Today Show Transcript

AL ROKER reporting:

Pin-ups have always been popular with the troops far from home. Remember Betty Grable's legs? Well, she was just one of the icons of American beauty who helped the troops get through World War II. But as Peter--Peter Alexander reports from Southern California and Baghdad, pin-ups are making a comeback in a very personal way.

Ms. LORI MANN: Looking over. Cute! Yes! There's a little giggle. Oh, that's so pin-uppy.

PETER ALEXANDER reporting:

It's a full-fledged cover girl photo shoot, snapping the kind of pictures you'd normally see gracing the glossy pages of a trendy magazine.

Ms. MANN: OK. I think we got it for this set.

ALEXANDER: The model? Twenty-eight year old Amanda Alevis, an office manager. She's never done this before. The intended audience: just one man, Sergeant Jeff Alevis, her husband.

Ms. AMANDA ALEVIS: I'm pretending he's right there looking at me.

ALEXANDER: They married in February. Forty-eight hours later, he left for Iraq. Amanda's goodbye gift to him: personalized pin-ups.

Ms. MANN: Big smile on this one. That's cute.

ALEXANDER: And for his 25th birthday this month:

Ms. ALEVIS: And I want to be really cute for him.

ALEXANDER: She wants to send him a classic retro look, reminiscent of the World War II era.

Ms. ALEVIS: More to kind of remind him of--of my personality and you know, how much fun we have at home and what's waiting for him when he gets home.

Ms. MANN: Oh, cute!

ALEXANDER: Rita Hayworth, Jane Russell, Dorothy Dandridge, Raquel Welch. Pin-ups have boosted military morale for decades, helping soldiers battle fear and loneliness during times of war.

Mr. BOB HOPE: (From file footage) I just want you boys to see what you're fighting for, that's all.

ALEXANDER: Bob Hope promoted the ladies during his legendary USO tours.

Betty Grable's million-dollar legs set off a frenzy in the '40s. Soldiers sent 20,000 letters a week requesting pictures to post on their walls.

Unidentified Woman: You'd going to have to do a back bend like that.

Ms. ALEVIS: OK.

ALEXANDER: For Amanda, the photos are about sex appeal, not sex.

Ms. MANN: Perfect.

Ms. ALEVIS: There's a lot that goes into portraying yourself as sexy. It's more of the mind. It's teasing somebody with just looking at them.

ALEXANDER: When those momentos from Amanda Alevis and others make it here to Iraq, they are cherished by loved ones. Whether it's 1945 or 2005, some things in war never change, like the desire to be in touch with home.

Surrounded by photos, Manuel Pepin's wife, Tracy, stares back from his screen saver.

Mr. MANUEL PEPIN: My wife is pretty much everything. My partner, my friend, so she's pretty much the love of my life.

ALEXANDER: Staff Sergeant Tyrone Powell stores his memories on his laptop.

Sergeant TYRONE POWELL: When I have my down days, my good days, I sit back and look at my family. This is the only thing that you have to--to hold on to while you're over here.

ALEXANDER: In Eagle Rock, California, a third of the clients at Pink Kitty Studios are wives and girlfriends.

Ms. MANN: One happy smile. There we go.

ALEXANDER: Striking a pose for their men stationed overseas. Four hundred dollars buys a CD with three sets of glamour shots or a calendar, each image retouched for best effect. Having worked with professional models, photographer Lori Mann enjoys how honest these folks feel.

Ms. MANN: There is really fresh and new to them, and they're very excited. So a lot of the expressions you're seeing on their face is--is real emotion. It's the real thing.

ALEXANDER: Amanda Alevis admits, as fun as it is, posing is also hard work.

Ms. MANN: And chin up.

Ms. ALEVIS: The first time I did this, I was sore for about three days afterwards.

Ms. MANN: Oh, that's great.

Ms. ALEVIS: So I have a lot of respect for the women who do this professionally. I didn't before.

Ms. MANN: So cute.

ALEXANDER: Her favorite scene, the housewife.

Ms. MANN: Do the one with the big smile, like I'm the happy homemaker.

Ms. ALEVIS: I can make him dinner and he can make me dinner, barbecue, and I can't wait for that. It's all I dream about all the time.

ALEXANDER: The dream of being home with her husband by her side. For TODAY, Peter Alexander, NBC News, Baghdad.

ANN CURRY, anchor:

Well, he's a loved man for her to go to all that trouble.

ROKER: Well, an interesting thing, in 2005, there are a lot of women over there right now...

CURRY: Exactly. I was going to say that.

ROKER: ...and so maybe there could be some...

ALEXIS GLICK reporting:

Do the men do it for their wives?

CURRY: You know, you are a modern-day man, 'cause I--I thought I was going to have to bring that up.

ROKER: ...some men that...

CURRY: But no.

ROKER: You know, shoot a little beefcake for over there.

CURRY: Exactly. I'd like to see those photographs myself, exactly right.

ROKER: Well, you know...

CURRY: In a story like that, I'd like to see that.

ROKER: ...in fact, you know, your husband, Brian, is back in the studio right now.

GLICK: He's here right now. We can find him.

ROKER: He--He's at a Fotomat right now.

CURRY: I'll have him call Pink Kitty right now.

ROKER: Would you do--if your husband was overseas, would you do something like that?

GLICK: Whoa. I guess if he were overseas, but in general, I don't think I would.

ROKER: That's not what we've heard.

GLICK: No, I don't think so. Too shy. I think I'd be too shy about it. I'm not...

CURRY: No, but it's a big gift, I think. You know, these guys are going over there, they're gone for months.

ROKER: Yeah.

CURRY: And you know, and it's such a long time. And I think, I don't know. It seems like such an act of love. If that's going to be something that makes them feel better, then great, do it.

ROKER: I might take some pictures and send them to the enemy. That might--that might actually kind of end things pretty quickly.

GLICK: Al!

CURRY: You know, we really have to get you into therapy about this.

ROKER: Anyway, we'll be back right after these messages.