Stars and Stripes paper the latest casualty of 'friendly' fire
Dwight D. Eisenhower and Pete Hegseth, it appears, would not have gotten along well. They almost certainly would have disagreed on one particular military matter — the editorial independence of the venerable Star and Stripes newspaper. As the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and others have recounted in recent days, the latest round of turmoil at the government-funded military…
The Star and Stripes, a venerable government-funded military newspaper, is facing turmoil reminiscent of a standoff during World War II. The controversy centers around the newspaper's editorial independence and a clash between its editor, Pete Hegseth, and a cartoonist.
During World War II, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. George Patton found themselves at odds over the newspaper's content. Patton was infuriated by a comic strip in the Star and Stripes, "Willie and Joe," which depicted soldiers with beards, poking fun at Patton's crackdown on soldiers with facial hair, known as "beardos."
Eisenhower intervened, ordering Patton to leave the cartoonist alone, thereby avoiding a potential jail sentence for the artist. However, there appears to be no one with the same level of authority to give Hegseth a similar directive.
The current situation at the Star and Stripes highlights the ongoing debate over the newspaper's editorial independence. With no one in a position to intervene on its behalf, the newspaper finds itself at a crossroads, much like it did during the World War II standoff between Eisenhower and Patton.
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- Stars and Stripes paper the latest casualty of 'friendly' fire koreatimes.co.kr
