United Service Organizations

Identification Volunteer organization founded to provide entertainment to American military personnel

Also Known As USO Clubs

Date Established on February 4, 1941

Founded to help raise the morale of the expanding American armed forces, the United Service Organizations played a large role in providing service personnel with wholesome recreation and entertainment in clubs throughout the United States and in providing high-quality entertainment to combat troops stationed around the world.

On February 4, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the formation of the United Service Organizations (USO), a civilian volunteer organization created to support the morale of U.S. military personnel. With war clouds on the horizon, the mobilization of many National Guard units for one year in 1940, and the expansion of American military forces, Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall saw the need to provide wholesome, morale-sustaining activities for the armed forces. The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association, Salvation Army, and National Jewish Welfare Board came together to form the USO to provide “a home away from home” for the military. With a small paid staff, the USO relied on volunteer workers and public funding. By the end of World War II in 1945 it was one of the best known of all volunteer patriotic organizations in the United States.

Avoiding Past Mistakes

Roosevelt and Marshall remembered the chaos and confusion that surrounded efforts to provide for the troops of World War I. There was no central volunteer organization in the United States or France on which members of the military could depend except for the Red Cross, whose traditional mission was providing wounded and convalescing soldiers with comfort items such as reading material, writing paper, cigarettes, and candy. General John J. Pershing, commander of U.S. troops in France, confused the issue when he refused to allow groups such as the YMCA to distribute comfort items free of charge. His reasoning was basically that American troops should not be the recipients of charity. Perhaps unwisely, the YMCA then agreed to sell candies, cigarettes, and cakes to the troops. After many soldiers had not been paid in months, organizations such as the YMCA and Salvation Army gave away what small stores they had, despite Pershing’s directive. Meanwhile, damage had already been done to the YMCA’s reputation, and many soldiers carried with them bad memories of “that damned Y.” It was important that the mistakes of World War I not be repeated.

Opening of USO Centers

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, and American entry into World War II, USO centers opened with volunteers serving sandwiches, soft drinks, doughnuts, and coffee free to the troops. No alcoholic beverages were served, but free cigarettes were distributed. From the opening of the first USO center in Louisiana in 1941 to the end of the war in 1945, the USO maintained a reputation for wholesome entertainment, an alternative to the bars and prostitutes that infested towns near training centers.

The USO provided chaperoned dances for troops. Local young women who attended these dances were carefully screened by USO volunteers, as were the volunteer hostesses themselves. Soldiers and sailors who appeared intoxicated when they arrived at USO centers were denied entrance. The strict moral code adopted by the USO attracted many to participate in its activities. Nevertheless, problems arose that the founders of the USO had not envisioned. For example, because military units were racially segregated, most USO clubs were also racially segregated during the war. A few USO clubs tried to breach the race barrier, and African American women funded a few USO clubs for soldiers and sailors of color.

As the war grew in intensity, the number of women joining the services increased. The great question for the USO was whether these women in the uniform of their country would get the same treatment as their male counterparts. Many of the USO club directors tried to restrict their clubs to male service personnel. Their argument was basically that the young women acting as hostesses or as dancing partners were carefully screened and chaperoned. Women in uniform were not. As the role of women in the services grew more vital to the war effort service, women gained more acceptance.

The success of the USO depended on public funding. The USO could purchase many items for clubs on a tax-free basis, but it was also subject to wartime rationing. Several major fund drives for the USO were headed by famous persons such as the dynamic New York prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey and noted businessman Prescott Bush.

USO Touring Shows

When historians look at wartime letters from service personnel they find constant references to USO shows that toured the United States and the theaters of war. Many well-known Hollywood and New York entertainers joined with the USO to bring entertainment to the troops. Performers such as Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson, and Jack Benny traveled to every area where American troops were fighting. The largest crowds of soldiers and sailors attended the variety show hosted by famous comedian and film star Bob Hope. By the end of World War II, the USO had presented hundreds of thousands of shows. The USO had also provided entertainment in military hospitals in Europe and Asia. There was a constant flow of famous show business personalities to the hospital wards. Many of those performers recalled that these visits to the wounded were the most emotional, but rewarding experience of their service with the USO.

By 1942, the USO established its first overseas department with the objective of providing the “home away from home” for those military personnel serving in various theaters of operations. By the end of the war, three thousand USO centers were operating around the world, some of the largest being in England and Australia. One and one-half million volunteers served in the USO in the United States and overseas. As American troops returned from overseas service the number of USO centers diminished, and as troops demobilized and went home the USO closed many centers in the United States.

Because the USO relied on the generosity of American donors, the end of World War II saw a decrease in contributions. The USO was not a governmental agency and therefore could not rely on funding by the Congress of the United States. In 1947 the USO was disbanded, due in great measure to the end of public funding. It had accomplished its mission of providing for American military personnel during the war. Its reputation was high, and discharged service personnel looked back favorably on their experiences with the organization.

Impact

The United Service Organizations might be regarded as a nearly unqualified success in providing wholesome recreation and entertainment for American military personnel and boosting their morale. After it was disbanded, a void was soon felt in the needs of service personnel. After the Korean War began in 1950, World War II leaders such as George C. Marshall called for a revitalization of the USO to serve Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel around the world. The USO then resumed its work, which it has continued into the twenty-first century.

Bibliography

Caron, Julia. Home Away from Home: The Story of the USO. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946. Sympathetic treatment of the USO written shortly after the conclusion of World War II.

Holsinger, M. Paul. War and Popular Culture. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. Broad, thoughtful exploration of the complex interrelationships between personnel involved in military conflicts and entertainment.

Holsinger, M. Paul, and Mary Anne Scholfield. World War II in Popular Literature and Culture. Madison, Wis.: Popular Press, 1992. Another study of the interplay between military conflicts and popular culture, this time focusing on World War II.

Yellin, Emily. Our Mothers’ War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II. New York: Free Press, 2005. Journalist’s account of the diverse roles that American women played during World War II, including doing volunteer work for the USO.