War Heroes #12

Beckett's heart is shattered by a "Dear John" letter from his sweetheart Ellie back home, and in his despair he becomes reckless in combat—volunteering for suicide missions and taking insane risks that worry his commanding officer and platoon mates. As his habits of dangerous heroism mount during the Korean War, a second letter arrives that may change everything Beckett thought he'd lost.

A Panther jet returns to the carrier with a punctured fuel tank during Korean operations, forcing the pilot to bring his crippled ship down despite the danger—but the real test comes when the landing itself triggers a catastrophe that could consume the entire vessel. "They Also Serve" spotlights the often-overlooked sailors and emergency crews whose quick thinking and courage stand between disaster and tragedy, reminding us that heroism isn't always flashy or front-line. Published in War Heroes #12 (1965), this one-page story captures the tension of carrier operations and the quiet valor of those who answer the call when seconds count.

A tank gunner with the 8th Army fights through the brutal winter retreat in Korea, losing his M26 Pershing but soon climbing back into action aboard a new M46 Patton as Operation Ripper pushes north against Chinese Communist forces. As the American advance gathers momentum in spring 1951, the gunner and his crew face intense combat—from MiG strafing runs to dug-in enemy positions—in a grinding "police action" where holding ground and destroying enemy divisions matter more than claiming territory. With communist counterattacks looming and armor clashing on the ridges, the real test of this cold, vicious campaign is just beginning.

A firsthand account of the Pacific campaign's turning point: when the capture of Saipan and Iwo Jima gave American forces the bases they needed to strike at Japan's heart with massive B-29 bomber formations and fighter escorts. Witness the brutal cost of those long-range missions—crippled aircraft limping back to island sanctuaries, losses mounting over enemy territory—as the war reaches its critical final phase. This is the story of how America tightened the noose on a fading empire.

Sergeant Fred Crozier finds himself trapped deep in an underground tunnel system beneath Iwo Jima after the ground collapses during combat, forcing him to navigate a labyrinth of Japanese strongpoints, artillery, and supply caches armed only with a flame-thrower and his wits. As he works his way through the caves destroying enemy positions and ammunition stores, Crozier discovers the Japanese command headquarters and uses his last desperate card to fight his way back to Marine territory. It's a tense survival story of one soldier's solo fight beneath a hostile island fortress.