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Dear Family and Friends,
When my husband John was in Viet Nam in 1966-67, I watched the annual TV
show of Bob Hope's tour to the sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines,
coastguard the January of 1967. I wrote a letter to Bob Hope,
Hollywood, USA (you all know I do things like that) thanking him for
going out there. I'm sure that like many wives of Viet Nam vets his
visit there gave us the message that someone cared about the men we
loved and I was grateful for Bob Hope's commitment and love for these
men, and now I realize, women in a very dangerous situation. I was
really surprised a few weeks later to find in my mailbox a return
response. I've always treasured this, and am attaching a copy of what
we received for you. I pulled this out, framed it, and put it among our
Fourth of July decorations this year, saying to my family, "This man
won't be with us long, and I want us to think of him." Since, Bob Hope
recently died, I want to share with the people I love and the friends I
hold dear. Best, Charlotte in Phoenix.
PS I'm also attaching my
version of "Thanks for the Memory" - Italicised the words that
make me think of John.
Thanks for my memory
Of candlelight and wine, Castles on
the Rhine,
The Parthenon, and moments on the Hudson River Line.
How lovely it was!
Thanks for my memory
Of rainy afternoons, Swingy Harlem
tunes,
And motor trips and burning lips and burning toast and prunes.
How lovely it was!
Many’s the time that we feasted,
And many’s the time that we fasted.
Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted,
We did have fun and no harm done.
And thanks for my memory
Of sunburns at the shore, Nights in
Singapore.
You might have been a headache, but you
never were a bore.
So thank you so much.
Thanks for my memory
Of sentimental verse, Nothing in my
purse,
And chuckles when the preacher said, "For better of for worse."
How lovely it was!
Thanks for my memory
Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the
case,
And how I jumped the day you trumped my one-and-only ace.
How lovely it was!
We said goodbye with a highball,
Then I got as "high" as a steeple
But we were intelligent people,
No tears, no fuss. Hooray! For us.
So, thanks for my memory
And strictly entre-nous,
Darling, how are you?
And how are all the little dreams that never did come true?
Aw’flly glad I met you, cheerio, and
toodle-oo.
And thank you so much.
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