Gregor Duncan (artist)

During World War II, Duncan was drafted into the Army Air Corps in July 1942. He did his basic training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and then worked in the office of Public Relations, spending time at Lowry Field in Colorado, Tarpon Springs, Florida, and Chanute Field in Illinois. His work consisted of drawings for manuals, public dissemination, and cartoon illustrations for military publications. Duncan joined the staff of Stars and Stripes on December 14, 1943, and was shipped to Algiers to work on the Mediterranean edition of the military paper. His work in Stars and Stripes consisted of everything from field studies to comic strips and included numerous courtroom drawings from the war crimes trials of the Vichy Government. Duncan was sent to Naples, Italy in March 1944, where he befriended Bill Mauldin, who wrote about Duncan in his 1972 memoir, The Brass Ring.^[1] In May 1944, Duncan was sent to Anzio, to work in the Stars and Stripes office under illustrator Ed Vebell. Duncan and Sgt. Jack Raymond left for the Anzio beach head on May 29, to gather material for a new series of drawings. With Duncan behind the wheel, the Jeep was struck by a German 88 shell, and Duncan was killed. His wife, Janice Duncan Goodhue, who was a volunteer with the American Red Cross, recalled:

A correspondent from the Chicago Sun Times sent a message that I was to come back to Naples immediately. When I arrived, he was on the dock to tell me that Gregor had been killed at Anzio. There was nothing to do. We walked around, and he took me to a black market Italian restaurant for lunch. We drank and drank and ate something and drank. That night there was a gathering of Stars and Stripes people in a bombed-out village. A Yank correspondent had just returned from Yugoslavia with a British correspondent—they had had a meeting with Tito and the partisans up in the mountains, and they had just come back to Italy. I was semi-here and not here, because I was still in a state of shock. And yet, you get around. You're on your feet, and you keep going. That whole evening took me out of myself and Gregor and everything, and I was listening to them tell about their meeting with Tito. That was May of 1944. Once Gregor was gone, I could not work again in an enlisted men's club, because—and rightfully so—they talked about how much they hated the war, and how they wanted to go home. I knew that I couldn't handle that anymore, so I asked to be reassigned and was sent to a hospital unit, the 38th Evacuation Hospital. It was in Rome and had been at Anzio. Everyone there was weary. I have pictures of them. They were in a daze, having been in Anzio so long.... After Pisa, I left Italy, because I'd been overseas 18 months and the situation was so grim. Following Gregor's death I had become particularly sensitive and angry. I might have had battle fatigue just like the veterans. Anyway, I was not good for anything anymore, so it was time to go. When I got back to the states it was Christmastime, 1944.^[2]

Upon hearing of Duncan's death, Lieut. Gen. Mark Clark, Commander of the 5th Army, wrote to his widow:

I have just been notified of the death of your husband, Staff Sergeant Gregor K. Duncan, near Cori, Italy, while engaged in his duties as staff artist for the Stars and Stripes on May 29, 1944. I am deeply shocked at this loss to the 5th Army and to The Stars and Stripes and its readers. I have been an admirer of Sergeant Duncan’s work and know that his loss will be felt by all American soldiers fighting in Italy. We must face this tragedy with the knowledge that he paid the supreme price in making a very real and selfless contribution to this bitter but successful campaign to crush Nazi tyranny.^[3]

• Rob Stolzer, Gregor Duncan: Pictures of Life, 2010
• Shell kills Staff Artist, Stars and Stripes, June 3, 1944

• Gregor Duncan Historical Preservation Website
• Gregor Keane Duncan at Find-a-Grave.com