NAMES IN THE NEWS : Army Salutes Beetle Bailey

The Army saluted Beetle Bailey today. Mort Walker, who started the comic strip about the goof-off soldier 40 years ago, was given an award for his service on the Army’s 215th birthday, despite the way the strip pokes fun at officers and military bureaucracy.

In fact, “Beetle” was banned from the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes in the 1950s. “This plaque proves that as hard as it is to find anything in the Pentagon, they finally found their sense of humor,” said Walker, 67, a World War II veteran. “I can’t believe I’m actually here--sort of a dream of Gen. Halftrack’s and mine, to hear from the Pentagon.” Walker even touched on his feelings about the Supreme Court ruling permitting burning of the American flag. “If they won’t let me burn my leaves,” he said, “I don’t see why you can burn the flag.”