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motorcycle officer's helmet when he was a police officer. His only explanations for this were "My ears stick out" or "I have bad hair". In the
February 21, 2006, strip he revealed that his mother used to put helmets on him, as a means of protection, when he was a child. When Ray visits B.D. in the
519:
Although he was physically in good condition, his mental state deteriorated since returning home. B.D. began drinking too much, suffered from nightmares and became highly irritable. Realizing the seriousness of his problems, he entered therapy in
January 2006. B.D. shows great reluctance or even
352:
As captain of the Walden football team, B.D. faced many tests of his short patience. His teammates could rarely keep their minds on the game, opting to have intense philosophical and political discussions during huddle. This became much worse when self-described "freak"
396:
simply to get out of writing a term paper. He found military life to be a good fit for him, and enjoyed his tour of duty immensely in sharp contrast to most of his colleagues. While in
Vietnam, B.D. met and befriended
425:
working with B.D.’s friend from the war, again while visiting
Vietnam after the normalization of diplomatic relations, and Phred offered him a job as a performer at a Vietnam War-style theme park.
470:
When
Boopsie learned of the affair she broke up with B.D., but eventually they reconciled, married and in 1992 had a daughter, Samantha (Sam). During the early 1990s, B.D. worked as a cop in the
459:, who subsequently became a recurring character in the strip. While on leave B.D. cheated on Boopsie with a female officer. The affair ended abruptly when it turned out the other soldier was a
432:, and they moved into Walden Commune with Mike, Mark, Zonker, and others. He graduated with the original Doonesbury characters during the strip's hiatus in 1983, and with Boopsie moved to
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at Walden
College. At Walden, B.D. wore a football helmet with a star on the side, replacing the Yale "Y". Mike and B.D. had many differences and initially could not stand each other.
474:, changing his military helmet for a policeman's motorcycle helmet. Eventually he was hired by his alma mater Walden College to coach the football team he was once captain of.
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fear about discussing his Iraq service with the counselor. This is revealed to stem from guilt over an incident wherein he ordered the driver of his
516:". His only reflection on losing the helmet was on July 31, 2004, when he thought to himself, "Oh yeah, my helmet. What the hell was THAT all about?"
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In 2008–2009, B.D. spent time and efforts on helping another wounded veteran known as Toggle, who was injured in similar circumstances.
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for being injured while lost (he cut his hand on a beer can). After his discharge he visited Phred for
Christmas in his home village of
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One of B.D.'s oddest traits was his helmet. For 34 years he was never seen without one. He wore a
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First appearance, wearing a white helmet with a star (the star is later revealed to be green)
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Becomes a third-string quarterback for the Los
Angeles Rams, now wears that team's helmet
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at college, as a coach and as a pro football player, a soldier's helmet in the army, a
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hospital after losing a leg, he's more shocked at seeing B.D.'s hair than his injury.
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views, in contrast to the more liberal beliefs of the other main characters, Mike,
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He was recalled up to military duty and served briefly, keeping order after the
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The helmet finally came off on April 21, 2004 when, while serving in
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use. In some of the early strips, he was even portrayed as slightly
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B.D. was first introduced on
September 30, 1968, in Trudeau's strip
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Called up again to protect Los
Angeles after the start of the
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to drive through a crowd in order to escape an ambush of the
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Called up for the second Gulf War, promoted to lieutenant
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and can walk with the aid of a high-tech prosthetic "
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Joins the California Highway Patrol, changes helmet
151:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
409:and remain friends to this day. He was awarded a
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704:Moves back to Walden to coach the football team
337:B.D. was reintroduced in the first frame of the
131:An editor has performed a search and found that
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629:Returns to wearing his Walden College helmet
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53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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645:Called up for the first Persian Gulf War
504:to safety in time, and he survives as an
229:Learn how and when to remove this message
211:Learn how and when to remove this message
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
677:Marries Boopsie, daughter Samantha born
485:, and in 2003 he was sent to fight the
1043:Fictional players of American football
1038:Fictional United States Army personnel
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455:in 1991. There he became friends with
345:became roommate to the nerdy, awkward
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1063:Comics characters introduced in 1968
653:Changes helmet to desert camouflage
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436:, where he played as a third-string
149:adding citations to reliable sources
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508:. He has successfully gone through
341:strip in 1970 in which the popular
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360:B.D. is notable for having rather
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669:Returns home from first Gulf War
637:Retires from professional sports
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34:This article has multiple issues.
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463:while B.D. (at the time) was a
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313:Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy
292:is a fictional character in
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1048:Fictional Gulf War veterans
661:Field promoted to Sergeant
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822:Strip for July 31, 2004
789:Strip for March 2, 1972
766:Washington Post article
296:'s popular comic strip
261:Publication information
160:"B. D." Doonesbury
833:Doonesbury and the CHP
811:Doonesbury goes to war
687:1992 Los Angeles Riots
1028:Doonesbury characters
720:Loses leg and helmet
447:B.D. remained in the
145:improve this article
855:The Washington Post
613:Leaves for Vietnam
84:improve the article
16:Fictional character
1033:Fictional amputees
850:"Doonesbury's War"
571:. You can help by
483:World Trade Center
434:Malibu, California
423:venture capitalist
88:real-world context
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717:21 April 2004
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567:This section
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162: –
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449:Army Reserve
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411:Purple Heart
407:Schlitz beer
392:and went to
362:conservative
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201:October 2020
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143:Please help
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96:October 2020
93:
82:Please help
77:plot summary
74:
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36:Please help
33:
1000:collections
682:12 May 1992
438:quarterback
386:Vietnam War
343:quarterback
1022:Categories
998:Doonesbury
990:Doonesbury
943:Uncle Duke
910:Characters
896:Doonesbury
727:References
666:6 May 1991
417:during an
339:Doonesbury
326:Bull Tales
299:Doonesbury
278:Created by
171:newspapers
139:notability
39:improve it
973:Mr. Butts
580:June 2008
502:airlifted
415:Quảng Trị
403:Viet Cong
390:U.S. Army
374:marijuana
267:Publisher
45:talk page
487:Iraq War
465:corporal
453:Gulf War
440:for the
842:Sources
506:amputee
481:at the
461:captain
430:Boopsie
370:welfare
328:in the
320:History
185:scholar
597:Event
382:sexist
378:racist
187:
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158:
982:Other
522:HMMWV
514:C-Leg
399:Phred
247:B. D.
192:JSTOR
178:books
928:B.D.
709:2003
701:1992
594:Date
494:Iraq
401:, a
380:and
372:and
366:Mark
290:B.D.
164:news
575:.
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