#doughboy

48 years before the debut of the Pillsbury Doughboy mascot, there was this doughboy. 

Corporal Alastor Duhart (1896-1933)

Like millions of his fellow countrymen, Duhart was drafted following the United States’ declaration of war against the German Empire in April 1917, assigned to the 92nd Infantry Division on account of his mixed-race heritage. Arriving in France with the rest of his regiment in June 1918, Duhart was assigned to the Champagne sector in the northeast of the country, where his regiment would spend the majority of the war.

By all accounts, Duhart was well-liked both by his fellow servicemen and the French soldiers, colonial troops, and civilians he encountered during his service. The qualities that would make him a star in the inter-war years-his charisma, affability, musical talent, and showmanship-were on full display in France. Whenever his regiment was rotated out of the frontlines, Duhart, foreshadowing his later radio show, would stage informal shows combining musical performance, commentary on trench life, and various acts performed by fellow soldiers that he MCed for. Recalling their war experiences years later, the other men of Duhart's regiment would near unanimously agree that his performances were the highlight of their service.

It surely also helped that Duhart had the seemingly preternatural ability to produce additional meat rations, which he happily cooked and shared with his fellow soldiers in the trenches, providing a much-needed boost to morale during the heavy fighting his regiment endured on the front and earning him the nickname "le chef" (the chef).

Of course, Duhart was not spared the horrors of war that all combatants faced. He was wounded several times and only narrowly avoided being killed by artillery fire during the Meuse-Argonne campaign, saved at the last second by a fellow soldier pulling him out of harm's way. Engaged in combat all the way up to the Armistice of 11th November, Duhart fought with distinction, earning several awards for his actions during the Meuse–Argonne offensive.

Departing Europe in 1919, Duhart returned to his native Louisiana. While initially feted as a war hero, any feelings of goodwill engendered by victory were soon dispelled by the economic recession and heightened racial and ideological tensions that gripped the country. Undeterred, Duhart reestablished himself in New Orleans and, with a newfound sense of confidence, threw himself into becoming one of the greatest media stars of the age.

-Louisiana Radio Demon: The Life of Alastor Duhart by Robert S. Kotkin (1998)

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" Hey there, Johnny

You really don't fool me

You get away with murder

And you think it's funny

You don't give a damn

If we live or if we die

Oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry! "

thinks about me and my friend’s D&D characters and dies all over again.

Heavily based on and referenced from this WWI-era valentines postcard: