The United States Postal Service will release a stamp in honor of Bill Mauldin on March 31. It’s an elegantly-designed piece, and I’m proud to say I played a very small role in its development. Unfortunately, I can’t claim a hand in the design. I only confirmed and corrected the biographical information that accompanies the stamp.
The first-day-of-issue ceremony will be on March 31 at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 45-minute ceremony will begin at 11:00am. Mauldin’s sons and family will be there, and I’ll be on hand to offer a few remarks about this extraordinary artist and the continued relevance of his work.
The stamp features a photograph taken of Mauldin in Naples, Italy, in late December 1943 by John Phillips of Life magazine. The image of Willie and Joe is taken from a cartoon published in Stars & Stripes (Mediterranean) on April 8, 1944. When Mauldin drew it, scientists were still isolating and identifying vitamins, and vitamin pills were a recent invention that promised strength and pep.
Read more about the Bill Mauldin stamp and first-day-of-issue ceremoney here.