Battle Cry #8

When Pvt. Ike earns a date with Fifi La Mare, the glamorous movie star visiting the troops in Korea, his excitement is short-lived—his old nemesis Sgt. Magoon shows up as the new platoon sergeant, and the rivalry between them spirals into kitchen chaos when enemy infiltrators use the starlet as cover for a poisoning plot. As the two soldiers clash over who gets the prize date, they'll have to figure out what's real and what's a setup before the night's premiere.

Joe Collins is a battle-worn soldier who's spent fourteen months in the thick of the fighting, counting the days until his discharge—but when his unit gets ambushed during a routine patrol, his long-awaited ticket home becomes something far more complicated. Written with the gritty realism Battle Cry brings to its war stories, "Veteran!" shows what happens when a grizzled G.I.'s wish to leave the war behind finally collides with duty.

A smooth-talking G.I. nicknamed "Houdini" for his card tricks and rope magic gets drafted into a reconnaissance mission with his buddy Brooklyn, only to stumble straight into enemy hands deep in North Korean territory. With their lives on the line and intelligence about an imminent Communist attack burning in their heads, Houdini discovers that the sleight of hand that amazed his platoon back at camp might be his only ticket to freedom—and his comrades' only chance at survival.

Soldier Bob Cain has faced enemy fire without flinching, but there's one thing that terrifies him more than bullets—doctors and hospitals. When a battle leaves him wounded and unconscious, the medical team discovers his real problem isn't from combat, and Bob must confront the fear that's haunted him his entire life.