Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for March 02, 2010

  1. Phil b r
    pbarnrob  over 14 years ago

    That’s OK, Walt; none of them are.

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    DebJ4  over 14 years ago

    Technically speaking, World War I was called “the war to end all wars.” If only we could have been so lucky!

    What is shocking is that Family Circus is celebrating its 50th year as a strip by re-publishing some of the earliest cartoons which ran in the series - and I suddenly realized that I had seen the very first Family Circus ever published in the local newspaper the very first time it was published - in 1960!

    FAMILY CIRCUS First FC strip ever published: at ARCA MAX Publishing

    http://www.arcamax.com/familycircus/s-702920-243721

    So Walt and Skeezix are not the only ones who are taking a walk down memory lane. Hope Skeezix and Walt get to remember some of their finer escapades now!

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  3. Axe grinder
    axe-grinder  over 14 years ago

    I’ve read that WWI was called “The Great War” until WWII came along and put it in perspective as the first in a series. So far, God bless us, WWIII has existed only as a phrase used in predictions/warnings, and hyperbole.

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    Ronshua  over 14 years ago

    That may be the next ride , hope so also .

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    Ravenswing  over 14 years ago

    Not many left worldwide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listof_survivingveteransof_WorldWar_I

    When I started following that list, less than four years ago, there were over seventy WWI vets left worldwide. Now there are only three.

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    BuzzDog  over 14 years ago

    axe-grinder: I’ve read that WWI was called “The Great War” until WWII came along and put it in perspective as the first in a series.

    I’ve actually seen journals and books published around 1940 that seemed to accept the inevitable, by referring to “the first Great War.” In fact, in the book, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, written and set after WWII, Tom reflects on the days prior to WWII and recalls his feelings of reading such a reference in his college library.

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  7. Axe grinder
    axe-grinder  over 14 years ago

    BuzzDog said, I’ve actually seen journals and books published around 1940 that seemed to accept the inevitable, by referring to “the first Great War.”

    When in my teens, I found a book in my grandfather’s attic that included “The Great War” in the title, the first time I had seen the term.

    Yes, I suppose that by 1940, another Great War would have seemed inevitable.

    I think it’s good of Jim to mention Frank Buckles in the strip. It seems prestigious to me, like having your name read into the Congressional Record.

    I think Sgt. Nicholas Fury referred to WWII as “The Big One.”

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  8. Rick
    davidf42  over 14 years ago

    I appreciate Jim using the medium of GA to recognize Frank Buckles. - Thank you Jim!

    I also checked the page in Wikipedia. The other 2 surviving WWI Vets are in the UK. Their names are Claude Stanley Choules and Florence Beatrice Green (nee Patterson). Thank you to Frank, Claude, and Florence!

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  9. Rick
    davidf42  over 14 years ago

    Deborah, I remember reading that FC comic too. Boy that brings back memories. I was in the 6th grade then.

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    VillemezBrown  over 14 years ago

    I’m sure this has been expressed before, but isn’t it long overdue to either let Walt pass on or let go of the aging conceit and turn him into yet another timeless creation. Boot Hill or reboot, I say. (And this is coming from a fan who is buying the big, expensive hardcovers from Drawn & Quarterly and follows the strip in COMICS REVUE. I’m not a Gasoline Alley hater.)

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    rmbdot  over 14 years ago

    Deborah, thanks for posting that FC link. I think I actually remember that “Any children?” panel from a paperback collection. The Sunday strip was touching - nice to see all four grandparents “alive” again.

    And yes, WWI was called (in some contexts) “The Great War”

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  12. Axe grinder
    axe-grinder  over 14 years ago

    whmIII said, …a new thread??? But what about Skeezix?

    Skeezix apparently drove home after yesterday’s strip, and is now talking with Uncle Walt the next day.

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    JP Steve Premium Member over 14 years ago

    We lost our last Vet last week http://tinyurl.com/yh3gc6m

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    pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago

    World War 1 The War to End War. World War 2: The War to End Wars to End Wars. Current Count: World War 2.684.

    When I was a kid there were still about six Civil War vets around. The last Spanish-American War vets passed without much public notice. When I was in the Army ‘61-‘64, there were still WWI vets in the service, including the commanding general at Ft. Jackson and one man I saw who had a decoration from the 1915 Mexican Border campaign against Pancho Villa.

    It’s about even money I’ll live long enough to see the last WWII vet. The best news is there is now very little chance of WWIII (unless it’s the Chinese a few decades from now).

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    DebJ4  over 14 years ago

    I had two great-grandfathers who served in the Union Cavalry during the Civil War. The oldest living great-grandfather passed away in 1935 - or about 70 years after he was involved in the civil war. He had a huge hole in his shoulder where he had been wounded during a battle. Imagine spending 70 years dealing with something like that! So he must have been about 90 when he passed. The Army department keeps almost everything. When my other great-grandfather passed away, my great-grandmother was run around in circles by Washington while she attempted to collect the widow’s pension which she deserved. When I went to check out my great-grandfathers’ military record swith the Army, I ended up with copies of all of the letters which my great-grandmother had written, plus the letters of her friends and neighbors - all of whom had to testify that my great-grandparents had been legally married and were regarded as a married couple by the pastor of their church, their friends and neighbors. Eye-opening - to say the least!

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