True Comics #46

Two destroyer crews bearing the name U.S.S. Laffey earned their place in naval legend through extraordinary acts of valor in the Pacific—first during a brutal November 1942 engagement off Guadalcanal, and later when a new Laffey faced waves of suicide planes off Okinawa in April 1945. This true account chronicles how successive crews, under unrelenting enemy fire and catastrophic damage, refused to surrender their fighting spirit, turning a ship's name into a symbol of American resolve that the Japanese would never forget.

On D-Day, a British glider carrying troops bound for France experiences a critical mechanical failure—its tow rope snaps, sending the aircraft spinning back toward England. The soldiers, primed for combat and unaware of their reversed course, prepare to storm out of the glider expecting a fight, only to encounter a very different kind of surprise when they touch down.

George Gershwin rose from the streets of New York to become one of America's greatest composers, creating groundbreaking works like the folk opera *Porgy and Bess* and a piano concerto that won him recognition as a brilliant artist. Though he suffered from mysterious headaches that plagued his performances, his talent and output seemed boundless—until illness struck him down at the height of his creative powers. Today his music endures as a testament to a young man who left an indelible mark on American culture and jazz.

On February 19, 1945, Marines stormed the Japanese stronghold of Iwo Jima, and four days later, forty men under Lt. Harold Schrier fought their way up the strategic heights of Mt. Suribashi. This story traces the diverse ancestry and courage of six men—PFC. Rene Gagnon, Pharmacist's Mate 2/C John Henry Bradley, Sgt. Michael Strank, PFC. Ira Hayes, PFC. Franklin Sousley, and Sgt. Henry Hansen—who would become part of one of the war's most defining moments. Drawing on the heritage of their ancestors, these Americans of French-Canadian, English, Carpatho-Russian, Pima Indian, Kentucky, and Danish descent fought side by side toward a goal that would unite a nation.