Egbert White (1894 – January 1976) was an American journalist, whom during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

had a major role in establishing newspapers for US infantry that were written and edited by enlisted men, as opposed to the general staff facilitated under the Stars and Stripes. He founded Yank, the Army Weekly in 1942, famous for being the origin of G.I Joe.

Biography

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he had served with the Stars and Stripes during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and worked in advertising during the

interwar era In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ...

. Within a month after

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, he proposed a magazine by soldiers for soldiers to General

Frederick Osborn Major General Frederick Henry Osborn CBE (March 21, 1889 – January 5, 1981) was an American philanthropist, military leader, and eugenicist. He was a founder of several organizations and played a central part in reorienting eugenics in a ...

. This proposal was accepted, and became

Yank magazine ''Yank, the Army Weekly'' was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. One of its most popular features, intended to boost the morale of military personnel serving overseas, was the weekly publication of a ...

, in which he collaborator with

Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'', which is now the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press''. Through his only child, Iphigene ...

and Robert Fuoss of

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

and Alfred Strasser from Liberty. He accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel. page 65 White was removed from the Yank staff in 1942 by General Osborn and was ordered overseas to serve with the Stars and Stripes newspaper. He was in charge of the North African/Mediterranean edition of Stars and Stripes from its beginning in December 1942 to mid 1944. He insisted that this newspaper too should be for the enlisted men not the high command.

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

began drawing cartoons for the Stars and Stripes while White was in charge of it. White encouraged Mauldin to accept offers to syndicate his cartoons to US newspapers, and helped Mauldin find a literary agent. In mid 1944, he was sent home because he wanted to run excerpts from US newspapers about the 1944 Presidential campaign in Stars and Stripes, and the army command forbade this. He died in January 1976 in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Egbert American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 1894 births 1976 deaths American war correspondents Mass media of the military of the United States American military personnel of World War I American military personnel of World War II