New Heroic Comics #78

During the brutal fighting for Heartbreak Ridge in Korea, Corporal David Hennessey, a company cook with Company F of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, witnesses a comrade fall under enemy fire during a devastating Red attack. Without hesitation, he races through a hail of gunfire to reach his wounded friend, administers first aid, and manages to pull him to safety—an act of selfless courage that earns him the Bronze Star Medal with "V" for valor.

Marine Corporal Bernard J. McNulty leads his rifle squad against a heavily fortified enemy position, refusing to retreat despite a severe shoulder wound and overwhelming odds. With bold tactics and unflinching resolve, McNulty orchestrates a daring flanking maneuver that turns the tide of battle and sends the enemy into panicked retreat. A true account of courage under fire that earned McNulty the Bronze Star for his heroic service in Korea.

During the Korean War, First Lieutenant Eugene Curtis leads his platoon in an assault on Hill 451 near Inje, only to have his men pinned down by a hidden enemy machine gun. Disregarding his own safety, Curtis works his way up the hill to locate and destroy the bunker, turning what seemed like certain defeat into victory through sheer courage and determination. His inspired troops press forward to secure the objective, earning Curtis the Silver Star for his exceptional heroism.

PFC Wilbur Washington, a crack rifleman with the 23rd Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, refuses to back down when his unit stalls before an enemy-held hill near Satae-ri, Korea—deciding instead to press the assault solo despite overwhelming fire. Ignoring the furious fusillade from machine-gun nests and bunkers, Washington scrambles up the hillside with nothing but his rifle and determination, turning the tide of the engagement through sheer courage and accurate fire. His bold stand inspires his hesitant comrades to follow, and together they drive toward their objective in this gripping account of one soldier's unwillingness to accept defeat.

When an apartment house explosion traps a man inside, 22-year-old T. W. Jenkins Jr. of Houston, Texas doesn't hesitate—he charges into the smoke-filled building despite warnings from onlookers, determined to find anyone who might need help. This true-life account follows a young man's instinctive heroism in the face of danger, and the recognition that follows his courageous rescue.

A Newark soldier's extraordinary courage under fire on a Korean battlefield earns him the Bronze Star for Valor—a medal presented to his mother at city hall in recognition of PFC Russell H. Bowers, Jr.'s selfless stand against overwhelming odds. Though the hero did not survive to receive the honor himself, his mother accepts the recognition of her son's bravery and sacrifice.

When a sailor's wife falls from a ship's ladder into the icy Maumee River, the nearby crewman Johnny Fruits doesn't hesitate—he dives into the frigid water to pull her to safety. This gripping true-life account from 1952 captures a moment of quick thinking and courage on the Great Lakes docks, as Fruits holds the unconscious woman afloat until help arrives to pull them both to safety.

When a prowler forces his way into 11-year-old Dennis Gaffaney's bedroom at dawn, the son of a police officer must think fast to protect his sleeping parents. Using quick wits and his father's service revolver, Dennis manages to turn the tables on the intruder and alert his family to the danger. This 1952 true-life drama shows how one young man's courage and presence of mind made all the difference when it mattered most.

A young girl wanders into the California hills with a neighbor's dog and loses her way home, sparking a desperate nightlong search involving nearly a thousand volunteers. When hope fades by dawn, a determined group of ten-year-old Cub Scouts refuses to give up—and their refusal to quit becomes the difference between tragedy and reunion.

Corporal John Essenbagger, Jr. faces impossible odds when his unit is driven back by enemy forces in Korea, leaving him to make a desperate stand against overwhelming numbers. Drawing on memories of his past service and the life waiting for him at home, he fights with everything he has—but the cost of that courage will be etched into history. This non-fiction account from 1952 honors a soldier whose final moments of valor earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

When a motorboat breaks down and sends one of its passengers into deep water, 19-year-old Milton A. Smith witnesses the man's desperate struggle from shore. Smith springs into action, pulling the drowning man ashore and performing lifesaving artificial respiration he learned as a Boy Scout—a quick-thinking intervention that turns what could have been tragedy into a tale of genuine heroism.

When Robert Jeffries and two young friends stumble upon a group of teenagers building a dangerous fire along Duck Creek Road, a careless mistake with gasoline turns into a life-threatening emergency. Without hesitation, the twelve-year-old springs into action to save his friend from the blazing aftermath—a selfless act of heroism that earns him recognition from his community.

1st Lieutenant J. A. Bradley, a veteran of 130 combat missions in the Pacific during World War II, takes off for a routine flight in an F-84 jet fighter at Henley Field, Texas—but an internal explosion cripples the aircraft mid-takeoff. Faced with a choice between saving himself and protecting the spectator-filled cars below, Bradley makes a decision that defines true heroism in this gripping true-life account from 1952.