Dad's Marine Cartoons

My dad drew daily.  One thing that he told me over and over again was to practice, practice, practice. And though I understood his instructions, I didn't necessarily take it to heart except in things like basketball, tennis, studying vocabulary, and work.  But he knew the importance of practicing his art daily.  If he didn't, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere.  That if anyone wants to produce anything decent, he knew that he had to produce a lot and there was no other way to produce a lot other than to draw everyday.  In this way, my dad was a genuine success.  In so many areas, he was a success. That fact doesn't always speak for itself, so I will speak on its and on his behalf by posting his Marine cartoons that have lasted 70 years.

Romance in South Pacific.  Not sure if my dad invented that title or whether it was the title of a WWII film or what.  South Pacific, the movie based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical of the same name, didn't appear until 1958.  The musical opened on Broadway in 1949, still four years after the war ended.  Not sure if Romance in South Pacific was the name of a novel or a play or whether that was just my dad riffing on islands of paradise that were so appealing to romantics.  Until the next update, check out the rest of Charles Walgenbach's cartoons.  Most of the cartoons you see in this post are simple characters and lines.  But again he did these as part of his routine, his daily practice, to keep him ready for the more important assignments.

It's too bad that these clippings were cut off from their caption.  It would have been nice to read my dad's clever copywriting.  Plus, you'd be able to see more clearly my dad's great sense of wry humor. He was a funny guy!  Some wonderful cartoons by Pops!

Some wonderful cartoons by Pops!

"I got it!  I got it!"

Some Can-can girls.

 "The champ had his opponent crawling on the canvas!"

The great days when ice was delivered to your home.  For a brief history of ice blocks before the ubiquitous use of refrigerators, check out this presentation.

These sports cartoons were based on different teams organized on the  Marine's base.  What, were cameras such a luxury that my dad had to report on games and their scores through cartoon?  Funny.  Who knows, but what is apparent is that reporting on events on the base was low-budget.  They borrowed the names for teams from back home.  More than likely the Browns were a reference to the St. Louis Browns baseball team, which lasted from 1902-1953 and were named, like so many other teams, after the color of their socks.

Don't forget to put the magazines back in the  rack.

Put empty beer cans in receptacle.

A good Marine keeps his rifle clean.

You'll be respected if your pale's clean when it's inspected.  (Didn't he mean pail?)

Majuro was one of the Marshall Island atolls.  Not sure if it was the atoll on which my dad was stationed.  The lagoons all look beautiful, like island paradises.  All that beauty in the middle of a war.  When I think about my dad being out there on the Marshall Islands, I think of one, the nuclear/atomic bomb testing, but that testing, at least according to Wikipedia, took place after the war from 1946 to 1962.  

The Pacific Proving Grounds was the name given by the United States government to a number of sites in the Marshall Islands and a few other sites in the Pacific Ocean at which it conducted nuclear testing between 1946 and 1962. The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon (codenamed Able) on Bikini Atoll on 30 June 1946. This was followed by Baker on July 24, 1946. 

The Marshall Islands were a former German colony given to the Japanese at the close of World War I.  "Tokyo had since decided that the Marshall Islands were to serve only as a part of a delay action campaign."  What does that mean, occupy the island, engage the enemy until the end of the war is called?  Clearly, the battles against the Japanese in and around the Marshall Islands was no cakewalk.  I mean just look at these boys following two days of battle.  My dad was probably only a couple of years older than these kids.

Here's a list of surnames.  I don't see my dad's name.  Though the list is not an official one.  The Atlantic always offers some great pictures; in this case, of the Pacific Theater.  And be sure to check out this WWII database.

There was one hydrogen bomb detonated on March 1, 1954, called Castle Bravo.  So, horrible to the local villagers and local islanders but just glad that my dad was out of that area by 1945.

Not sure if it was the atoll on which my dad was stationed.  The lagoons all look beautiful, like island paradises.  All that beauty in the middle of a war.  When I think about my dad being out there on the Marshall Islands, I think of one, the muclear/atomic bomb testing, but that testing, at least according to Wikipedia, took place after the war from 1946 to 1962.