On War and Peace

Regarding “When Hollywood Went to War,” by Michael Wilmington, and “War and Remembrances,” by David Wallace (Dec. 1):

Wallace writes about a wartime Hollywood not every serviceman or woman star was encouraged to experience. “When the boys were on leave we entertained them (at the Hollywood Canteen),” Milton Berle says. “We clowned, and stars like Betty Grable and Betty Hutton and all the girls were there and would dance with them.”

The memory of Hollywood night life was considerably different among black servicemen and brown-skinned actresses. When Time magazine ran a photo of an Air Corps captain dancing at the Canteen with Carmen Miranda, Angelenos who’d known him at Carver Junior High School were amused to see that a schoolmate had made it into the place and onto the dance floor--and lived to tell about it--by wearing an unauthorized uniform and “passing.”

Even celebrity athletes like Seamen Claude (Buddy) Young and Paul Patterson never once considered visiting the Canteen and venturing onto the dance floor. Had they done so, they would have had the good sense to wait until some weekend when Sgt. Joseph Louis Barrow could accompany them.

I don’t know of a single Hollywood star who put it on the line with the USO or with the Department of War by saying something like, “Sure, I’ll entertain all the troops, but only if black American fighting men and women are made to feel comfortable while I’m appearing.”

Come to think of it, that wouldn’t be too bad a line now that it’s 1991.

DAVID K. CARLISLE

Los Angeles