Bill Mauldin book to mark end of World War II

ARNEWS ^ | Aug 16, 2005 | Master Sgt. Bob Haskell

[SandRat]

ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, Aug. 16, 2005) – The famous works of World War II cartoonist, Bill Mauldin, will be commemorated through Bill Mauldin’s War: Some Things Never Change.

The publication of the book coincides with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Aug. 15 was Victory Japan or VJ Day and Sept. 2. is the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri.

The National Guard Bureau’s Office of Public Affairs will publish the 50-page Mauldin book later this year.

Featuring about 20 of Mauldin’s cartoons, the book will be distributed to National Guard members who have served in the Global War on Terror, said Army National Guard historian Renee Hylton.

Denise Neil-Binion, assistant curator for the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City, wrote the text for the book.

The book celebrates the wartime work of Sgt. William Henry “Bill” Mauldin, a National Guard Soldier from Arizona who served with the 45th Infantry Division in Europe before achieving international fame at Stars and Stripes. Mauldin died in January 2003 at age 81 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Many of the cartoons for the book were selected because they still depict National Guard troops who are serving on active duty in a war zone.

Besides its entertainment value, the book is intended to remind today’s Soldiers that as much as things may change, they still remain the same -- infantry Soldiers still live a hard, hazardous life.

“Renee and I like to think that Mauldin’s work is timeless, and we believe today’s Soldiers can still relate to his cartoon subjects and characters,” Neil-Binion said. “A lot has changed in the Army in the past 60 years, but, in many respects, the Soldier’s life has remained the same.”

[SandRat]

Denise Neil-Binion, assistant curator for the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City, has written the text for a book about the late Bill Mauldin, the famous World War II cartoonist who originally was a Soldier in the Arizona National Guard. The National Guard Bureau’s Office of Public Affairs will publish the book later this year. Photo courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum

[SandRat]

Psssst! Pass it On. Willie and Joe are Back in town.

[duck duck goose]

ping

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[dakine]

Cool book....

[Terpfen]

Historical note: George Patton hated Mauldin's cartoons. He thought they had a bad effect on discipline and morale, and made a half-hearted attempt in Sicily to get the cartoons scrapped.

[ex-snook]

Thanks for the post. Bill saw the war through the eyes of the frontline GI. Really great. We loved him.

[LibFreeOrDie]

A gallery of Willie and Joe cartoons here:

http://humor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fww2.pstripes.osd.mil%2F02%2Fnov02%2Fmauldin%2F

[Americanexpat]

I like Willie and Joe. They represented the guys in the foxholes.

I also like Sgt Mike from the Vietnam war. Any of you old farts out there remember him and his two Viet Cong characters?

[SwampFoxOfVa]

I also loved Sgt. Mike. My parents saved the cartoons for me when I was overseas so that I could enjoy them when I got home. I sure would like to get his works as a book.

SF

[SandRat]

Yep, there's even an irreverant cartoon by Bill in his book "The Brass Ring" about it.

[radu]

BUMP!

[SandRat]

ummmm like this one seventh from the bottom?

[SandRat]

Oh yes SGT Mike. I like the one where he's got KP and serving coffee with a spatula. Still use Mike's line about nature polluting itself as rain falls in his mess tin on Scout outings.

[Terpfen]

Notice that one mentions Third Army. Third Army wasn't deployed until August 1944. Patton's problems with Maudlin began in 1943 in Sicily, when Mauldin started doing cartoons for the 45th Division News. The division was part of Patton's Seventh Army at the time.

[SandRat]

There's a couple of them at different times in his book Brass Ring

[Americanexpat]

I like the one with the VC that carried the mortar round down the Ho Chi Minh road, took him six months. He finally got to his destination and the officer plops the mortar round down the tube and turns to the VC and says, "now go back and get another one."

They did have a book of Sgt Mike cartoons out years ago. Like to see another one.

[SandRat]

The one I got in those days is still around here somewhere. I'll have to hunt it down. I think he's got a web site. I saw it once awhile ago but don't remember the url neither did I bookmark it.

[Americanexpat]

Thanks, please let me know.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!