NCS, USO sponsors overseas trip for cartoonists

The National Cartoonists Society and United Service Organizations are sponsoring a trip for several cartoonists to Washington D.C. and Europe to visit U.S. veterans and injured soldiers at military hospitals. So far the cartoonists include Jeff Keane (Family Circus), Mike Peters (Mother Goose and Grimm, editorial cartoonist), Mike Luchovich (editorial cartoonist), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues), Walt Handlesman (editorial cartoonist), and Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine). They will visit Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. on September 29th and then fly to Germany and visit with injured soldiers at Lundstahl Regional Medical Center and the medical evacuation hub at Ramstein Air Base.

5 thoughts on “NCS, USO sponsors overseas trip for cartoonists

  1. That’s awesome that you guys would take the time out of your busy work schedules to brighten someone’s day!

    Keep your eyes on Mike Peters, he’s a wild one!

  2. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of “The Misadventures of a Roving Cartoonist: The Lone Ranger’s Secret Sidekick”. It’s a memoir of Tom Gill’s travels around the world with other cartooning legends to entertain troops stationed overseas.

    I remember thinking to myself, it’s a shame they don’t do anything like that anymore. But obviously they do. Good for them.

  3. Yeah, this was something the NCS did regularly, back when Mort Walker and Bil Keane were the new kids on the block… and when cartoonists were genuine celebrities. As newspapers waned as the popular medium, they took that celebrity status of cartoonists down with them.

    Regardless of our lowered stature in American media culture, this is a wonderful step forward by going back to a past service. Jeff Keane is to be congratulated for it. He truly is a generous and thoughtful man who puts us all in a good light through such altruistic endeavors.

  4. The other two cartoonists selected for the overseas USO trip are Bruce Higdon (gag cartoonist & caricaturist) and Jeff Bacon (Broadside/Navy Times.

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