Sir Basil Hudson-Landry
8th PSYOP Bn, Ft Bragg NC, 1974-78
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It treats the subject lightly (it's a cartoon, you know), and if I'm not a great or even a reasonably mediocre cartoonist, I'm still better at that than I was at being a soldier, but I am proud of my service in the Army, and prouder still that I spent it in this unique outfit. From seeing "Never So Few" at the drive-in when it came out and reading (re-reading) Alistair MacLean's "Landmark Books" biography of Lawrence of Arabia in elementary school, I've had an interest in unconventional warfare since childhood, and I'm glad I got the chance to be involved in it, even if it was only on the fringes, in peacetime.
That's why my little bimbo in the toon isn't wearing her usual bikini or lingerie, and while they ARE a little more form-fitting than they actually were, her jungle fatigues are kind of loose and baggy. Approximately a third of the battalion was comprised of women, still WACs when I first got there in '74 and until a year or two later, when the WAC was disbanded and female officers and enlisted women were "branched" into Intelligence, Signal, Quartermaster, Transportation, Medical Service and other skill-specific branches of the service, just like the men. The ones I had the privilege of serving with were good, competent people then, and if what I read on the websites is true, there are good and competent female officers and enlisted women in PSYOP (and Civil Affairs and other UW slots) doing good work in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the Army today. This is the way all our wars of the forseeable future are going to be fought, whether the conventional generals like it or not, and those doing it now and those who paved the way in the past deserve all the support and respect we can give them.. I didn't want to depict them in any more demeaning fashion than a second-rate girlie cartoonist can help doing.
And, while the character at the right is based on the same figure I usually use, it isn't yet another self-portrait of the artist. I (and everyone else in the outfit) frequently worked WITH Special Forces, but I was never IN Special Forces--I was NOT a "green beret" (I've got a 5th Group t-shirt they gave me, so I can't say I've "been there", can't say I've "done that", but only that I "got the t-shirt"). And 4th PSYOP Group, and 8th Battalion, did have a number of SF officers and NCOs assigned. Some of you may be familiar with Jim Morris as the author of the story on which the Disney movie "Operation Dumbo Drop" was based. I never met him personally, but I know him better for "War Story", his book-length account of his experiences as an SF officer working with the Montagnards and as a PIO at 5th Group HQ in Nha Trang. On page 262 of the Dell 1985 paperback edition, in the midst of describing the Tet Offensive, he recounts a conversation with "a very good man", one Lieutenant Gordon--"a good combat man" who was going to keep getting shanghaied into admin jobs because there are a lot of good combat men but very few able administrators. I've spent years reading military history and memoirs, but that was the first and only time I've ever seen a mention of someone I personally knew, because that "Lieutenant Gordon" went on to become Captain Gordon, one of those SF officers in 8th Battalion, my boss, and my friend. My apologies for not having the skill to do a better likeness. And Tom, Barbara, Deborah or George, if by chance you see this, shoot old Gomez a Flickr mail c/o Sir Basil. Please.
8th PSYOP Bn, Ft Bragg NC, 1974-78
View at large size (click "All Sizes" button above picture) to see details
It treats the subject lightly (it's a cartoon, you know), and if I'm not a great or even a reasonably mediocre cartoonist, I'm still better at that than I was at being a soldier, but I am proud of my service in the Army, and prouder still that I spent it in this unique outfit. From seeing "Never So Few" at the drive-in when it came out and reading (re-reading) Alistair MacLean's "Landmark Books" biography of Lawrence of Arabia in elementary school, I've had an interest in unconventional warfare since childhood, and I'm glad I got the chance to be involved in it, even if it was only on the fringes, in peacetime.
That's why my little bimbo in the toon isn't wearing her usual bikini or lingerie, and while they ARE a little more form-fitting than they actually were, her jungle fatigues are kind of loose and baggy. Approximately a third of the battalion was comprised of women, still WACs when I first got there in '74 and until a year or two later, when the WAC was disbanded and female officers and enlisted women were "branched" into Intelligence, Signal, Quartermaster, Transportation, Medical Service and other skill-specific branches of the service, just like the men. The ones I had the privilege of serving with were good, competent people then, and if what I read on the websites is true, there are good and competent female officers and enlisted women in PSYOP (and Civil Affairs and other UW slots) doing good work in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the Army today. This is the way all our wars of the forseeable future are going to be fought, whether the conventional generals like it or not, and those doing it now and those who paved the way in the past deserve all the support and respect we can give them.. I didn't want to depict them in any more demeaning fashion than a second-rate girlie cartoonist can help doing.
And, while the character at the right is based on the same figure I usually use, it isn't yet another self-portrait of the artist. I (and everyone else in the outfit) frequently worked WITH Special Forces, but I was never IN Special Forces--I was NOT a "green beret" (I've got a 5th Group t-shirt they gave me, so I can't say I've "been there", can't say I've "done that", but only that I "got the t-shirt"). And 4th PSYOP Group, and 8th Battalion, did have a number of SF officers and NCOs assigned. Some of you may be familiar with Jim Morris as the author of the story on which the Disney movie "Operation Dumbo Drop" was based. I never met him personally, but I know him better for "War Story", his book-length account of his experiences as an SF officer working with the Montagnards and as a PIO at 5th Group HQ in Nha Trang. On page 262 of the Dell 1985 paperback edition, in the midst of describing the Tet Offensive, he recounts a conversation with "a very good man", one Lieutenant Gordon--"a good combat man" who was going to keep getting shanghaied into admin jobs because there are a lot of good combat men but very few able administrators. I've spent years reading military history and memoirs, but that was the first and only time I've ever seen a mention of someone I personally knew, because that "Lieutenant Gordon" went on to become Captain Gordon, one of those SF officers in 8th Battalion, my boss, and my friend. My apologies for not having the skill to do a better likeness. And Tom, Barbara, Deborah or George, if by chance you see this, shoot old Gomez a Flickr mail c/o Sir Basil. Please.