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February 4 marks the 76th birthday of the USO, the organization United States service personnel have called their “home away from home” since World War II. Founded by Mary Ingraham in 1941, the USO provides morale and recreation services to US military personnel around the world and stateside.
President Franklin Roosevelt had a vision to unite several existing service organizations – the Salvation Army, YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Services, National Travelers Aid Association, and the National Jewish Welfare Board – into one new organization to support military personnel and their families.
Under chairman and former New York governor Thomas Dewey, the newly-formed United Services Organization opened its first location in DeRidder, Louisiana, on February 4, 1941. Soon after, Roosevelt’s vision proved prescient, as the United States entered the war a mere ten months later.
The USO entertained and took care of troops through World War II but was briefly disbanded in 1947. However, when the United States entered the Korean War in 1951, the USO jumped back into action and has been helping in and out of war zones ever since.
Many people recall the famous USO tours during World War II and Korea by entertainers such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, and others, drawing crowds of thousands of American GIs eager to take their minds off the stress of combat, however briefly. The USO continued its entertainment tours, called Camp Shows, during Vietnam and eventually the 1991 Gulf War and through today in Iraq and Afghanistan, featuring such performers as Brooke Shields, Marie Osmond, Steve Martin, Gary Sinise, Carrie Underwood, and many others.
While the entertainers may be the celebrity face of the USO, much of the organization’s hardest work is performed at the local branches, many of them in airports. Soldiers and sailors awaiting connecting flights can stop in for a cup of coffee and quick snack, catch up on social media and write emails to loved ones, even take a well-deserved nap. These branches are staffed largely by the over 30,000 volunteers currently serving the organization around the world.
During the holidays, the USO serves meals to the troops, such as their worldwide Thanksgiving effort in 2014, and provides holiday cheer for families whose loves ones are stationed overseas.
USO Fast Facts:
- Over 35 million soldiers served- 1.5 million volunteers since 1941- 180 locations in 14 countries and 27 states- The USO is not part of the federal government and receives no government funding – all money is privately donated through the generosity of individuals, organizations, and corporations- Bob Hope was such a fixture on the USO tour that the headquarters building in Washington, DC, is named in his honor
Please join us in wishing the USO a much-appreciated 76th birthday!