Willie and Joe Salute Bill Mauldin

“I heard a bit of and interview with Mauldin and he told of his great dislike for Patton.

He said that the feeling was mutual.

From the get-go Mauldin did not like that egotistical jerk.

He said that from the moment he heard that whiney voice he knew he wouldn't like Patton.”

“His description of getting chewed out by Patton in "Up Front" pretty much understated the entire episode in his wry, witty style.

My favorites of his cartoons are the old cavalry sergeant whose Jeep broke an axle, aiming his .45 at the engine compartment and turning his head away, the "shooting the horse to put it out of its misery" stance.

The others include one where Willie and Joe are hugging the ground and one tells the other he can't get any lower because "me buttons is in the way,"

The one were the guy is in a foxhole with a Tiger tank straddling it whispering into a field telephone, "I've got a target but ya gotta be patient,"

And the one where two officers are watching a magnificent sunset and one says to the other, "It's a lovely sunset sir, is there one for the enlisted men?"”

“How about the one where Willie (or Joe, I can't remember) is wiggling his fingers through several holes in his helmet and the caption reads "Hell of a patrol. We got shot at."”

“There is one with that catch line, but I don't remember the picture. I have a first edition copy of "Up Front" I bought off eBay. Damned if I can remember where it is, though!”

“That's the cartoon I remember, but I obviously have the wrong caption. I too, have a first edition, but I haven't looked at it in over 30 years. Guess I'll drag it out sometime. It is a very entertaining book.”

“Entertaining and instructive. Mauldin, while using humor, painted a real picture of what World War II in Europe was like. He went everywhere and saw it all. He held nothing back. It was a masterful piece of work, even more so when you realize he was all of 23 at the time. His later work as an editorial cartoonist, while good, never quite approached the edge he established with Willie and Joe in Stars and Stripes.

His work will be appreciated for generations to come. "Up Front" has been republished several times and there are still a ton of first editions floating around.

His follow-up, "Back Home," started out with Willie and Joe back home, but quickly went on to political satire. Like I said, good, but not the same edge to it.”

“I guess I am too young!

8|”

“Rest in peace,Bill.”

“The cartoon where they say, "Hell of a patrol. We got shot at." has Willie and Joe confronting a sergeant at an outdoor cafe in Paris.

In his notes, Mauldin said he really did hear a soldier gripe that he was shot at on patrol, but the cartoon raised more than a few eyebrows among the doggies whose experiences on patrol included getting shot at regularly. He followed up those notes with this dry statement:

"I offer those two cartoons as proof that anybody with picture-drawing ambitions shouldn't draw war pictures. He will go nuts trying to keep up with the right war at the right time."

Buddha Bear would like the cartoon where a convoy is stopped along a mountain road and the commander tells the drivers, "Some of you guys may not come back. A French convoy has been reported on the road."”