Battle Squadron #3

Allied naval forces unleash a devastating barrage on Iwo Jima in "The Softening Up!"—battle wagons, destroyers, cruisers, and dive bombers hammer the island relentlessly through the night, turning the landscape into a hellscape of fire and smoke. As the assault reaches its crescendo, the question becomes whether anything—or anyone—could possibly survive such an onslaught.

A young Marine boards an amtrack with his unit, leaving the cramped quarters of the LST behind as the invasion force heads toward the beach. Surrounded by veterans who've seen combat before, he wrestles with the weight of the unknown—wondering if his inexperience is a blessing or a curse as H-Hour approaches. "Going In!" captures the raw tension of soldiers bracing for battle, where even the familiar routines of war can't shake the dread of what's coming.

A young Marine hits the beach at Iwo Jima in "On the Beach!" and must navigate the overwhelming chaos of the landing under relentless enemy fire—scrambling from the water across the sand, diving for cover, and struggling to stay alive amid the deafening roar of combat. As he and his squad regroup in bomb craters, the grim reality of the battle sets in: some of his comrades didn't make it, and the fight for the volcanic island is just beginning. This two-page war story captures the raw terror and exhaustion of amphibious combat in visceral, unflinching detail.

Dug in and pinned down in the sand, a young soldier and his squad desperately await reinforcements—only to watch a tank meant to support them get systematically torn apart by enemy fire, leaving them in a worse spot than before. "Support!" follows the visceral moment when promised help becomes a liability, and survival means making an impossible choice in the chaos of war.

A Marine unit fights through an island battle, moving from crater to crater under heavy fire toward a crucial airstrip, their nerves frayed by constant danger and confusion about orders and positioning. When darkness falls, the real test begins—holding the ridge through a tense night watch where staying awake might mean the difference between survival and becoming another casualty of war. "Moving Up!" captures the grinding pressure of combat, where courage is less about heroics and more about following orders, staying alert, and trusting the veterans who know how to keep their squad alive.

A soldier digs in with his unit to defend against an incoming tank assault, steeling himself against fear as enemy armor closes in. When naval gunfire erupts to drive back the attack, he braces for the worst—but war, as he learns, is as much about uncertainty and waiting as it is about combat itself. Published in 1955.

A Marine unit presses forward to capture Motoyama Air Strip on Iwo Jima, enduring wave after wave of combat across one of the Pacific's toughest battlegrounds. As days stretch longer than expected and exhaustion sets in, a young Marine finally spots the enemy he's been hunting since landing—and realizes firsthand just how hard this fight will be. "Advance!" captures the grinding, relentless reality of island warfare through the eyes of soldiers who know they're in it for the long haul.

A crippled B-29 Superfortress limps back across the Pacific after bombing Tokyo, its crew fighting damage and dwindling fuel with 1,500 miles of ocean between them and home. When a chance radio intercept reveals that Marines have just secured Iwo Jima only forty miles away, the pilot and his men make a desperate push to reach the newly captured airstrip before their wounded bird falls from the sky.