Heroic Comics #25

When Helmar Schmidt takes a midday rest on a mattress aboard the Liberty ship Richard D. Spaight in the South Atlantic, a Nazi torpedo strikes—launching both man and bedding 200 feet into the air in this wartime tale of improbable fortune. Published in 1944 by Heroic Comics, this one-page humor story from the War Shipping Administration's own accounts shows that sometimes the most unlikely escape routes work out.

Lt. Charles H. Hutchins commands the aging destroyer Borie in a desperate battle against a German submarine determined to sink the American vessel. As the two ships clash in a vicious naval engagement, Hutchins and his crew must use every weapon and ounce of courage at their disposal to stay afloat and overcome their enemy. This is the true story of how the Borie's officers and men became heroes in a contest where winner takes all.

United States Marines assault the heavily fortified island of Tarawa in a brutal 76-hour battle, facing relentless Japanese machine gun fire, coastal artillery, and entrenched enemy positions as wave after wave of troops fight to establish beachheads and push inland. With naval gunfire, carrier bombers, and advancing armor supporting the assault, the Marines press forward through fierce resistance to capture this strategic Pacific stronghold. A gripping firsthand account of one of the bloodiest engagements in Marine Corps history, told through the eyes of the soldiers who lived through it.

S/Sgt. Tyre S. Weaver is a Fortress gunner whose bomber takes a direct hit during a raid over Germany, leaving him badly wounded and bleeding fast. With no way to make it back to England, his crew makes the agonizing decision to drop him over enemy territory—a thousand-to-one gamble that he'll survive the fall and find help below. This wartime tale follows Weaver's desperate leap into the darkness and the slim hope his crew clings to as they limp their damaged plane home.

Lieut. David C. Waybur leads a patrol deep into enemy territory during the Sicily invasion, but when his unit becomes pinned down by advancing tanks at a blown bridge, he must make desperate decisions to keep his men alive. Outnumbered and wounded, Waybur faces off against overwhelming odds in a thrilling display of combat courage that will test everything he has. This true account of American bravery in 1944 shows how quick thinking and sheer determination can turn the tide when soldiers are backed into a corner.

Sgt. Bernard Brown and four fellow Marines establish a machine gun nest along the Piva River in Bougainville, where they prepare to face a Japanese patrol of seventy-five soldiers reported in the area. When the enemy force emerges from the jungle and charges across the clearing, the Marines unleash sustained defensive fire, repelling multiple assaults as PFC. Joseph Les burns through thousands of rounds of ammunition to hold their position.

John Wallace, the Music Master, investigates a haunting mystery when his friend Ken Anders arrives tormented by phantom gong sounds that only he can hear—vibrations traced to a sinister temple in the East. As Wallace closes in on the source, he's captured by the evil Faceless Lama of Shang-Ta, who commands a deadly gong capable of destroying those exposed to its hypnotic frequencies. When Anders and pilot Phil Markham arrive to help, all three find themselves at the mercy of the lama's diabolical instrument—and Wallace must harness his extraordinary command over sound itself to survive.