Battlefield Action #52

Corporal Dave Catlin arrives in Korea as a green soldier plagued by fear—so much so that the sight of a casualty nearly makes him faint—but when the enemy closes in on his position, something changes in him. Over two months of dangerous solo patrols deep into enemy territory, Catlin discovers an unexpected resolve, learning to trust his instincts and push through his terror to protect his squad. Now cornered in a cave with nearly a hundred Chinese soldiers surrounding him, the frightened corporal faces his ultimate test.

During the North African campaign, Corporal Mike Reardon and Privates Smith and Cordon are sent on a reconnaissance patrol to locate the Germans' main attack point—intelligence vital to the American defense. When the patrol discovers the Nazi assault is imminent and Cordon falls in combat, Reardon seizes an audacious opportunity: he infiltrates the German Panzer column by commandeering the lead tank, with Smith piloting the captured vehicle back toward American lines. What unfolds is a daring gambit that turns the enemy's own armor into a weapon against them.

When Private William Cosbie joins his regiment in Korea, he's shocked to discover his father—Colonel Cosbie, a notoriously harsh disciplinarian nicknamed "the Hatchet Man"—has arrived to whip the company into fighting shape, and the brutal training regimen he demands quickly turns father and son into bitter enemies. As the Colonel's relentless drills and midnight inspections grind the men down, William finds himself hating the man he once idolized, even as he begins to understand the purpose behind the punishment. When the Chinese Communists finally attack and the company faces combat, William learns what his father's ruthless methods were really meant to achieve.

Corporal Joe Rausche struggles with paralyzing fear during the brutal retreat from Chosin in November 1950, so consumed by dread that he courts death rather than face his terror—until his fellow soldier, Corporal Albert Fiske, shows him a different way to understand courage. As the two fight their way through overwhelming odds with the Chinese Army closing in, Rausche discovers that what he calls cowardice might look entirely different to someone else.