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After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it seems like the entire United States mobilized in some way for the war effort. Men enlisted, women joined the workforce, and kids collected cans and their old comics for recycling and war bond drives. But months before the U.S. was pulled into the war, entertainers had already found a way to contribute with their talents; after President Franklin D. Roosevelt put out the call for moral support for American G.I.s, Mary Ingraham answered by founding the United Service Organizations, better known as the USO. For 80 years now, the USO has traveled around the world to entertain the troops, serving an estimated 35 million Americans in that time. Here’s how the show got started.