A National Salute to Bob Hope & the Military

This place is hidden behind the unconditional surrender or kissing statue .
If you just take a little walk towards water u will find Bob Hope memorial statue.
You can get a beautiful view of San Diego from here as well with lot of people skiing, sailing etc
The fish market restaurant is just near by, if you wanna take taste of fresh catch of the day .
Attaching some pics to give some idea about this place.

This outdoor memorial to Bob Hope and his contributions to the USO and military members is a honorable attempt. The life size sculptures are a good photo op for tourists. Located between the Midway and Fish Market restaurant and next to the Unconditional Surrender statue it is in a scenic location. The only reason I didn’t give it another star is due to the recorded soundtrack of Bob’s jokes to the troops. The loop of jokes is about 5 minutes long. It is too short. You hear the same material over and over. Why couldn’t they include more material? It would make the visit more enjoyable because Bob was so funny.
Metered parking is very close. This is worth a visit for it and the other attractions mentioned above. Allow 15 – 20 minutes for this area and if it is mealtime the Fish Market is a great place to eat due to its view of the bay.

Absolutely beautiful first thing on the morning as the sun comes up. Great spot for photographers.

Absolutely an amazing site to see! This salute displays all different avenues and cultural aspects of the military. It has an awesome location and you just can’t beat the gorgeous view it sits on! I am glad San Diego has made this display as part of the city!

I love this statue. It brings to life a very old photo. No it’s not a romantic kiss, but it symbolized the end of the war and that was a huge thing back then. It was raining and I was late to catch the plane so I only had enough time to jump out of the car, snap a quick photo of my statue and zoom back to the airport. I wish I had more time. Next time I’m going to have to put this and the carrier on part of my itinerary.

it’s good as it gets

Next to the Unconditional Surrender (Kissing statute), this place is a bit overlooked. People normally come to see USS Midway or the kissing statue and go about their day. But if you venture a bit further towards the water, you’ll see this area that honors Bob Hope. It is a statue of him doing stand up comedy to all the men and women of the military. If you take a sit, you can hear recordings of his stand up shows, too! It is pretty neat.
This place also offers a great view of San Diego Harbor, you can see people jet skiing, sailing, lots of boats, etc.

We lived in SD from 1999 – 2002, and then again from 2007 til now and I never knew this existed! I don’t know how long it’s been here but found it when my family visited in Feb! What a great little tribute to Mr. Bob Hope! We had fun posing and taking picture w/​all the troop statues! It was just heartwarming to find this memorial!

My Friend And I decided to go for a walk during intermission
at Spreckels. We started out going To Horton Plaza For a We’re not sure how we ended up at The Star Of India, but we did… And then we weren’t paying attention (Go Figure lol) and we missed our turn onto Broadway! We ended up at The National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military which is right next to The #USSMIDWAY! We had a great time reading all of the information on the plaques, & taking pictures with all the Statues. We ended up staying almost 2 hours, it really is a special place & we can’t wait to take our husbands & kids to see it all!

After visiting the USS Midway, I cruised around to take a look at this. It’s a cool tribute to Bob Hope for all his USO shows.
Not only do you get to see Bob’s statue performing to an audience of soldier statues, nearby speakers play some of the jokes from his USO shows. That’s an awesome touch. Kinda brings him back to life. I do wish they had more jokes, though. I think it’s on a 5 – 7 minute loop.
Unilocal’s listing doesn’t really have a good address on this. It’s near the Fish Market Restaurant at 750 N Harbor Dr. It’s just south of the USS Midway and west of the giant Unconditional Surrender (kissing) statue.

This is a well created tribute to Bob Hope’s USO service to our troops throughout much of his career. The statues show Bob hope on a platform entertaining very U.S. service people including the wounded. One is sketching Bob’s famous profile caricature. One is holding a sign thanking Bob.
I remember even in the latter part of his life, Bob Hope was going abroad to entertain troops. His shtick was a bit corny but it worked. And no American performer has honored our armed forces like Bob Hope did.
My parents were at the nearby Fish Market years ago and saw Bob Hope in the upstairs restaurant.
San Diego is such a military focused town and what a great tribute this is to Bob Hope.

This was a really great tribute to Bob Hope and all of the amazing work and entertainment he did for our soldiers! There hasn’t been someone like him ever again. This tribute featured a statue of Bob and several statues of our troops. Some of the statues were of what I always consider the lost soldiers of war: the wounded. An amazing tribute to Bob and to them! There’s canned jokes that Bob used to tell on his many tours that you can listen to as you visit this tribute. Truly a must-​see when in San Diego.

A fantastic tribute to Bob Hope and quite the surprise across from USS MIDWAY.
Some tips:
–Go on a nice day so your pictures look great. the sun brings out the work in these statues
–If on a weekend, go EARLY to get parking.
–Can’t get a spot? Parking at the MIDWAY is $ 5. You’re going there anyway.
Also right next to Bob is an exceptional breakfast spot at Top of the Market. You won’t believe the awesome brunch items (and view) at that place. Wow.

Hoolllyyy smookkess parking is TERRIBLE here on the weekends! You literally have 6 inches of space on each side of your car! Unless you have a Smart car… in which case you’ll probably have 2 feet on each side.
My girlfriend and I stopped by this fancy memorial to have our Mexican food picnic and people watch as well as stare out into the ocean for a nice sunset. It was a wonderful location to just relax and mesmerize the amount of history that has taken place.
They do have a restaurant nearby that we will probably come back to when I redeem my Horn Blower cruise tickets :)

Is it super corny that this kinda brought a tear to my eye?
I don’t know, under the yellow light of a lone street lamp, Bob is immortalized giving our soldiers a much needed moment of escape.
I love the diversity of the men they placed as the audience… and behind them, the USS Midway floats majestically, strung with red, white, and blue lights.
OK, really, I admit: One may just come here, take a phot and be done with it. But there’s something about this spot they chose, nestled amidst the greenery, that invites one to stay a bit longer.
Maybe it’s the view of the Bay, with the lights from other boats and other buildings reflecting off the black surface…
Maybe it’s the fantastic view of the San Diego skyline…
Maybe it’s the stairs, enticing you to slide down its banisters… Just kidding, I didn’t do that. That’s not allowed so OF COURSE I would never do that!
Seriously. There’s nothing to do, not much to read, but there is much to absorb.

This Tribute is totally Awesome!
On the way to dinner we couldn’t help but to check this out. And if you’re ever in the immediate area you can’t miss this place as you’ll no doubt see people gather around to take a moment and/​or take pictures.
My son who’s currently serving in the US Navy named every single rank and service for every statue of all the service men and women and then asked me dad who is Bob Hope? For a second there I said huh? But I keep forgetting that he’s only 18 then I explained and said son, he was a great man and a great comedian.
Bob Hope, the military and USO thank you from the bottom of my heart…

So, given that I have only lived here 6 months I am not quite up to scratch with all of the US History (perhaps that was what I should have been learning whilst I was at a loose end).
I understand that Bob Hope entertained the troops and that this memorial is to him and the military.
The bronze figures are very detailed and you can spend a long time looking at them (if people get their fat BUTTS out of the way that is).
If you are looking for this and cant find it, its behind the unconditional surrender statue (which is next to the USS Midway museum) and is in front of the Fish Market restaurant.
It is a must see if you are visiting San Diego.

«I was a bit worried when my flight took off. Two signs came on: ‘No Smoking,’ and ‘Our Father, who art in heaven…’»
This joke is part of the recordings of Bob Hope’s various USO standup routines that play at «A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military» — a bronze memorial near the USS Midway floating museum and the «Unconditional Surrender» sculpture nearby. The memorial is made up of bronze life size figures of troops dressed in military outfits from the wartime eras Bob Hope entertained the troops.
The figures are incredibly detailed, and I liked how the focal point is on Mr. Hope himself. Visitors and tourists can get up close and take pictures with the sculptures (just be respectful — remember, these are supposed to symbolize the troops). Very small, and very classy memorial, and worth visiting in San Diego.
Thanks for the memories, Bob.

USO… Thanks for the memories Bob.
You were so awesome.
Entertained so many…
Left lasting memories…
And a laughter in people’s minds and hearts.
Treasures to be remembered forever…
Listening to your voice one more time…
All the military that took a moment from war to listen to you.
Awesome military tribute to you…
So lifelike…
Thanks Bob… you will be missed…

One of the most unique memorials I recall ever seeing.
«A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military» stands near the water adjacent to the Fish Market restaurant as well as the massive «Unconditional Surrender» statue, and the decommissioned USS Midway (CV-​41) provides a dramatic backdrop.
I remember first learning about Bob Hope when I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania: apparently he performed one of his first United Service Organization (USO) shows about 10 minutes from my hometown as sort of a test drive before taking his show to broader audiences in the early 1940s. After that he entertained throughout the world, headlining many tours during the course of his long dedicated career.
A fantastic quote from John Steinbeck: «When the time for recognition of service to the nation in wartime comes to be considered, Bob Hope should be high on the list. This man drives himself and is driven. It is impossible to see how he can do so much, can cover so much ground, can work so hard, and can be so effective. He works month after month at a pace that would kill most people.»
One can spend a considerable amount of time admiring this beautiful memorial: there’s so much to it, so many details in the Bob Hope statue and sculpted audience figures.
An appropriately elaborate tribute for a man who traveled with the USO to entertain troops for half a century.