Our Army at ar #218



Cover by Joe Kubert, who was editing the book.

The first story is "Medic", with Sgt Rock. Rock and Easy Company are part of the Allied forces in North Africa, in Tunisia.



The battle is hard fought and a quiet medic does his job, running from wounded man to wounded man, patching them up, aiding as best he can. However, Bulldozer seems to have a problem with him. He feels that fighting soldiers will win this and if the medic isn't fighting, he isn't helping. Rock chews him out, but Bulldozer goes on. We see Easy in Sicily and Italy, the silent medic doing his job, with little sleep, patching the wounded, comforting the dying. In Italy, in the mountains, Easy is attacked from above by Germans, hurling "potato masher" grenades down on them. It sets off a rock slide, burying Rock and Bulldozer. The medic charges out, ignoring bullets flying at him and digs out Rock and Dozer.



The medic gets them out and starts patching their wounds. A German patrol finds them and Rock yells for the medic to run. Instead, he shields the two men with his body. Wild Man and Little Sure Shot and the rest of Easy get there and wipe out the Germans, saving Rock and Dozer. The medic is dead and Dozer cradles him in his arms, dumbfounded. They bury the brave man and move on.

Excellent tale from Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. Kanigher lays it on a bit thick; but, the story demonstrates the job of a medic; to treat the wounded, unarmed, while the battle rages. A cry that every combat soldier hears in their nightmares is "Medic....medic!!" The combat medics had the toughest job of all; try to keep the wounded alive and their own casualties were high. Countless tales have come down about the heroism of medics on the battlefield, running into enemy fire to save a wounded man, dragging them to safety, while ignoring their own wounds. One such medic was Corporal Desmond Doss, of Lynchburg, VA. Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist, who believed in nonviolence. He entered military service, despite being eligible for a deferment, as a shipyard worker, and became a medic, with the 77th Infantry. He won two Bronze Stars for heroism under fire at Guam and the Philippines. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism at Okinawa. His citation can be read here. He carried 75 wounded men to safety, while under enemy fire. He himself was wounded and treated his own wounds. He crawled off a litter to treat a more seriously wounded man! His actions were recently depicted in the film Hacksaw Ridge. That is a hero.

The second story, "The Tortoise and the Hare Went to War," by John Reed and Sam Burlockoff, tells the tale of a pair of brothers, one a tanker, the other a fighter pilot. Little brother Fighter Pilot pulls Big Brothers tank out of the fire, when it is attacked, first by knocking out a German tank, then by driving off panzer grenadiers when they are attacking the American tank. big Brother is able to return the favor when Little Brother's plane is hit, allowing him to make a landing, on the tank!

This was more than a bit cliched and silly and is the lesser story of the book. It was typical of filler stories in comics, in any era.

The last story, "Frightened Boys...or Fighting Men," is by Sam Glanzman and is the first of his USS Stevens stories.



The USS Stevens (DD 479) is steaming in the Pacific, in 1942, when it comes under fire. This is a new crew and it will be their first big test. We see Cmdr. TA Kelly, the skipper, look aft at the fantail section of the destroyer, where the new men are manning the 20mm anti-aircraft guns. This is their baptism of fire. The 20s are pouring it on, backed up by 40mm guns and 5 in guns. The men acquit themselves well; but, on the horizon, a low flying plane is approaching. It is a kamikaze and it makes its attack, slamming into the ship. The men react and fight to dislodge the wrecked plane and dump it over the side, before the burning fuel can set off its bombs. They succeed and save their ship from damage. The captain is pleased with the performance of his men and secures from General Quarters.

Glanzman sets the tone for his personal USS Stevens stories here. This is fictionalized, though based on his experiences. Kamikaze attacks didn't emerge until later in the war, when Japan was in more desperate straights. However, the Stevens did face kamikaze attacks later, in the Philippines and Guam. Unlike previous stories, Glanzman is depicting the real deal. This isn't a fanciful tale from the imagination; it is a reality that he illustrates with harrowing precision. he shows us how the men of the Stevens fought the enemy, with their guns, depth charges and torpedoes. We see them at General Quarters, during a battle. These would be the most accurate stories within the war books, as Glanzman was there; Kanigher wasn't.



The USS Stevens (DD 479) was laid down at the Charleston Naval Shipyards, in December 30, 1941 and christened on June 24, 1942. This story is set in August of 1942; but, the ship wasn't commissioned until 1943. It was part of the plane guard for Winston Churchill's flight to Washington, to meet with Pres. Roosevelt. It then took part in convoy duty, before transiting the Panama Canal to the Pacific. It took part in warm up raids at Tarawa and Marcus islands, before getting its real baptism by fire at Kwajalein. The Stevens originally carried a float plane, which was launched via a catapult, then recovered with a crane. The idea was to scout ahead for the destroyer and also launch torpedo attacks. It proved problematic and Glanzman's A Sailor's Story depicts a Japanese attack, due to their misidentifying the ship as a cruiser, which would have had a catapult for a spotter plane. The plane proved problematic and was removed, with more firepower added. The ship later took part on operations in the Philippines and survived a typhoon that snak 3 other ships, with few survivors.

Sam Glanzman served onboard the Stevens and was discharged from the Navy in 1946. He had started in comics in 1939, for Centaur, working on Amazing Man and then did work for Harvey. After the war, he didn't return to comics. Instead, he worked as a manual laborer, until marrying in the 1950s. he then went to work at Republic Aviation. He returned to comics, working for Eastman's Heroic Comics, while also ghosting for his brother Lou, on children's books. In 1958, he began working for Charlton. Glanzman produced a ton of work for them, including a ton of war comics, especially The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz (in Fightin' Army) and The Iron Corporal (in Army War Heroes), as well as some amazing work on Hercules. Joe Kubert brought him to DC and is also the one who greenlit this first USS Stevens story. Glanzman would go on to do many stories for DC, including a long run on the Haunted Tank, as well as more USS Stevens stories. He contributed to Marvel's Savage Tales and Semper Fi, as well as an issue of The Nam, before the publication of A Sailor's Story. A second volume followed and he reteamed with Will Franz to create The Eagle, for Caliber.

These days, Sam is 92 and one of the last links to the Golden Age of comics and one of the decreasing number of Silver Age artists.  His brother Davis Charles (DC) Glanzman also worked in comics.  Brother Louis worked in children's book illustration.  Both A Sailor's Story and his USS Stevens stories have been reprinted by Dover Books.