While she never received one, Sheryl Jones, Harry Chrisman’s adoptive daughter, loved her father’s Victory Mail cartoons.

Now, she’s seeking more.

After enlisting in the military in October, 1942, when he was 37, Chrisman began sending letters, mainly cartoon drawings, to his sweetheart, Catherine, and his mother to assure them he was well.

“It was a way for him to reassure his mother and his wife he was alright, and maybe bring a smile to their face,” Jones said.

Victory Mail, known as VMail, was a form of microfilm correspondence used by soldiers and their families during World War II. According to the Smithsonian Institute, the system was created to reduce shipping space after seeing an influx of letters between American soldiers and their loved ones.

“On any piece of paper he might be able to find, blowing away in the wind, he’d draw cartoons on it and post them on his tent,” Jones said. “The guys got the biggest kick out of it.”

Chrisman’s cartoons depicted his experience in the Army. Stationed on Christmas Island, in the South Pacific, Chrisman drew about the everyday actions of his unit; the emotions, such as boredom, soldiers went through; and the interactions between the soldiers and officers in his unit.

Censorship was prevalent throughout World War II, and while Chrisman’s cartoons depicted the humor, depression and happenings of Army life, they always passed the censors, as they provided light in a time that was dark for so many.

“He found out and he writes about it (in the book), if it was a cartoon and it was supposed to be funny, it would pass the censors like you can’t believe,” Jones said. “And so he was able to get some messages through about how he was and where he was and so on.”

Chrisman died in 1993, leaving behind his cartoons to Jones, who promised to have them published — and now she has. In a three-volume collection, Jones has worked over the last 20 years to collect, scan, pen, print and publish the collection of cartoons. The first volume is available now, with the second will be released in early November.

For the third volume, Jones will feature Chrisman’s drawings about natural history, poetry and the cartoons he drew for others. She is currently seeking any VMail cartoon penned by Chrisman to add to the book.

“I would like them (others with cartoons) to know they’re not gone, they’re still here, and theirs is valuable too. I think they’re a part of history; it’s the softer side of World War II.”

Over his time in the war, from 1942-1945, Chrisman wrote more than 403 VMail letters and cartoons to his wife and mother, and many more for his fellow military men.

Today, 69 years after he penned his last cartoon, Chrisman’s dogtags lay, not with him, but strewn across the pages of his book.

To submit a VMail cartoon or inquire about the books, please contact Sheryl Jones, sheryljones@comcast.net.