I took this shot while attending the Bob Hope Christmas show at Cu Chi, 1969. The Cu Chi base camp was quite large and there were probably several thousand GI’s present for the show, most from the field. The stage in the picture was about 50 yards from our headquarters battery, so we got good parking. The traffic was terrible but I think everyone arrived and departed safely. We were incredibly fortunate to be able to drive in from the field for the show. And we even made it back to our field camp before dark without incident.
Bob’s guests included Miss World, Eva Rueber-Staier; Connie Stevens; Neil Armstrong (fresh back from the moon). Connie entertained us with the song, “Wedding Bell Blues” including calling to the crowd for anyone named Bill to join her on the stage. A fellow close to the stage clambered up front in an instant. When Connie finished the song, the soldier told the crowd that his name was not Bill, drawing a mixture of applause and booing. I thought it was pretty funny. I mean, show me a soldier who wouldn’t lie about their name (or most anything else) to get a hug from Connie Stephens! (December, 1969)