Bill Mauldin in Korea

Bill Mauldin is back - this time in Korea where he occupies what is for him the exceedingly privileged position of correspondent. What Mauldin found in Korea is good. The fighting men perched on the slopes and peaks of the Korean mountains form, he thinks, the finest army the United States has ever had - a crack, professional corps, high in morale and savvy, it's graduates constantly growing in number through a rotation plan that works. And the picture he paints of the Marines and the Navy - both services strange and alarming to him at first - is enough to gladden every American heart. In the words of the immortal Willie and Joe and with his wonderfully entertaining and powerful pictures, Mauldin has created a close-up of the United States doughfeet, marines, and sailors now fighting in Korea - and an optimistic report on a war frequently described as a frustrating mess. Here, too, is a scattering of brass (the brass has always scattered before Mauldin), the partly hilarious, partly tragic scene at Panmunjom, and a rapid tour through the great "Rest and Relaxation" center that is Tokyo (it turns out Mauldin was never meant for geisha houses). Bill Mauldin's new book is a unique close-up of the Korean War as seen by the most penetratingly observant private soldier of them all.