Changes

Jay Gruenfeld was 21 years old in 1945 when he was lying in an army hospital bed with a nearly severed spine; the fifth wound he received while serving in the Philippines. He was frightened and alone when he received a package from his father that contained Mauldin’s book, ''Up Front''.<ref>Jay Gruenfeld, ''Purple Hearts and Ancient Trees: A Forester’s Life Adventures in Business, Wilderness, and War'' (Seattle: Peanut Butter Publishing, 1997), 100-102.</ref>Gruenfeld was affected by Willie and Joe as these characters spoke to and for him. The conveyed the loneliness, grief, exhaustion, and waning hope of a soldier. In 2002, the 77 year old Gruenfeld drove 200 miles to visit Mauldin before he died. When asked why, Gruenfeld replied, “‘you have to understand, Mauldin was just a paragon for us…he needed to know he wasn’t forgotten.’”<ref>Gruenfeld, Quoted in DePastino, 2-3.</ref>Bill Mauldin never forgot the dogfaces and the dogfaces never forgot their hero.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:WWII]] [[Category:US History]] [[Category:Literature]]

{{Contributors}}