THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Mention entertaining the troops and Bob Hope will first come to mind, followed perhaps by the Hollywood Canteen where movie stars played host to thousands upon thousands of World War II servicemen.
But the GIs' champion was Martha Raye. At her death last week, accounts of her worldwide hotspot-hopping in three wars contained descriptions like ``tireless'' and ``indefatigable.'' In show business since she was 3, Miss Raye was the ultimate trouper.
In the last of those wars, Vietnam, she was ``Colonel Maggie'' to the Green Berets; filmdom acknowledged her special entertainment mission in 1969 with an Academy Award; President Clinton conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year.
Of her favorite audiences Miss Raye once said: ``They ask so little and give so much. The least we can do back home here is give them love, the respect and dignity they, our flag and our country deserve.''
Apt it was, then, that this actress-singer-dancer-comedienne was buried Saturday at Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the Green Berets. The lone civilian surrounded by Army personnel in the post cemetery.
``She came, regardless of the danger,'' said one Vietnam veteran. ``She talked, drank, told jokes, played cards. . . . There were times I don't think some of us would have made it if she hadn't been there to brighten things up.''
Of herself, Miss Raye said: ``I'm a clown. Clowns are singular. To be a clown is a gift.''
And for this clown, a gift she gave back many times over. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MARTHA RAYE
KEYWORDS: DEATH
by CNB