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USO (United Service Organizations)

A New Year's Eve formal dance at the Benedict Club, a USO in Philadelphia. USO All-Stars Since 1941 the USO has sent patriotic beauties to entertain the troops. Here's a brief history of G.I. Janes who answered the call. Betty Grable WWII 1941-1945 Pinup queen's legs continue to obsess really old men everywhere. Marilyn Monroe Korean War 1949-1953 Iconic sex symbol inspired red-blooded troops and, later, a schmaltzy Elton John ballad. Ann-Margret Vietnam 1965-1975 Flame-haired Elvis squeeze was the hottest thing to hit Vietnam since napalm. Christie Brinkley Bosnian War 1992-1995 Supermodel emeritus was never a big fan of ethnic cleansing. Go figure. J-Lo Afghanistan/Iraq 2001-present Performed at Germany's Ramstein Air Base! The troops J-Loved it. Scarlett Johansson Hollywood's sexiest star takes a USO tour to support our war-weary troops. Lucky bastards. Troops stationed on military bases in Kuwait experienced the most exciting wartime event since our guys pulled Saddam out of his spider hole: Scarlett stepped out of a transport plane for a five-day USO tour of the tiny Arab nation. Rocking an old-school pinup look that recalled the blond bombshells WWII pilots painted on their bombers, the 23-year-old superstar met with more than 3,500 troops in Kuwait, shaking hands, giving hugs, and generally reducing legions of battle-hardened badasses to lovestruck boys. "When I found out she was coming, I couldn't believe it," said Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan Long. Scarlett was as touched by the troop outpouring as they were by her visit: "It was an amazing, eye-opening experience. I'd go back again in a heartbeat." Wait, she's going back? Which way to the nearest recruitment center?

Our Job Is To Say, Thank You

Nick Chavez, 25, is about to board his first international flight. Skinny and shy, he waits with his luggage, green duffel bags piled on a cart. USO volunteer Marion Ries doesn't wait. She presses a small care package — a few comfort items, plus an international phone card and a disposable camera — into his hands. "Thank you, ma'am," he replies.

It is a simple ritual, repeated across the nation: American troops shipping out, many to the flash points of conflict. Chavez, with the Colorado Air National Guard, is one of hundreds flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) on a rainy November night. Seeing him off are volunteers from the USO. Indeed, volunteers meet nearly every military transport flight touching down or taking off at a U.S. airport. "We can ask for someone to meet a troop flight landing in Atlanta at 5 a.m., and 40 people will show up," says USO Senior Vice President John Hanson.

Best known for its celebrity shows, the USO has been remaking itself in a time of war. It runs 125 centers worldwide for American military and their families, most with free Internet access, movies, magazines, video games and food. After anthrax scares stopped the military's care package program, the USO took that over too, sending out 500,000 care packages in the last three years.

But the USO isn't part of the military. In fact, it's a private organization, relying on donations. Its 12,000 volunteers do everything from running cooking classes and support groups for families on military bases to helping a traveling soldier who's missed a connecting flight or lost an ID card. "Sometimes, it's the littlest gesture that is the most significant," says Ned Powell, the USO's CEO. Last December, when a USO center opened in Kuwait, soldiers lined up in their socks to enter. After months in desert sands, "they would just wiggle their toes on the carpet," Powell says. Navy Corpsman Elliot Riley, 21, on his way to Iraq, remembers the films and Sloppy Joes at the USO in Okinawa, Japan. "No other country has a support network like this for its troops," Powell adds. "Our job is to say, 'Thank you from America' to those men and women who are prepared to die for us."

The USO was born in February 1941. For years, its most famous face was Bob Hope entertaining the troops. Today, the USO sends entertainers like rapper 50 Cent, singer Toby Keith and comedian David Letterman. But there's also a small USO center at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where military planes unload the war dead with full honors. "The USO alcove doubles as a storeroom for the caskets," says Powell. The troops on duty use the TV, Internet setup and snack basket "for their emotional well-being."

Repeatedly, USO volunteers and staff get weepy when they talk about their work. Pat Little, 56, who runs the USO center at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, has about 10,000 troops pass through each month. He's still moved whenever a dad sees his newborn baby for the first time. "Every day here is an emotional treat," says Little.

But on this night at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, it's all about goodbyes. Phil Welsh, 52, has left a wife and three grandkids in Colorado for another tour in Iraq. He'll miss everything, from sitting in his favorite chair to being able to drive down the street without worrying about being shot at. The next USO care package goes to 2nd Lt. Matthew Addison, 27, of Texas, who will spend his first Christmas away from his wife and 5- and 3-year-old sons. "Someone's got to do it," he says quickly, with a smile and a shrug. "I've been a USO volunteer for 14 years," says Marion Ries. "These guys always tell you, 'Thank you,' but we should be the ones thanking them."

Bette Davis pointing out pictures of movie servicemen to Marlene Dietrich and Bob Hope in the Hollywood Canteen, 1943.

When a World War II soldier received a needed break from fighting, where could he go and what could he do? A solution to this problem came with the formation of the United Service Organizations, popularly known as the USO, on February 4, 1941. Its mission was to provide recreation for on-leave members of the U.S. armed forces and their families. USO recreational clubs supplied a place for everything from dancing, movies, and live entertainment to a quiet place to talk, write letters, or find religious counsel.

At the suggestion of General George C. Marshall in 1940, and with the approval of President Franklin Roosevelt, representatives from existing public service organizations came together to form the USO Inc. Creating the USO were the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the National Board of the YWCA, the National Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Catholic Community Service. During World War II, 739,000 volunteers operated more than 3,000 recreational clubs, which were established wherever they could find room. Clubs were housed in churches, museums, barns, railroad cars, storefronts, and other unlikely locales.

During World War II, the best-known USO center in the U.S. was New York's Stage Door Canteen, celebrated in song and in the film "Stage Door Canteen" starring Katharine Hepburn and Groucho Marx. A message on the door read, "All American place for the all American boy." The Hollywood Canteen was one of the largest USOs, with capacity for 10,000 and featuring entertainment by famous movie stars like Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, and the USO champion, Bob Hope.

Comedian Bob Hope is famous for taking his USO shows on the road and performing at bases and hospitals, wherever U.S. servicemen were stationed in World War II and beyond. Disbanded in 1948, the USO reorganized during the Korean War, expanded considerably during the Vietnam War, and is still in existence today. Bob Hope traveled to the troops in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. His "cowardly wise-guy humor" has brought laughter to millions of GIs.

The USO has meant a little bit of home in a faraway place. Where Americans have gone, the USO has gone. A private in the U.S. Army provided a succinct testimonial to the USO when he wrote in 1941: "Golly, it was good to have a bath...We soldiers will be thankful for it the rest of our lives."

It can truly be said that the USO has represented the best in the American people - compassion, magnanimity, selflessness, service - universally admired qualities that the USO has mirrored to the world at large. For the generations of men and women it has served, the USO has meant friendship, respite, familiarity, warmth, and acceptance.

Inherent in the USO's mission is a simple faith that the world can be made a better place. "So long as we love," Robert Louis Stevenson wrote more than a hundred years ago, "we serve; so long as we are loved by others, we are indispensable." To the USO...thanks for the memories.

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