I hear that next month the U S Postal Service will honor with a stamp the greatest cartoonist of the great generation. Hooray for him and for those who honor Bill Mauldin. I was a combat infantryman many moons ago. I remember laughing at his cartoons even as I was feeling like his characters looked.

From the time the war was over until this day, every time I have seen Willie and Joe, I have felt a moment of pride that I carried a rifle into combat with those two. There were times that we will never forget. But as years has gone by. the awful parts of the memories have faded somewhat and the comic moments have become more distinct. Bill Mauldin had the talent to collapse that transition time and make us see the humor while the ugliness was still with us. He amused the world while he represented all riflemen in the Army.