G.I. Joe #31

When Pvt. Malcolm Collins asks why the men keep joking about "pulling bowners," Joe Burch explains the story behind the nickname—a cautionary tale about Lt. Lawrence E. Bowner, who arrived to command "B" Company after Sgt. Mulvaney turned down a promotion to keep leading his men from the ranks. Bowner's obsession with spit-and-polish Army regulations and close-order drill quickly clashes with the battle-hardened veterans, and when the company is sent on an advance through treacherous terrain, his by-the-book tactics lead them directly into an enemy trap. Now pinned down in a dead-end canyon with nowhere to go, the men face days of confinement under an officer whose rigid discipline seems more dangerous than the enemy outside.

Pvt. Alvin Otis, the self-conscious ugly duckling of Baker Company, finally catches the eye of a young woman at a U.S.O. dance and gains the confidence to pursue a connection—but his insecurity threatens to sabotage everything when he tries too hard to be someone he's not. With help from his friend Pvt. Joe Burch and the well-meaning but misguided Sgt. Mulvaney, Alvin learns a hard lesson about what it truly means to be worthy of someone's affection.