Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Sunday, March 6, 2016

An AEF Veteran Looks Back on His Enlistment Ten Years Later

Abian Wallgren (1892–1948) was a cartoonist who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1917. His drawing talent somehow pushed or pulled him to the Doughboy's newspaper, the Stars and Stripes, where he became resident cartoonist.  Later he worked on the American Legion Weekly. Ten years after his enlistment, he took a nostalgic look back to what he experienced as a new member of the American military.  These appeared in the Weekly.


















By the way, commentator James Lileks has an excellent collection of Wallgren's wartime cartoons  HERE

2 comments:

  1. Too bad he didn't have a more successful career. His cartoons reminded me of the "Willy and Joe" WW2 cartoons of Bill Maulin, who had an Army career similar to Wallgren's. Military life offers rich material for satirical humor

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  2. And the "First Slice of Baloney" is still true today

    ReplyDelete