The essays and cartoons in this book are an American treasure.

I've read a lot of books about war, but this is the truest one. Bill Mauldin was a soldier in WW2 who saw action in North Africa, Italy, and France. An infantryman with a talent for drawing, he was selected for the 45th Division paper and then Stars & Stripes, where his "Willie and Joe" cartoons became instant classics, depicting the truth of life on the front lines, where ordinary men struggled through mud, bad food, long marches, and the all too present threat of random death. There heroism is in their endurance, their ability to deal with the absurdity of war while remaining human, and never letting their buddies down.