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In the run up to the Second World War Berlin once again judged the mood of the American people perfectly by writing the patriotic song God Bless America, and similarly, once the war had begun, the songs he wrote for the film Holiday Inn affirmed the values of hearth, home and country. These included White Christmas, which Berlin considered the best song he ever wrote, and it was particularly popular with soldiers posted overseas. During the war Berlin led his own military troupe around the world with a revue, This is the Army, which 2.5 million soldiers saw between its Broadway debut in 1942 and the Hawaiian finale in 1945. Donald Macleod looks at Berlin's role as national minstrel during the 1940s.