles. Yellin notes that on one tour, Hayworth visited six camps, gave thousands of autographs, and "came back from Texas with a full-fledged nervous breakdown from over-enthusiasm!" Opera singer Lily Pons, after she had performed a "serious" opera song to troops in Burma, "an applause erupted that stunned even the most seasoned performers." She later wrote in a letter, "Every woman back home wears a halo now, and those who represent her had better keep theirs on, too."

Author Joeie Dee pointed out that "for women entertainers, traveling with the USO made it possible to be patriots and adventurers as well as professionals." She adds, however, that the G.I.s in the USO audiences "tended to see these women in a different light – as reminders of and even substitutes for their girls back home, as a reward for fighting the war, as embodiments of what they were fighting for." Edward Skvarna remembers 1943, when he met Donna Reed at a USO canteen and asked her to dance. "I had never danced with a celebrity before, so I felt delighted, privileged even, to meet her. ... But I really felt she was like a girl from back home." Jay Fultz, author of a biography of Reed, states that soldiers "often wrote to her as if to a sister or the girl next door, confiding moments of homesickness, loneliness, privation and anxiety.

Background

The USO was founded in 1941 in response to a request from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel. This request led six civilian agencies-the Salvation Army, YMCA, YWCA, NCCS, NTAA and the NJWB-to unite in support of the U.S. troops. The USO was incorporated in New York February 4, 1941.

USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a “Home Away from Home" for GIs. The local USO was a place to go for dances and social events, for movies and music, for a quiet place to talk or write a letter home, or for a free cup of coffee and an egg. The USO also brought Hollywood celebrities and volunteer entertainers to perform for the troops.

At its high point in 1944, the USO had more than 3,000 clubs, and curtains were rising on USO shows 700 times a day. From 1941 to 1947, the USO presented more than 400,000 performances, featuring entertainers such as:

In 1950, when the United States entered the Korean War, the USO brought its services and entertainment tours, including

to the American troops. This effort continued after the war ended, and the USO expanded to serve the more than one million U.S. troops who remained stationed overseas. During the 1960s, as tensions escalated in Vietnam, the USO began to open centers in combat zones. The 23 centers in Vietnam and Thailand served as many as a million service members a month, and the USO presented more than 5,000 performances during the Vietnam War featuring stars such as:

In addition, the USO operates centers at major U.S. airports to provide a lounge and place to sleep for American servicemen between their flights.

To support troops participating in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, USO centers opened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. USO centers number more than 130 around the world. Recently, the USO opened the Rocky Mountain USO Center at Denver International Airport, a third center in Kuwait and its first center in Iraq at Balad Air Base. The USO provides a variety of programs and services, including orientation programs, family events, travel assistance, free Internet and e-mail access, and recreation services. A new program called "USO in a Box," delivers program materials ranging from DVD players and videos to musical instruments to remote forward operating bases in Afghanistan and Iraq

U.S. military personnel and their families visit USO centers more than five million times each year.

A nonprofit, charitable organization, the USO receives donations from private citizens, foundations, organizations and corporations. As of April 2008, some schools across the United States are donating money to the United Services Organization as a school program.

Notable modern entertainers

  • 50 Cent
  • Trace Adkins
  • Aerosmith
  • Ben Affleck
  • Criss Angel
  • Carmelo Anthony
  • Lance Armstrong
  • Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold
  • Dave Attell
  • Steve Azar
  • Charles Barkley
  • Rick Barry
  • The Bellamy Brothers
  • Jay Bilas
  • Lewis Black
  • Josh Blue
  • Drew Brees
  • Brooks & Dunn
  • Michael Buffer
  • Tracy Byrd (musician)|Tracy Byrd
  • Jim Calhoun
  • Candlebox
  • Drew Carey
  • Cher
  • Louis C.K.
  • Blake Clark
  • Kelly Clarkson
  • Ellen Cleghorne
  • Tara Conner - Miss USA 2006
  • Chelsea Cooley - Miss USA 2005
  • Brad Cotter
  • Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
  • Terry Crews
  • Alge Crumpler
  • Charlie Daniels
  • Keith David
  • Bill Dawes
  • Diana DeGarmo
  • Michael DeLorenzo
  • Robert De Niro
  • Diamond Rio
  • Drowning Pool
  • Donnie Edwards
  • Carmen Electra
  • John Elway
  • Ty England
  • Bill Engvall
  • Dennis Farina
  • David Faustino
  • Craig Ferguson
  • Fighting Gravity
  • Five for Fighting
  • Al Franken
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Mark Gottfried
  • Josh Gracin
  • Roy Green
  • Tom Green
  • Lee Greenwood
  • David Alan Grier
  • Kathy Griffin
  • Merle Haggard
  • Donnie Hammond
  • Tim Hardaway
  • John Heffron
  • Shelley Hennig , Miss Teen USA 2004
  • Taylor Hicks
  • Karl Hobbs
  • Lou Holtz
  • Hootie & the Blowfish
  • D.L. Hughley
  • Frankie J
  • Scarlett Johansson
  • Warren Johnson
  • Jonas Brothers
  • Wynonna Judd
  • Stacy Keibler
  • Toby Keith
  • Jerry Kelly
  • Jamie Kennedy
  • Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King
  • Kathy Kinney
  • Johnny Knoxville
  • Nick Lachey
  • Lisa Lampanelli
  • Billy Lane
  • Larry the Cable Guy
  • Steve Lavin
  • Danni Leigh
  • Mallory Lewis
  • Sugar Ray Leonard
  • David Letterman
  • Frank Lickliter
  • Rich Little
  • Lonestar
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Ludacris
  • Bobby Lutz
  • La Mafia
  • Danny Manning
  • Master P
  • Neal McCoy
  • Michael McDonald
  • Brian McKnight
  • Carlos Mencia
  • Maria Menounos
  • Jo Dee Messina
  • Alyssa Milano
  • Les Miles
  • Lil' Mo
  • The Monkees
  • Montgomery Gentry
  • Jay Mohr
  • Craig Morgan (singer)
  • Brittany Murphy
  • Willie Nelson
  • Wayne Newton
  • Marisol Nichols
  • Chuck Norris
  • Ted Nugent
  • Of A Revolution|O.A.R.
  • Conan O'Brien
  • Dave Odom
  • Jamie O'Neal
  • Shaquille O'Neal
  • Tito Ortiz
  • Vincent Pastore
  • Corey Pavin
  • Chris Paul
  • Russell Peters
  • Regis Philbin
  • Kellie Pickler
  • Rachel Proctor
  • Powerman 5000
  • DJ Qualls
  • Shelton Quarles
  • Rascal Flatts
  • Restless Heart
  • Rob Riggle
  • Kid Rock
  • Henry Rollins
  • Romeo (rapper)|Romeo
  • Jeffrey Ross
  • Brandon Routh
  • Ja Rule
  • Kelvin Sampson
  • Sawyer Brown
  • Seann William Scott
  • Shanice
  • Dax Shepard
  • Will Shields
  • Shinedown
  • Gene Simmons
  • Jessica Simpson
  • Sinbad (actor)|Sinbad
  • Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band
  • Tony Sirico
  • Rachel Smith - Miss USA 2007
  • Stu Stone
  • Marshall R. Teague
  • Third Day
  • Keni Thomas
  • Aaron Tippin
  • Christopher Titus
  • Alex Trebek
  • Danny Trejo
  • Travis Tritt
  • Leeann Tweeden
  • Ronan Tynan
  • Carrie Underwood
  • Wilmer Valderrama
  • Kiki Vandeweghe
  • Jacque Vaughn
  • Mayra Verónica
  • Paul Wall
  • Michael Warren
  • Benjamin Watson
  • Mark Wills
  • Montel Williams
  • Robin Williams
  • Tyler James Williams
  • Bruce Willis
  • Chely Wright
  • Lee Ann Womack
  • Darryl Worley
  • WWE Superstars
  • Elliott Yamin
  • Yellowcard
  • Nora Zehetner

Why is this article included on the SM-201 site?

While in the Navy, I was fortunate to attend several USO shows and I was a volunteer at the USO center at San Jose airport during the 80's and 90's.

External links

Wikilogo-20.png
Wikipedia article: United Service Organizations
Chain-09.png
Jump to: Main PageMicropediaMacropediaIconsTime LineHistoryLife LessonsLinksHelp
Chat roomsWhat links hereCopyright infoContact informationCategory:Root