•••
A young Ohio-born artist named Charles William Becker, Jr (1891-1978) served (if only briefly) as a US Army camoufleur near the end of World War I. He registered for the draft at age 26, at which time he was single, unemployed, and with “week eyes.” Until a month earlier, he had been an artist for several years on the staff of the Cincinnati Times-Star.
As reported in that newspaper on June 4, 1918, p. 2, in TIMES-STAR ARTIST NOW CAMOUFLEUR, he was stationed at Camp Taylor in Kentucky, as First Sergeant in the Camouflage Division. He is quoted in the newspaper as having said the following—
This training surely does camouflage a ham sandwich—it makes it taste as good as chicken. Never had such an appetite.
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus
