Warren Mullen, Veteran and Artist

Warren Mullen was a World War II veteran and artist with a keen sense of humor. He was a prolific letter writer; and his letters were filled with drawings of his experiences, whether serious, humorous, or outrageous. During World War II, Warren served in the Pacific Theater and his letters home included renderings of military life overseas. After the war, he became an art teacher and his letters continued to include his artwork and wry sense of humor. His letters were donated to the Cumberland County Historical Society in 2010.
Warren was born February 11, 1917,¹ in Carlisle, Pa. and he graduated high school in 1937. His high school yearbook reveals his early interests and personality. He was in the “Manual Arts Course” curriculum and was the Art Editor of the class yearbook (The Oracle). Warren was listed in the class Hall of Fame as “Best Dancer”. His class photo describes him as “versatile, artist, easy going…”. ² In February 1941, he enlisted in the 104th Cavalry, a local National Guard unit.
When America entered WWII in December 1941, Warren’s unit was activated. He was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, MO. where he met his future wife, Etheleen Pinson.³ They would marry after the war. Before going overseas, he was promoted to corporal, assigned to a Signal Company and sent to New Orleans. In a letter home he complained about the mosquitoes by paraphrasing Civil War Admiral Farragut. He drew a mosquito on the envelope with the caption, “Damn the mosquitoes, full speed ahead.”⁴
Warren was sent overseas on November 6, 1943.⁵ He was stationed in New Guinea and assigned to the 902nd Signal Company, and later the 997th Signal Battalion. His first letter home does not give a favorable impression. He wrote, “Its Sunday here in N.G. – that’s abbreviation for New Guinea and maybe No Good too.”⁶ In another letter he described New Guinea as “where the body and mind rots on the hoof.”⁷ He seemed to quickly adapt though, because future letters were full of humorous drawings and stories.
Many of his drawings included naval ships, planes, island scenes, military personnel and vehicles. He also drew comic strip characters such as Dick Tracy and Terry and the Pirates (his favorite). His stories generally focused on observations of army life; everything from listening to Radio Tokyo to his excitement at having a real egg for breakfast.
In one letter, Warren described the superior attitude of a typical army cook. “If he’s a private or of a grade more prominent it makes no difference in his realm – the kitchen is his kingdom. He might carry a cat-o-nine tail under his arm. Cleavers and knives of all sorts but most important of all his gear is the indispensable can opener. His voice is raised to order the serfdom to various tasks… Soldier thou canst have seconds…thou gluttonous swine.”⁸ He usually complained of army food and after one meal, he ended a letter saying, “A shot of jungle wine seems to be causing some internal disturbances so pardon me.” Then he drew a picture of himself running to an outhouse among palm trees.⁹
Warren’s mother loved sailing ships so many of his letters included drawings of ships. When Warren ran out of ideas for ships, he drew a man and woman in a room with ship pictures on the walls. The man says, “I feel seasick!”¹⁰ He also noted that he did not care for the type of women he saw in the military. He wrote that “they’re all queens” and demand a lot to date them, such as access to a jeep.¹¹
Some of his letters discussed the war’s progress. In August 1944, he noted the “allies approach to Paris” and “that war may be very near its end.”¹² In November his unit had a pool on when the war would end in Europe. Most bet it would be over by the end of 1944 and Warren “picked the first week in December”.¹³ He lost his bet. On Dec. 16th, the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge and prolonged the European war for 5 more months. He also thought the European Theater received more attention than the Pacific. He wrote that if the Pacific “had a third of what was sent to Europe that the Japs would have cried uncle (Sam) long ago.”¹⁴
When the Japanese began to use Kamikaze aircraft, which they called “Special Attack Corps”, Warren described it in a letter to his mother. “The ‘Special Attack Corps’ in case you haven’t surmised, is a suicide affair. Honorable quick death.”¹⁵
The most amazing letter Warren sent home included portions of the insignia from a Japanese Zero aircraft. Warren drew Japanese Zeros on the letter and attached the artifacts to the drawing. He explained, “The red metal on what is supposed to be a wing and the rear of the empennage of an airplane is, or was, taken off of the famed Jap Zero. I was down at the airstrip last Sunday morning and saw a couple of Jap planes and this was the only thing I could salvage from the thing. It is a piece of the insignia off the wing as illustrated to the upper left. I chipped a little of the paint off when I cut them round.”¹⁶ The metal insignias are still attached to the original letter on file at the Historical Society.
For VE Day in May 1945, Warren drew American, Soviet, and British flags on a letter and noted “that the feelings didn’t rise as high” at his location as when the D-Day invasion was announced.¹⁷ Warren was also promoted to sergeant the same day.¹⁸
Warren’s last letter from WWII, on record, is dated July 8, 1945, so we don’t know his reaction to the Japanese surrender in August. He was part of the occupation force in Japan until November 20, 1945, when his foreign service ended.¹⁹ Warren was discharged on December 4, 1945²⁰ and returned to Carlisle. He married, had three sons, and obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Fine Arts. He then taught art at Carlisle High School, and later at York Suburban High School. Warren would often take students on field trips to the Baltimore Basilica. In a letter to his brother, he noted that when he explained the artistic importance of the Basilica, the students were amazed when “invariably the pews were occupied by homeless, druggies and/or drunks”²¹
Warren continued to include his artwork in his letters to family members. Some reflected his memories of the war such as drawings of Hollandia, New Guinea. He was saddened by the death of Bill Mauldin in 2003, a popular editorial cartoonist during WWII. As a tribute, he drew two GIs enjoying the comic strip and a quote from Don McClean’s song “American Pie”.²² He enjoyed Civil War history and many of his drawings included Civil War generals and soldiers. He also drew unlikely pairs of people such as Bob Dylan talking to Benjamin Rush, founder of Dickinson College.²³ On another letter he drew Willie Nelson and Gen. William Sherman with the caption, “Will the real Willie please stand up.”²⁴
Warren maintained his creativity, imagination, and sense of humor his entire life. When he retired in 1984, he was well respected and his students would occasionally visit him at his house to enjoy his company. Warren died on Dec. 29, 2011, at his home in York, Pa. He was 94 years old. Many of his letters and artworks are preserved at the Cumberland County Historical Society.