During World War II, Mauldin’s cartoons, appearing in Stars and Stripes, made him a hero to many in the military. His sympathy for “dogfaces,” the slang term for soldiers in the infantry, was clearly expressed through his characters Willie and Joe, who gave their military audiences a hearty laugh and civilians an idea of what life was like for soldiers. In 1945 Mauldin won the first of his two Pulitzers “for distinguished service as a cartoonist” and the Allied high command awarded him its Legion of Merit. His illustrated memoir, Up Front, was a bestseller. That same year, his “dogface” Willie appeared on the cover of Time.
In 1958, he took a job as a cartoonist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the following year he won a second Pulitzer for his cartoon portraying Boris Pasternak, author of Doctor Zhivago, as a Soviet prisoner. “In a very real way, Bill Mauldin chronicled the path taken by the Greatest Generation — a generation that spoke, not with pompous words, but through noble deeds,” said Mickey Barnett, member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. “As we honor him, we honor that generation and all that it did for our country.”
Joining Barnett to unveil the stamp were Santa Fe Mayor David Cross, New Mexico History Museum Director Dr. Frances Levine, U.S. Postal Service Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy Marie Therese Dominguez, author Todd DePastino, Mauldin’s biographer, and Bruce Mauldin, one of Mauldin’s seven sons.
“Our father was fiercely protective of Willie and Joe, and was never completely comfortable with the notoriety that they brought him,” said Nat Mauldin, another of Mauldin’s sons. “As a result, he tended to shy away from tributes involving his work. But this is different. It’s a wonderful honor, and he would have been very proud.”
“The men and women of New Mexico who served in World War II were the kinds of people Bill Mauldin honored in his work,” said Levine. “They were, most of them, ordinary people who became extraordinary heroes and, in too many cases, gave their lives. Mauldin taught us the importance of remembering those ‘ordinary’ people when telling our history.”
U.S. Postal Service art director Terry McCaffrey chose to honor Mauldin through a combination of photography and an example of Mauldin’s art. The photo of Mauldin is by John Phillips, a photographer for Life magazine; it was taken in Italy on Dec. 31, 1943. Mauldin’s cartoon, showing his characters Willie and Joe, is used courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City, OK.
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