Original " PVT. ZILCH " cartoon Book - By Delgado

The story behind this paperback: While stationed on Okinawa in 1955-56-57, I was the staff cartoonist for   " THE TRIAD " . . . The official newspaper of The Third Marine Division, a very proud battle group of profane warriors who'd earned respect due to their herioc adventures during the Second World War in the "taking" of Okinawa and many other South Pacific islands including Iwo Jima.

My job as cartoonist for the newspaper was like my 

" second " job . . . my first job was as a Fire-Direction-Center guy for A battery of 105 Howitzers . . . I was in Headquarters & Service Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division . . .

Later in 1956 I was transferred to Headquarters, 3rd Marine Division and moved across the island of Okinawa to Camp Tengan and worked directly for Col. Edwin Pollock in G-3 Intelligence.  

My primary job was to prepare Secret and Top Secret briefing charts for the Colonel and I've got to say, it was a nice "cushy" job. ( The Colonel called me by my first name, I wouldn't have believed it if someone would have told me back then . . . that a Colonel would call you by your first name. )  This was the only time in my tour of four years that this ever happened ! )

By then I was a Corporal and every time a Sergeant would come  up to me to assign me to a work detail, I would always say, like a knee-jerk type answer: " Sorry, Sarge, I've got to finish up these charts I'm working on for the Colonel . . .

Those words were like magic . . . I wasn't really lying . . I was ALWAYS working on some charts for the Colonel . . .

Anyway, one day I get a phone call from a man named John Servaites, who was an American civilian on the island who owned a printing company, The Star-News Printing Company, which happened to print several newspapers on the island including The TRIAD, The 3rd Marine Division newspaper . . . I was doing a regular panel called PVT. ZILCH for The Triad and it was his idea to print the book, to be sold for a buck at Marine bases on the island . . . I said sure and the book made me about $200.00 . . .

 Later, Chas. Tuttle Publishing Co. ( With offices in Rutland Vermont and Tokyo, Japan ), saw the little book and approached me to do a new book, "Zilch " and about a year later they asked me to do another brand new one called " More Zilch" . . . The  paperbacks were to be sold throughout the far east in Post Exchange stores and military Commisaries . . . both books made about 5 to 600 bucks . . . that was all . .

This book shown here is the only one of its kind and all of the interior is in tact, but the cover, as you can see, is torn and partly missing a portion of it.  The cartoons in this first Zilch book are almost all " inside " jokes, you almost have to be in the military to appreciate the material. And a lot of the cartoons had to do with actual " happenings " in the division . . .

It seems to me, that right now it should be worth at least $2000.00.  At least.  I plan to raise it to $3000.00 if it doesn't sell at 2 grand.

Maybe I'm wrong.  We'll see. 

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We learn wisdom from failure much more than success.

We often discover what we WILL do,

by finding out what we will NOT do.

SAMUEL SMILES, 1812-1904

SCOTTISH AUTHOR AND SOCIAL REFORER