Fightin' Marines #23

Skinny seemed like a "one hitch" Marine—a guy content to serve once and get out—until peacetime boredom kept pulling him back to the fighting, whether in Korea, Central America, or China. Decades later, Gunner Hawes tells a young boot named Tom Ransom the full story while they're dug in against a Communist assault, revealing how a reluctant enlistee became a lifer who couldn't stay away from the corps. As Ransom stands shoulder-to-shoulder with them in the heat of battle, Gunner sees something familiar—a man who claims he's different, yet fights like he belongs nowhere else.

Captain Palermo leads a small squad of ten veteran Marines in a daring feint attack against Japanese forces dug into a hillside overlooking the beach—their mission is to make noise, create chaos, and convince the enemy they're facing a much larger force while the main assault comes from another direction. As his men charge and raise hell, the confused Japanese scramble to respond to the apparent onslaught, and what begins as a calculated bluff threatens to become something far more ambitious when Palermo's squad decides to push forward instead of withdrawing.

Combat veteran Sgt. Joe Mastros goes absent without leave during his furlough to see action in Korea, where he hitch-hikes his way into a weapons company—only to find himself commanding a green unit holding a crucial ridge when their officers fall. Now facing court-martial, Mastros must answer for his unauthorized absence while the reports from the field tell a very different story about what he accomplished during those missing days.

When Casey, a troublemaking Marine, stays behind on Signal Hill to cover the division's retreat from an overwhelming Red armored assault, his radio pleas for help spark an unlikely rescue. The men who once laughed at the goof-off rally to mount a counterattack, determined to bring one of their own back alive. Watch as the division discovers what Casey's made of when it matters most.

When a griping private gets his wish to run the outfit for a day in Korea, Pvt. Jordie Clark discovers that combat leadership demands far more than barking orders—and his battlefield instincts during a fierce enemy assault earn him far more responsibility than he bargained for. Clark's day in charge forces him to confront why he spent years complaining instead of stepping up, even as the Colonel has other plans for his future.

A damaged aircraft struggles to make it back to base, and the crew inside faces a desperate landing with nothing but hope on their side. When the pilot loses consciousness during touchdown, the men on the ground wonder if their prayers might be the only thing that brings their comrades down safely. A tense wartime moment where faith and chance collide on the runway.