The USO was founded on February 4, 1941 by Mary Ingraham in response to a request from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel. It was established as an American non-profit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors, and musicians, social facilities and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. President Roosevelt was elected as its honorary chairman. He requested that the organization bring six civilian organizations together for a start: the Salvation Army, YMCA, (Young Women’s Christian Association), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association, and the National Jewish Welfare Board. They were brought together under one umbrella to support U.S. troops, as opposed to operating independently as some had done during the First World War. The organization was incorporated in New York on February 4th with the first facility erected in DeRidder, Louisiana, 1941, and Thomas Dewey was the first national campaign chairman. More USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a “Home Away from Home” for GIs.
The USO also brought Hollywood celebrities and other volunteer entertainers to perform for the troops. USO camps were designed to remind soldiers of home. Actor George Raft stated at the beginning of the war, “Now it’s going to be up to us to send to the men here and abroad real, living entertainment, the song, the dances, and the laughs they had back home.”
Between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 separate visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained. The USO also did shows in military hospitals, eventually entertaining more than three million wounded soldiers and sailors in 192 different hospitals.
Twenty-eight performances died in the course of their tours, from plane crashes, illness, or diseases contracted while on tour. In one such instance in 1943, a plane carrying a USO troupe crashed outside Lisbon, killing singer and actress Tamare Drasin, and severely injuring Broadway singer Jane Froman. Froman returned to Europe on crutches in 1945 to again entertain the troops. Al Jolson was the first entertainer to go overseas in World War II, contracting Malaria, resulting in loss of his lung, cutting his tour short.
USO camp shows performances continued after the end of the war in 1945. 60 new units went to Europe after V-E Day, and 91 new units went to the Pacific after V-J Day. The USO dissolved in December 1947, and Special Services productions grew in number and replacement. The USO was reactivated at the start of the Korean War and is covered in Part II.