Timeline – 2004 Part 3

Beetle Bailey Sunday page digital proof, October 10, 2004.

In 2004, when the Sunday page above was published, there were over 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan and more than 100,000 military personal in Iraq.  Those numbers increased to 166,000 in Iraq by 2007 and 100,000 in Afghanistan by 2010.

Beetle Bailey has never served in a combat situation. He has been at Camp Swampy since 1951.

Mort Walker made the decision early on to keep him out of harm’s way.  There was nothing humorous about having his characters get shot at.

But Beetle still supports the troops.  He does that by providing comic relief. Enlisted men and women enjoy reading his exploits.  It’s tough work, but someone has to do it.

We salute all the troops who are serving our country around the world.

Next week will be the last installment from 2004 in our Timeline series, so be sure to check back.

– Brian Walker