Fightin' Marines #37

Cpl. Andy Bollard survives everything—a capsized landing craft, ambushes on Guadalcanal, explosions at Saipan—while the Marines around him fall. Convinced he's a jinx to his unit, Bollard struggles through island after island of the Pacific campaign, wondering if his uncanny luck to survive will ever come with a price. A raw, haunting look at what it means to be the one who always walks away.

A young Marine discovers that the harsh realities of combat in the jungle bear little resemblance to his romanticized dreams of military service, yet finds a deeper kind of glory in the shared sacrifice of those who wear the uniform. This one-page story from 1960 cuts straight to the heart of what it truly means to be a Marine.

Eddie Manners was just a scrawny kid who grew up idolizing the legendary Marines of old, but when he enlisted during World War II, he could barely believe he had what it took to be one of them. At the brutal beach assault on Tarawa in December 1943, Manners discovers that courage isn't about being born fearless—it's about fighting through terror and doing what needs doing, one grenade and one moment at a time.

S/Sgt. Jim Desmond, a grizzled Korean War veteran nicknamed "Old Armorplate" for his seemingly indestructible presence in battle, watches his younger Marines depend entirely on him to hold the line against overwhelming Chinese Communist forces in the winter of 1950–51. When Desmond realizes his squad has stopped thinking for themselves and fighting as individuals, he sets out to prove they don't need him—and that they're far tougher than they know. A gritty portrait of leadership and the cost of becoming a symbol when what your men really need is to believe in themselves.