Tim Moxey
While our troops are regularly honored and appreciated today, that hasn’t always been the case.
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Vietnam veterans especially were more likely to be insulted than they were to be told thank you. But not everyone was unappreciative of the service of our troops in Vietnam. Bob Hope worked regularly with the USO. He would regularly entertain troops overseas with other celebrities who wanted to help lift their spirits and show their gratitude. One of those celebrities was Ann Margret.
The bombshell entertained troops deployed to Vietnam in the 1960s. One of those soldiers was able to take a picture of one of her performances. Decades later, when she was doing a book signing at a local bookstore, he knew that he needed to go. He had hoped that he could get her to sign the photo. He got there almost seven hours early to make sure that he wouldn’t miss the chance to meet her.
When the signing began, bookstore employees announced that she would only be signing copies of the book and nothing else. Still, the vet wanted to at least show her the photo so that she could know how much it had meant to all of those deployed troops. Little did he know that she would react in such an amazing way — not only did she sign his photo, but she kissed him and, with tears in her eyes, thanked him for his service and posed for pictures with him.
He later said that it was the first time anyone had thanked him for his service.
It was fact checked and found true!
The story may seem outlandish, but according to Snopes.com, Ann Margret’s team, along with Ann Margret herself, have verified that it did, indeed happen. And to this day, she continues to make sure to show her gratitude for our men and women in the military.
