| Show entertainers travel rough and perilous circuit taking USO camp shows to remote fighting fronts one hundred troupes play to soldiers in open air theaters that fa familiar m dine truism of the trouper the show must go on has taken on a new and vastly different meaning since the advent of USO camp shows those traveling deou troupes pas t that hat follow our or troops all 1 over ir the world true to tradition the show of worse course does go on from froin the back of an army truck mired in th the jungles of new guinea to alm naw gurnea th the accompaniment cc pa t of grinding winches on a dock alongside a troop transport amid the icy cl I 1 glaciers of the agile arctic at base 1 hospitals hospital behind firing lines in the shadow of shouldering ing vesuvius or on newly won terri tern korv in europe no longer however does the audi ence ance go to the show the show is taken to the sudi audience ence an audience by the way that now numbers more than 11 men and worn wom en an of our armed forces to whom by orders of the war d department 0 pertinent the show goes on in combat zones in every was area where here our fighting forces or are located its something new for both the show business and the army to include traveling troupes in the ardys special services that is it was new until pearl harbor now as much a part of the army fare us as GI chow h w and equally as essential one is a physical feces sity the other a psychological stimulant in the last two and a half years shows have grown from a mere experiment to a far flung activity that would stagger the most traveled old trouper to contemplate today USO camp shows operate approximately units in combat zones in every sector of the fighting fronts for obvious reasons of military expedience no estimate of the a house count at these performances for mances has been made public but it its a safe guess goes that the SRO sign was out at every one in the az western rn hemisphere another U P slig shows hi are 1 appearing ewig at I 1 army camps camp and it naval a al bases with an estimated monthly atten attendance daric e of 2 0 men and women of the armed aimed forces who are kept laugh ing by moles professional lonal entertainers of stage a screen creen and radio USO camp shows are operated as an activity of USO united service org organizations a and are financed by the N national dional war fund of which USO is a member agency stage stag stars volunteer from headquarters occupying cc half a dozen fl floors ra in a building at 8 west fortieth a street t rest new yr york k city USO camp carlp chews h plan P pre pare and direct the assembling of both talent and programs for the various units is paid entertainers entertainer r recruited from theatres theartres the atres in night g clubs and vaudeville booking ag agen cles cies constitute the permanent pe organization of the world wide circuits augmenting the regular staff are stars of broadway and hollywood woo together with well known radio personalities who volunteer their tb e service for a limited period J in obtaining volunteers volunteer fr from the w screen awo 11 colony Y USO camp shows show has th the e cooperation ru n of the hollywood victory committee which has en an listed many of the foremost stars star of mo motion t ton pictures among notables of the cinema who have been members of USO camp shows how to entertain our boys in combo combat t zones were joe E brown wil william imn gorgon gargan M marlene lem brunch Deit adolph mellon paulette aulette goddard gary cooper za c AL ir 1 mgt robert banks pulse and respiration went up several points hen this band of entertainers dropped into this hospital tent in the aleutians Aleut ians players left to right are naomi stevens mary lee gr ace and harry masters and george corwin una merkel george raft phylllis phyllis brooks frederic march louise all laing baitt button n andy arcan jean cy clyde d e bob hope hope keenan wynn at al jolson and john job garfield although the screen luminaries volunteer r for a minimum of 12 weeks some of them trouped grouped the various circuits tor for as long as 30 weeks enduring all kinds of inconveniences and hardships but taking them in stride and actually enjoying the experience many of the lesser known paid entertainers on sleep er jumping tours of 50 and ahil miles s have been out for as long as 11 months visiting little outposts in remote regions isolated camps in central and east africa army tran transport t command stops in the arabian wilderness or lonely road camps in the snow show covered mountains of iran the business of obtain obtaining g the talent ent and putting together a show unit I 1 is the inaction function ol of USO C camp mp shows a function usually conducted on specific orders from the army special services ervice division which requisitions entertainment by much the same method as GI supplies are ordered in typical army terseness a directive will be issued to camp shows for a certain art type ol of entertainment to be provided by a specified number of performers for a designated designas des ignat a d area and time shows follows astr instructions u calls at t the h a de designated ignatee time and place the ch show 0 is turned over to the army and thereafter it is practically as much a part of the army as the GI joss joes where the show goes when it goes how bow long it stays and when it does its stuff are all prescribed by the army transportation food ales sleeping ing quarters are furnished by the barnny army many performers give their service others are paid nominal se salaries laria troupers troopers Troup ers endure heat beat cold although details of the tours are handled by the army with characteristic character ter te I 1 military precision putting on the show many times exactly a cinch in fact it is often attended by difficulties a s hazards or interruptions even the army tan I 1 able to provide transportable the atres stage props and equipment tramping the boards board a familiar expression of the trop trouper e is exactly that with camp show e entertainers ter tamers for the show heis W usually given fr from a crude improvised stage of boards thrown up wherever the audience is a nta stationed boned the locale of a show may be in a jungle where the temperature climbs to as high as degrees it may be at a lonely mountain aid side e outpost or in the midst of dese desert r t wastes one USO camp show unit landing unexpectedly between if s comedian joe E brown towed I 1 he south pacific area for many months pushing hit to at lung islands here be I 1 shown enter I 1 aaning soldiers at an open air th ter in australia bombings on the island of pantelleria gave a performance in an underground airplane hangar another camp show how troupe actually gave ashow a show in a submarine returning from an a 11 month tour members of one camp show unit announced that they had become authorities on the sands of the world they had played in yellow sandstorms sand storms in egypt in III red sand storms in tunisia that had dyed their hair face and clothes a bright red and in white sandstorms sand storms in iran that made brunettes look like amott platinum blondes while 11 up in snow snoa covered mountains they suffered subzero cold down in the valleys they had bad border to wrap themselves in wet sheets in order to sleep in the degree heat travel through mine min fields another troupe that spent months with fliers at advanced air fields never took a trip to a nearby encampment when they have to pick their way through min mine fields once they parked their trailer truck two feet from a live land mine it was the heartbreaking g experience peri ence of this troupe ol of getting to know some of the boys who were destined not to return from their missions once the troupe went miles mila in their truck to give an unscheduled sch daled show when they I 1 learned road that a certain squadrons squadron a commanding officer had been shot down that day another camp show unit it that started a north african show how with an audience of soldiers had the disconcerting experience of see ing ten men leave then ten more then another ten until finall finally y they were playing to a mere handful of restless soldiers afterward they learned that a to landing dg by enemy nenny commandoes comman does had been re reported porte and then audience had been called out to track them down camp show performances are often attended by hazards hazard and perils on as well w a 11 as a comforts discomforts dis d is and inconveniences one troupe play played ed seven weeks at road campin th the a iran mountains that were main tamed to keep open the route avs over which supplies and arms were I 1 going ii to russia bandits were in the neighborhood and the troup troopers troupers a ers is t leave the e camps amps without armed 9 guards rd al air raid halts halt show soma sometimes time sudden enemy action makes it necessary mc to t ila halt I 1 a performance P rha for mance in the middle die a of its most dramatic or interesting moment in italy where the players are frequently close behind the front lines how such interruptions are am not infrequent in one instance when 0 enemy planes roared mared over during a performance the audience and the groupen troupers troup ers sat in darkness for hours hour until t the he alarm passed and the show could continue one troupe towing touring the iran valley outposts is had to travel miles ila through mo mountains 1 stams in a caboose there were 1 36 tunnels and it every time the train went want M through ro ugh a tunnel tannel it was like going into an ov oven an ata at a mountain stop in iran the afi players learned that the boys stationed there hadin t had fresh meet meat in weeks they orga organized ad a hunting halting expedition aguill and armed amed with army pistols shot 11 wi wild 1 d boars baars then th show how was a great hit that night nigh W we gave a them h aon ham and fed tl them a hm ham too they ey said md th thus day in and del day out 1 the a show how goes on making every a stop top on the icicle circuit along the alcan highway in alaska the foxhole circuit in the south pacific the desert uewl t C circuit ic wv m egypt aric africa iran imn lybia and A arabia r abia aga and apt d as usim rapidly eidly as our fighters advance USO camp P aih shows aws are a ordered d crad up to entertain the th e battle bat tle weary combat troops and provide provid e an antidote for operational fatigue |
