Dogface is a nickname for a United States Army soldier, especially an enlisted infantryman.[1][2] The term gained widespread use during World War II.[3][4]
History
The term "dogface" to describe an American soldier appeared in print at least as early as 1935.[5][6] Contemporaneous newspapers accounted for the nickname by explaining that soldiers "wear dog-tags, sleep in pup tents, and are always growling about something" and "the army is a dog's life...and when they want us, they whistle for us."[7][8] Phillip Levesque, a veteran of the U.S. 89th Infantry Division in World War II, wrote that "we were filthy, cold and wet as a duck hunting dog and we were ordered around sternly and loudly like a half-trained dog."[9]
During World War II, the nickname came to be seen as a self-appointed term of endearment for soldiers,[10] but as an insult if used by others, such as United States Marine Corps personnel.[6][11][12][13]
In media
Up Front, a cartoon drawn by Bill Mauldin that featured everyday infantrymen Willie and Joe, helped popularize the term "dogface."[14] The cartoon ran from 1940 to 1943 in the 45th Division News, and in Stars and Stripes until 1948.[15]
In 1942, Bert Gold and Ken Hart, two members of the United States Army Air Forces, published a song called "The Dogface Soldier," which one newspaper called an "authentic foxhole folksong."[16] The song became the theme of the 3rd Infantry Division and was featured in the 1955 film To Hell and Back starring Audie Murphy, who served in the 3rd Division.[17] A recording of the song by Russ Morgan, taken from the film, became a No. 30 pop hit in the U.S. the same year.[18]