Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Robert K. Bindig Collection

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
Branch of Service: Army
Unit of Service: Psychological Warfare Detachment, Armed Forces, Pacific Theater of Operations; Fitzsimmons General Hospital; Winters General Hospital
Location of Service: Camp Grant, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Topeka, Kansas; Manila (Philippines); Korea
Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

“I was warned never to volunteer for anything in the army but I ignored this advice and when they asked was anyone an artist I raised my hand for I was a commercial artist in civilian life.” (Memoir, page 2)

Bob Bindig didn’t embark for the Pacific Theater until the spring of 1945 and was in Manila when World War II ended. But his two prior years in service afforded him opportunities to practice drawing skills learned as an ad agency artist. He illustrated various military manuals and publications, and he drew a mural on the wall of a service club in Ft. Lewis, Washington. His letters home were housed in envelopes that wittily depicted his current preoccupations or state of mind. In postwar Korea, Bindig helped produce publications that would bring a sense of normalcy back to a once-occupied country. For Korean children aching for diversion, he drew a dialogue-free comic strip about twin bears with a penchant for mischief.