Bob Hope’s Family to Join Port of San Diego Celebration, Dedication of Public Artwork

Monday, 06 July 2009
Contact: Marguerite Elicone (619) 686-6222

Bob Hope, the legendary star who entertained millions of troops over a span of five decades, is now immortalized in bronze as part of a military tribute artwork called “A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military.”

The artwork is located at the Port of San Diego’s G Street Mole, south of the USS Midway Museum. It also includes 15 life-sized bronze figures representing servicemen and women from the five branches of the military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Those sculptures were installed in the park in late 2006, but the Bob Hope figure was still in production.

Now that the artwork is complete, the Port of San Diego can officially dedicate it. A ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8 at the G Street Mole. Two of Hope’s children, Linda Hope and Kelly Hope, will join Board of Port Commissioners Vice Chair Robert “Dukie” Valderrama, Rear Admiral Len Hering, Commander, Navy Region Southwest and the men of Taffy 3, a group of World War II veterans who helped raise the money needed for the artwork.

The Taffy 3 members, along with their organization’s former leader, the late John Ibe, worked for more than 15 years to raise the $1.5 million needed for the artwork. Many of the men were in their late teens and early 20s when they survived a horrific attack on their group of ships during the Battle for Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944.

“We owe this all to John Ibe,” said Jack Yusen, President of Taffy 3. “He’s the one who got this all started. Without his leadership, we wouldn’t be here today.”

There were 13 Navy vessels that fought during that battle and five of them were sunk, resulting in the loss of 895 lives.

“Many of us spent three days in shark-infested waters,” said Yusen.

With the support of Hope Enterprises, the group successfully lobbied for a memorial that would pay tribute to Bob Hope for his generous support of the U.S. military.

Eugene Daub of San Pedro, California, was hand-picked by the Hope family to create the likeness of Bob Hope. He and his business partners, Robert L. Firmin and Jonah Hendrickson sculpted seven of the military figures.  Sculptor Steven Whyte of Carmel, California, sculpted the other eight military figures.

The Port of San Diego provided the site for the artwork, which is near other military artworks.

The Port is in the midst of officially declaring the area a “Greatest Generation Artwalk.” Recently the sidewalk was inscribed with quotes from notable leaders such as General Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Poignant quotes include this 1940 passage from Winston Churchill: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” And the brief but powerful line by General MacArthur: “I shall return.”

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