Postage stamp planned for Bob Hope

updated 2:49 p.m. ET Nov. 19, 2008

WASHINGTON - The post office is telling Bob Hope: thanks for the memories.

The beloved entertainer will be honored on a U.S. postage stamp next spring.

The stamp design will be unveiled Monday at a ceremony on New York’s Ellis Island, the entry spot for thousands of immigrants like Hope.

Born in England as Leslie Townes Hope, the singer, actor and comedian was a youngster when his parents moved to the United States. He eventually became one of the nation’s most beloved entertainers and was known for his trademark song “Thanks For The Memory,” which was on the album “Thanks for the Memories.”

Though never a member of the armed forces, Hope dedicated much of his time traveling the globe to entertain men and women in uniform, beginning in World War II and continuing through Operation Desert Storm.

In 1997 Hope became the first person recognized by the U.S. Congress as an “honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces.”

Hope died in 2003 and becomes the first person to benefit from a postal rule change allowing individuals to be honored on a stamp five years after their death. Before the rule change in 2007 people other than ex-presidents had to wait 10 years to become the subject of a stamp.

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