Bob Hope honored on new postage stamp

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bob Hope is making one more appearance with the troops.

The comedian famed for his tireless travel to entertain American servicemen and women around the world is being honored with a 44-cent postage stamp Friday in ceremonies aboard the USS Midway in San Diego.

"I think that he would be thrilled, absolutely honored and love the thought of it," his daughter Linda Hope said in a telephone interview.

"It would also be an opportunity for him to get in a few jokes about the rise in the cost of postage," she added, recalling a comment he once made about people chipping in to buy a stamp to send in a complaining letter.

Hope made two appearances aboard the Midway in a career launched in the 1930s and including military shows from World War II to the Persian Gulf. He died in 2003 at age 100. His widow, Dolores Hope, celebrated her 100th birthday Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

"The trips were very profound for him and very meaningful," Linda Hope said. "He was very touched by the sacrifice that these young men and women were willing to make."

People would often come up to him in an airport and say they saw in the South Pacific or Korea or somewhere else, she said.

And in the days before instant communications, people would sometimes write in that they had seen a loved one in the audience of one of his shows and ask for a recorded copy, she said. "We tried to accommodate them when we could," she added.

Hope often joked that he was only in the entertainment business to pay his greens fees, his daughter said, but it was very energizing for him to be out there in front of an audience.

The post office has printed 100 million stamps featuring Hope and they are on sale nationwide.

Hope starred on stage, radio, television and film for more than seven decades and was the first person recognized by Congress as an honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces, even though he never officially served in the military.

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On the Net:

U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com

(This version CORRECTS spelling of Hope's name in overline.)

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.