Replies

Very timely, got a good chuckle, wonder if the cartoon was by the one and only Bill Maudlin(?). Also I get the chance to correct my "racially biased" mistake. Lovely Paulette Goddard was of French and Indian descent in the film. I should say First Nations though. I said Scottish.

Yep, Canada did some very compassionate things for the Indian people- and just as horrific were the things done by Canada to these people. These are the things the USA is also accused of.

It could be called the tendency to " Gloss Over".

Indeed that cartoon was by the great Bill Mauldin, my dad served in the same theater, met him once I think. But dad always says that everything Mauldin drew was 100% true. When my daughter prepared an interview of my dad in Military History magazine "Perspectives" style, she illustrated the interview with Mauldin cartoons juxtaposed with (totally unauthorized) photos taken by my dad throughout the war. We had a lot of fun matching up the pairs . . . there were a surprising number of matches - apparently Mauldin & my dad thought the same things were significant!

That particular cartoon is one of my dad's favorites, as he spent some time lifting mines for the 79th Camerons in Italy. He enjoyed his stint with the British Army, particularly the "stop the war for tea" at 4:00. . . . he says that the entire column would halt, everybody would pile out of the Bren carriers and fire up the tea kettle. His report was that the guys in the 79th were "perfect gentlemen" but bonny fighters just the same.

Maybe spit & polish and effectiveness are not entirely exclusive -- for folks who don't happen to be Americans, particularly in the South and West. It's not just the cowboys - the Confederate soldier in particular was well known for his, ah, negligent dress, and it wasn't all due to the failings of the CSA quartermaster department.

BTW, I don't know if you had heard that Bill Mauldin has fallen on hard times. He's very, very ill in a California nursing home, not really expected to recover fully although he is holding his own. Apparently the only thing that cheers him up is hearing from his former buddies in WWII. My dad and his buddy (who went through WWII together from basic training forward, until his buddy was wounded in France) have written him a couple of times. I also understand that the Sergeant of the Army paid him a visit carrying an honorary promotion to Top Kick (1st sergeant) and a commendatory letter from the Joint Chiefs. I'm glad the Pentagon boys appreciate him (they didn't always - but my dad and his friends sure did, and do!)