Garry Trudeau was inarguably the most famous person in the room Friday.
But the man behind the long-running comic strip "Doonesbury" said he felt a little chagrined as he stood before about 400 Vietnam veterans and their spouses.
"It's humbling to receive an award for storytelling in a room of people so filled with stories," the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist said.
Trudeau was in Tucson to accept the President's Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Vietnam Veterans of America at the group's national conference, held this week at the Hilton El Conquistador Hotel, 10000 N. Oracle Road.
It's the first time the honor has been given to a comic strip creator, although the celebrity magnitude has always been high. Entertainer Bob Hope, choreographer Twyla Tharp, "We Were Soldiers" director Randall Wallace, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson and artist Lee Teter are among the previous recipients.
People are also reading…
Though Trudeau is known for putting his anti-war stance in many strips he draws, and though Friday's strip focused on two men trying in vain to burn an American flag, the soft-spoken and genial man standing at the podium veered away from politics, focusing instead on his love of and respect for veterans.
His anti-war rants in the 36-year history of the strip "never translated to disrespect for the soldiers," he said, because his jokes were directed at "the upper echelons … over which soldiers have no control."
Those in attendance Friday said they've followed nearly every moment of the lives of the characters in "Doonesbury," especially B.D. — the football player turned Vietnam veteran and Gulf War soldier deployed to Iraq again recently and now experiencing bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The vets also praised Trudeau for his attacks on the administration through the years.
"He is sometimes willing to tell the bitter truth when others aren't willing to say it," said retired Seaman Judy Ballentine of Columbia, S.C., who served in the Navy from 1968 to 1970.
Ballentine and about 150 others stood in line to get a signed copy of "The Long Road Home," Trudeau's new book, which follows B.D. and his recovery after losing a leg in Iraq.
They also received a signed copy of an April 2006 "Doonesbury" strip featuring B.D. trying to escape his haunting memories of serving in Iraq in the 1990s.
The strip started in 1970 with B.D. waiting for his college roommate, who would turn out to be Mike Doonesbury, believed by many to be Trudeau's alter ego. Most of the strips have been compiled into books through the years.
In addition to the award, Trudeau and B.D. received lifetime memberships to the Vietnam Veterans of America.
The conference, which started Wednesday and ends today, included seminars on post-traumatic stress disorder, health care and life after retirement.
Veterans also watched two war documentaries at the conference: "The War Tapes" and "Commitment and Sacrifice."
Trudeau's appearance brought out the giddy fan in many hardened veterans, who say they find solace in reading "Doonesbury" daily.
"It's great to meet someone you can thank for a legacy of work," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Paul Kobeluch of Palantine, Ill., who served in Vietnam in 1970. "He's a very pleasant and talented man."
Second wall planned across Arizona as Trump administration doubles down on border
