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Private Stucky’s Postwar Japanese ‘Orient-Tashun’

pvt stucky - 6KWhen Private Lawrence “Stucky” Stuckenschneider left the Philippines with the rest of the 24th Division and headed for Japan, he turned in his M-1 rifle for a pen. On Mindanao he had penned a number of drawings of GI life and combat, and while serving in occupied Japan he began sending his sketches to Pacific Stars and Stripes. His efforts paid off when the newspaper made him a cartoon artist, but he had some big shoes to fill. The departing cartoonist, Bil Keane, went on to create the classic cartoon “Family Circus.”

For six months Stucky poked fun at Army life and the clash of cultures between the Americans and Japanese. In his daily cartoons Stucky found humor in a variety of topics, including supply problems, occupation discipline and souvenir hunting. He also poked fun at American soldiers’ introduction to sushi, Japanese shrines and the Japanese passion for GI cigarettes. He named his cartoon column “Orient-Tashun.”

Recently Private Stucky, now a Benedictine monk at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota, sent his entire “Orient-Tashun” collection to Broomfield, Mo., where it will be archived at the Stars and Stripes Museum when it is completed. Brother Stuckenschneider continues to design and illustrate books and Sunday bulletins to this day.

Kevin M. Hymel[ TOP ] [ Cover ]