Home > American Home Front WWII > Bill Mauldin Biography

Born October 29, 1921

Mountain Park, New Mexico

Died January 22, 2003

Newport Beach, California

Cartoonist

Bill Mauldin was one of the twentieth century's outstanding editorial cartoonists. The Pulitzer Prize-winning artist portrayed World War II's (1939–45) grim reality, laced with his own brand of humor, and in so doing he immortalized the American serviceman. He was considered a great reporter and was also credited with being a positive influence on morale for the armed services during the war.

Mauldin's cartoon characters, Willie and Joe, slogged their way through battle-scarred Europe surviving the enemy and the elements with their humor intact. They mirrored the lives of soldiers in the European theater as they encountered the blunders and efficiency, the irritations and comradeship, of life in the army.

Mauldin interpreted World War II for the...