My father was a WWII veteran and when I was growing up there was always a copy of Up Front on the bookshelf. Bill Mauldin’s terrific cartoons about “Willie n’ Joe” tell about life in wartime from a footsoldier’s point of view. They weren’t pro-war or anti-war, they were just about life as it was for the soldiers on the front line. Many of them are just as relevant today as they were 60 years ago.
These selections are from an archive presented by Stars and Stripes, the long-running newspaper for military personnel in which they first appeared. There is also an article in the S&S about a current reservist named Chris Grant who is in some ways following in Mauldin’s footsteps.
Addendum: The curator from the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City writes to say that the museum has a collection of more than 200 of Mauldin’s original cartoons, many of them from his peak period of 1944-45. The museum’s site has visitor information here. For more detail, see the Comments for this post.
The largest collection of Bill Mauldin’s war time cartoons is located at the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City. Mr. Mauldin was a member of the 45th before the WWII and originally drew for the 45th Division News. http://www.45thdivisionmuseum.com
Wow. I didn’t know that such a collection existed, let alone in a museum available to the public. I’ve added the information to the original post. Thanks!