Greetings,

I first posted the following inquiry just under a year ago. While I received several supportive replies, no one was able to come up with an answer for me. I still wonder what the practice was all about, so thought I’d post again in hopes that someone else out there may know.

I have a rather odd question that before watching The War on PBS, I wouldn’t have thought there was a real answer to. Please bear with me while I explain.
I live in Lincoln Nebraska, and for years loved seeing the outlandish outfits worn by an elderly gentleman and downtown icon affectionately known as hatman. Recently immortalized by a local artist in a downtown mural, he for years spent several days a week at downtown bus stops watching passersby stare at him from behind big funky Elton John style sunglasses and crazy hats – from 2-foot tall foam cowboy hats and feathered headdresses to flower covered straw sunhats and shower caps. Other items like striped leisure suites and huge bow ties occasionally made it into his repertoire, but he was never seen without the sunglasses and one or more hats.
Turns out Newt was a WWII vet who’d received a head injury so severe that doctors had to put in a metal plate. He really didn’t communicate much verbally, but was friendly and quietly cordial when approached. I always figured that even though he had difficulty speaking, Newt had something to say. It’s as if he were telling everybody who saw him “don’t take yourselves too seriously. Life is short and there’s far too much tragedy in the world to sweat the daily grind. If you can’t laugh at yourself, then laugh at me but don’t for a minute think that I’m not the one in control here. I see you, and can tell if you’re laughing with me or at me”.
That said, there was often a part of his get-up that went unnoticed by most but was probably my favorite feature. More than once I walked by hatman as he licked and then applied a single cigarette paper to his upper lip. It would always set me laughing as the most random, bizarre, and inexplicable hatman item – the coup de grace so to speak.
While watching Episode 3 of The War last month, footage of a platoon trudging along a dusty road filled the screen. Although only up for a few short seconds, imagine my surprise when three of the dozen or so soldiers in view had a cigarette paper stuck to their top lip! I can’t imagine what this might mean, or what purpose – if any – it served. I’m wondering if anyone might have an explanation. I know it sounds frivolous, but it means a lot to me. Somehow, I think it meant something to hatman, if only to tell those in the know that he wanted to bum a smoke. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if it meant a whole lot more.
Thanks.