"He ruffled Patton’s feathers, but Eisenhower came to his rescue."
Much credit goes to Wikipedia for lots of the text, and to Google for lots of the images!
Mauldin was born on October 29, 1921 (1921-10-29) Mountain Park, New Mexico, U.S. His parents were Sidney Albert Mauldin & Katrina Bemis Mauldin Curtis. His grandfather had been a civilian cavalry scout in the Apache Wars and his father was an artilleryman in World War I. After growing up there and in Phoenix, Arizona
While in High school Bill Mauldin worked on the Yearbook
Mauldin took courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the tutoring of Ruth VanSickle Ford. While in Chicago, Mauldin met Will Lang Jr. and became fast friends with him.
Mauldin entered the US Army via the Arizona National Guard in 1940.
During WWII one of the most popular war cartoons featured "Willie & Joe" - the brainchild of Bill Mauldin.
Bills' future began when he was in the 45th Infantry Division in Sicily, drawing cartoon as he worked for the “The Stars and Stripes” in Italy, and was provided a Jeep to roam around and subsequently produced daily cartoons depicting the grim, bitter and often funny aspects of the soldier on the ground He was so close to the action that he was wounded. Soldiers around the world enjoyed his characterizations and subtle wit.
Soldiers became “Dogfaces” and Willie and Joe will always be synonymous to WWII. Bill Mauldin was awarded the prestigious Legion of Merit at the end of the war, and had prolific career as a civilian; earning two Pulitzer Prizes.
VJ Day with Bill Mauldin
Mauldin was married three times.
His Children were Bruce, Tim, Andy, David, John, Nathaniel, Kaja, Sam
Bill Mauldin published this cartoon showing a grieving Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial the day after the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Mauldin wrote many articles for Sports Illustrated which can be found in their vault.
Mauldin abandoned cartooning for a while, working as a film actor, freelance writer, and illustrator of articles and books, including one on the Korean War.
He drew Willie and Joe only a few times afterwards.
Bill Mauldin with Audie Murphy in "The Red Badge of Courage"
