Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pal
Table Magazine: L.A. Observatory
One or both of these may have been posted before.
Spotlights abound at a War Bonds event at the Hollywood Bowl.
On June 14th, 1944, radio actors and actresses performed at the
Hollywood Bowl during a war bond program. CBS broadcast the
event live.
LAPL Image Archive
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They're wonderful photos. I realized Water & Power made a typo in listing the date for this event; it was held July 4, 1944. It was the LA/Hollywood "backing the Fifth on the Fourth" rally in support of the national 5th War Loan drive. An audience of 20k made the evening a huge success. Bing Crosby and Ginny Simms were two of the radio stars who performed.
A special guest of honor was Army Air Corps ace of aces, war Maj. Richard I. Bong. At the time he'd shot down 27 enemy planes in the Pacific and was doing this war bond tour. He probably could have had a cushy stateside job, but returned to the combat zone to fly more missions.
from LAT, a sponsor of the rally, 7-3-44
Once he got to 40 victories, he was retired from combat whether he liked it or not. Gen MacArthur presented him with the Medal of Honor, and he had the DSC, Silver Star, and at least 20 other decorations. In Feb 1945 he married his sweetheart Marjorie (Marge), who had become almost as famous as he was because of her photo on his P-38, which he named Marge.
source
The newlyweds honeymooned in Hollywood then settled there as Dick's new assignment was being a millitary test pilot at Lockheed. The story ends sadly, though, as he was killed August 6, 1945 while testing a P-80 "shooting star" over N. Hollywood. Witnesses described how he guided the plane away from homes, before trying to eject, too late.
Here he is with Beryl Wallace in 1943, from a 1945 Earl Carroll program. It's discussing the Hollywood
Guild Canteen-sponsored dances at Earl Carroll's on Sunday afternoons. The photo below shows one of the dances (look at all those sailors!) A great man, who like Audie Murphy, died too young.
own collection