EC - Link-Up (Severin/Elder)

Link-Up
art by John Severin & Will Elder, story by Harvey Kurtzman
Two-Fisted Tales #26[#9] (1952)

This is part of a special issue of TWO-FISTED which had tales of the "action at the Changjin Reservoir" in the Korean War the previous winter. This story follows a group of frontline marines through a night, with the focus on one soldier named Pop who keeps complaining about wanting to go home.

The Easy Company reference is kind of cute, in retrospect, although this was actually published years before another publisher made Easy Company famous. Anyway, the battle rages through the night, until they sun rises and the army backup arrives and they see the bodies piled up. Pop meanwhile still wants to fight, and has to be dragged away by medics.

An interesting little story, especially for one published so quickly after the events in question. Some great images of the grungy battleground conditions by Severin and Elder.