May 29, 1944 – May 29, 2024

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Gregor Duncan’s passing near Anzio, when the Jeep his was traveling in was struck by a German 88 shell. Duncan and Sgt. Jack Raymond were sent to Anzio, to gather material for a new series of drawings on the former beachhead. Raymond survived, but Duncan died due to injuries suffered from shell fragments. Please take a moment to think about Gregor Duncan, and all that might have been had he not been killed. Bill Mauldin summed up Duncan’s death well in his book, The Brass Ring:

“I’ve lost friends who were ordinary people and just wanted to live and raise a family and pay their taxes and cuss the politicians. I’ve also lost friends who had brilliant futures. Gregor Duncan, one of the finest and most promising artists I’ve ever known, was killed at Anzio while making sketches for Stars and Stripes. It’s a pretty tough kick in the stomach when you realize what people like Greg could have done if they had lived. It’s one of the costs of the war we don’t often consider.”