We're in the stretch of Our Army at War where Joe Kubert took over writing Sergeant Rock, with Russ Heath as the artist. In "Face Front", Rock's stuck babysitting Iggy and Gus, new guys in Easy Company who somehow wandered off during the night and got lost. This was apparently not desertion, just incompetence, but either way, Rock went out alone to find them. Now they're under attack by 3 FW-190s, so Rock's probably wishing he stayed in bed. Then again, Rock shot down more German planes than any actual American fighter pilot, so it's no surprise they down 2 of the fighters, but they still have to catch up to Easy.
On foot. During the heat of the day. In North Africa. While Gus and Iggy won't quit comparing their situation to things back on the home front. "Oh, we're stuck hiking while they're rationing gas back home." "You gotta have a ration card to buy shoes back home, but my boot's got a hole in it."
Rock's probably happy the surviving fighter plane radioed the base to send out a halftrack full of Nazis (in shorts) to find them. Gives him someone to beat the crap out of, which they do, after tricking them with the bit where you prop up your helmet and disguise sticks as rifles. By the time the Nazis figure it out, well. . .
And we're still walking, but it's night, in the desert, so now it's cold. Which gives Iggy something else to whine about. Rock is saved from fragging his own men - who, again, are in this mess because they wandered off for some reason - by finding a Nazi fuel supply depot. Rock's gonna take it out, and when Iggy and Gus protest the odds, lets them have it (verbally) for spending all this time complaining how easy it is for folks back home, but refusing to do anything to help "Easy" Company. It's a strained analogy, but Rock's an infantry sergeant, not captain of the debate team. Iggy pretends to surrender, drawing attention so Rock and Gus can plant grenades around the fuel and the explosions catch Easy's attention and that's the end of the issue.
Second story, one of Sam Glanzman's U.S.S. Stevens tales, about a young sailor's first experience being on a ship under fire. While the experienced sailors calmly assess how close the planes are getting by what guns the Stevens crews are firing, the rookie decides to go topside for some water. This is a bad idea, and the rookie dives back down the ladder and jams a bucket over his head, thus the name of the story, "Buckethead". We're assured he turned out OK eventually.
Third, Ric Estrada writes and draws a story about some slaveholder hunting cranes in the swamps of Florida. "Mastah Chad" dismisses notions there might be "Injuns" around, which is when some Seminoles open fire from the shore. Chad avoids dying initially, which is more than his slaves manage, but only by getting himself lost in the swamps. His corpse is found 3 months later by soldiers. The story ends with the caption, 'Amid Florida's splendors--violence is common during the Seminole Wars of the 1830s!' on one side of the panel, and "KIRBY IS COMING" on the other. Well, hopefully he'll take care of all this violence in Florida then.
Lastly, Bob Haney/Joe Kubert bring us, "Anchored Frogman", about a frogman who, in the process of attaching an explosive charge to the hull of an enemy ship, gets his leg caught in a link of the anchor chain. Over the remaining 4 pages, as he reflects on how there's all this open water around him but he's trapped, he unsuccessfully tries to squirm free, fails to cut the chain with his cutting torch, and is in the process of being choked out by a Nazi frogman when the anchor starts to get raised. Before he can be squeezed through the hawser hole, his charge explodes and the shock throws him free of the chain. As this ship (and presumably all aboard) sink to the sea floor, he reflects that the people who taught him were right, there really is all kinds of room in the sea. Not if you keep sinking ships.
{8th longbox, 10th comic. Our Army at War #225, by Joe Kubert, Sam Glanzman, Ric Estrada and Bob Haney (writers), Russ Heath, Glanzman, Estrada and Kubert (artists)}
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