Doonesbury's war

[n2doc]

Doonesbury's War

Revealing more about himself than he ever has, Garry Trudeau gives us tantalizing clues about what's behind his venerable comic strip's recent burst of genius, and pain.
By Gene Weingarten
Sunday, October 22, 2006; Page W14


IN THE BANQUET ROOM WERE MEN WHO WERE BLIND, men with burns, men with gouges, men missing an arm, men missing a leg, men missing an arm and a leg, men missing an arm and both legs, men missing parts of their faces, and a cartoonist from the funny pages. We were just a few blocks from the White House, at Fran O'Brien's Steak House. Fran's was hosting a night out for casualties of the current war, visiting from their hospital wards. It's hard to know what to say to a grievously injured person, and it's easy to be wrong . You could do what I did, for example. Scrounging for the positive, I cheerfully informed a young man who had lost both legs and his left forearm that at least he's lucky he's a righty. Then he wordlessly showed me his right hand, which is missing fingertips and has limited motion -- an articulated claw. That shut things right up, for both of us, and it would have stayed that way, except the cartoonist showed up.

Garry Trudeau, the creator of "Doonesbury," hunkered right down in front of the soldier, eye to eye, introduced himself and proceeded to ignore every single diplomatic nicety.

"So, when were you hit?" he asked.

"October 23."

Trudeau pivoted his body. "So you took the blast on, what . . . this side?"

"Yeah."

Brian Anderson, 25, was in shorts, a look favored by most of the amputees, who tend to wear their new prostheses like combat medals. His legs are metal and plastic, blue and knobby at the knee, shin poles culminating abruptly in sneakers.

Trudeau surveyed Brian's intact arm. "You've got dots."

"Yeah." Dots are soldier-speak for little beads of shrapnel buried under the skin. Sometimes they take a lifetime to work their way back to the surface. At this, Brian became fully engaged and animated, smiling and talking about the improvised explosive device that took his vehicle out; about his rescue; his recovery; his plans for the future. Trudeau, it turned out, had given him what he needed.

("In these soldiers' minds," Trudeau will explain afterward, "their whole identity, who they are right now, is what happened to them. They want to tell the story, they want to be asked about it, and you're honoring them by listening. The more they revisit it, the less power it has over them.")

much more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000446.html

[Tellurian]

1. Soldiers should get FREE time on Sirius Radio..

Let them tell their stories for the world to hear!

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. What a great idea. They might hide the pictures of their buddy's coffin,

but they can't silence the wounded.

[Tellurian]

21. Yeeeesssss!

the sound of hands clapping feverishly!

[NMMNG]

28. Excellent idea

The GOP might be able to keep the truth off the MSM, but they can't regulate satellite radio. And hearing it straight from the soldiers who were there would be so much more effective than from professionals who might polish it or editorialize it.

[madokie]

2. Garry Trudeau gets it.

K & R

[Democrat 4 Ever]

4. Trudeau really gets it - he has provided a forum for Iraqi vets

to blog over at Slate in an area called The Sandbox. I posted a link the other day, if you get a chance read some of the postings over there. Will tear your heart out and make you so proud of a bunch of people who have everything on the line while "stay the coursers" can piss around in a war of words with people who disagree with Chucklenuts' "policies."

http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/

Welcome to The Sandbox, our command-wide milblog, featuring comments, anecdotes, and observations from service members currently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. This is GWOT-lit's forward position, offering those in-country a chance to share their experiences and reflections with the rest of us. The Sandbox's focus is not on policy and partisanship (go to our Blowback page for that), but on the unclassified details of deployment -- the everyday, the extraordinary, the wonderful, the messed-up, the absurd. The Sandbox is a clean, lightly-edited debriefing environment where all correspondence is read, and as much as possible is posted. And contributors may rest assured that all content, no matter how robust, is currently secured by the First Amendment.

[Solly Mack]

10. Yeah, he does

He really does.

[leftchick]

3. holy cow! I didn't know the Pentagon called him!

<snip>

Originally, he was going to kill Ray, but Ray got spared when Trudeau decided that a death would not leave much of a storyline to pursue. So, with a bit of sang-froid, he amputated B.D.'s left leg, on the theory that he'd . . . think of something.

What happened next was unusual, to say the least. Within a day or two of B.D. lying broken on that stretcher, Garry Trudeau, bane of every presidential administration since Nixon's (particularly the current one, which he has absolutely lacerated), got a call from the Pentagon. The brass was offering to help him figure out where to go next.

.... thank you for this link. That was a truly delightful read! :)

[sarge43]

5. Bill Mauldin would give Gary Trudeau a salute n/t

[CanSocDem]

6. The most rational voice in America

Thank you for posting this great article.

[Benhurst]

7. Recommended #5

[trof]

8. Kick. Great article.

Thanks for posting.

[XOKCowboy]

11. What an incredible story of an incredible man...

Recommended very highly. A must read for all Doonesbury fans.

[hlthe2b]

12. K&R..... This article is a "treat" of sorts--Trudeau never gives

interviews and this is a fascinating piece. Trudeau may have been one of the Vietnam era's privileged non-draftees, but he is surely doing his service, especially now. No wonder the injured soldiers and marines respect him and will talk to him.

I suspect this purpose has motivated Trudeau in a way that so many other topical cartoonists and columnists have not experienced. Seems that may explain his longevity at a time when so many others have burned out. We need him, that is for sure....

[IdaBriggs]

13. Kick. Recommend. READ! nt

[Tin Man]

14. K&R - truly exceptional article, a must read.

Thanks for posting.

[hootinholler]

15. The more they revisit it, the less power it has over them

Yes, and this is the path to PTSD mitigation as well. Get it out early and often.

-Hoot

[Giant Robot]

16. Wow...just wow

I'm a little teary eyed just reading that. Mr. Trudeau understands, and bless him for that understanding.

[gristy]

17. Great article.

[acmavm]

18. LONG read but worth every word.

[Spazito]

19. Wow, what a great read!

Thanks for posting this, it is much appreciated!

Recommended.

[sarahlee]

20. I get Doonesbury via email every day

And it has been powerful of late. This explains a lot so I thank you for pointing it out.

[ovidsen]

22. Thank Wapo's Gene Weingarten for this

Gene's the Washington Post "humor columnist" who was Dave Barry's editor at the Miami Herald a decade or so ago. He usually writes goofy stuff, but when he gets serious, like with this article, he shows that it's not just about the jokes. And although he doesn't directly say it in his article, he and Trudeau go back a loooong time,

Gene also hosts a weekly live chat at the WaPo website, aptly titled "Chatological - aka Tuesdays With Moron" which is worth it for the laughs AND for his political common sense.

Here's a link that'll get you to all his chats for the last 6 months.

Support this guy. He's one of us.

[Greyskye]

23. Worth the time to read

[lildreamer316]

24. I REALLY enjoyed that article.

Thank you so much for posting.
My dad was an aspiring cartoonist and an admirer of Doonesbury. This was a great reminder....

[LynzM]

25. Fascinating article...

It's really interesting to learn about the way that his creative mind works. Thanks for the link!

[Tom Joad]

26. Happy 36th Birthday, Doonesbury!

[Blue_Tires]

27. ttt

[Blue_Tires]

29. top