Heroic Comics #20

When Japanese forces launched a massive assault across the Tenaru River at Guadalcanal, Marine Private Al Schmid manned a machine gun position that became the only effective defense against waves of enemy soldiers—and his steady fire claimed over two hundred casualties. Schmid's determination to hold the line, even as his gun's cooling system failed and enemy positions closed in from multiple directions, turned the tide of the battle, though the cost to him proved devastating. This is the true story of a young Marine's extraordinary courage under fire.

When Private First Class Wallace E. Wynn's platoon is ambushed near the front lines on Guadalcanal, he's forced to fight for survival alone in enemy territory—using quick thinking, grit, and sheer determination to navigate the jungle and evade Japanese forces. Over nearly two weeks, Wynn battles both soldiers and the brutal forces of nature, scrounging for food and water while making his desperate way back toward American lines. This is a lean, hard-hitting account of one Marine's will to endure against impossible odds.

Colonel Richard Carmichael leads his squadron of Flying Fortresses across the Pacific in December 1941, only to find Hawaii under surprise attack when they arrive—forcing him to keep his unarmed planes aloft while destruction rains below. Months later, now equipped for combat, Carmichael commands the aerial assault on the Japanese-held Solomons, where his tactical skill and courage in the skies earn him recognition and repeated calls to lead the fight against the enemy.

When a live bomb begins its deadly countdown aboard a Liberator bomber in New Guinea, Lieut. Ogle steps in to prevent catastrophe, racing against the ticking fuse to save his crew and their aircraft. This wartime tale of quick thinking and nerves of steel shows why the boys serving overseas have earned the respect of folks back home.

Sergeant Katue, a former Papua policeman with wounded legs, refuses to abandon his village when Japanese forces invade New Guinea—instead rallying his neighbors to mount a guerrilla campaign against overwhelming odds. Leading a ragtag band of native fighters armed with determination and marksmanship, Katue wages an audacious jungle war that proves heroism knows no uniform or schooling.