A dog face soldier during WW2 started drawing cartoons of the daily conditions that soldiers faced on the front lines during the war and put them in a humorous light. The main characters were two disheveled, unshaven dog faces, Willie and Joe. The creator of these characters was another dog face, Bill Mauldin. Bill Mauldin's ability to put intolerable conditions in a humorous light made intolerable conditions more tolerable and were a boost to morale.
An American characteristic that used to amaze Europeans was the ability of Americans to laugh at themselves and their foibles. Even at funerals, eulogies contain references to humorous aspects of the deceased, not to be irreverent, but to recognize the human qualities of the deceased. A current master of making commonly occurring situations humorous is Jay Leno. With no apologies, Roger Turk Tucson, Arizona
