LEGEND GAVE HOPE TO U.S. FORCES COMIC RISKED LIFE, LIMB JUST TO CHEER TROOPS.

Byline: Michael Gougis and Beth Barrett Staff Writers

For generations of soldiers, sailors and fliers, Bob Hope symbolized the spirit of America - someone who came to make them laugh in desperate, dangerous places around the globe, where laughter was sorely missed.

In VFW halls across the Southland, veterans of conflicts from Normandy to Vietnam reflected Monday on Hope's famous USO shows and what a visit from home meant to young men fighting and dying halfway around the world.

``He was great; he was a diversion when you were living in a (hell) hole,'' Rick Carroll, a former Army Ranger who served in Vietnam, said at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2805 in Canoga Park.

``He made me feel good,'' said Tony Camarena, 55, of Reseda, who was preparing to open VFW Post 2323 for business as he recalled the Bob Hope Christmas show he caught in Vietnam.

A Marine field medic, Camarena had been introduced to Hope briefly at the Yamashiro Sky Room restaurant in Hollywood, months before he shipped out. When Camarena found out Hope was performing in Da Nang, he wrangled a ride to the show on a supply helicopter.

``I did the best I could to worm my way to the front, right up to the stage,'' Camarena said.

``I was waving my arms at him, and as he came past, he looked at me, pointed at me and yelled, 'Yamashiro!' I'm getting goose bumps just telling the story.''

Les Vance, 56, of Pacoima was lucky enough to have the supply boat he manned in Vietnam break down near Da Nang at the time Hope did a show there.

``After about six months in Vietnam, it was like you'd never been anywhere else, that life before it was just a dream,'' said Vance, who had dropped by VFW Post 1614 in Montrose.

``It meant so much to see him, to see someone from home.''

At Edwards Air Force Base, Hope's signature is preserved on a wall that in the 1940s and '50s had been in a basement recreation room in the base commander's house.

Hope and his troupe visited Edwards - then named Muroc Army Air Field - at least twice during World War II, drawing big crowds to the base gymnasium and later the new base theater, Edwards historian Raymond Puffer said.

Edwards' present commander, Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson, saw Hope perform in the mid-1970s in Europe.

``He put service before self and continued to do things important to the military long after he had to,'' Pearson said. ``He was obviously top of his league, certainly excellent in all that he did, and lived life with integrity. Our community will miss him.''

At the Bob Hope Hollywood USO at Los Angeles International Airport, servicemen and -women of every generation walked Monday among portraits of the entertainer and reminisced about the man who dared visit battlefields throughout the world.

``He did more than any 10 men of his stature, and we all loved him,'' said retired Brig. Gen. Michael Teilmann, USO executive officer.

``He cared enough to put his life in harm's way,'' said Teilmann, who lives in Van Nuys. ``He came out to make a difference. He literally brought hope, he brought happiness, he brought the spirit of America with him.

``He brought a touch of home. When you were with Hope, you were safe, you were having a great time, even if the enemy was shooting in the distance.''

Jon Grogan, 53, a retired Marine Corps major who lives in Pittsburgh, called Hope ``the entertainer of the 20th century.''

``It was like seeing The Beatles,'' Grogan said. ``It was one of those things you had to see, and you came back a better person. He's an original, and there aren't that many originals any more.''

Eddie Gonzales, a 20-year-old Army private second class on his way from Dallas to Japan, was wearing a black T-shirt with the name of the rapper ``Blaze'' emblazoned on it. Gonzales said that, while musical tastes may have changed, Hope's message to the troops was eternal.

``He was doing everything to help us out in trying times,'' Gonzales said.

Staff Writer Charles F. Bostwick contributed to this report.

Michael Gougis, [phone]

michael.gougis(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2) Bob Hope, above, plays to a small but appreciative military gathering during a 1944 tour to the South Pacific. Below, Hope visits with service personnel in the base theater before a show at the former Muroc Army Air Field.