G.I. Combat #250 is an issue of the series G.I. Combat (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1983.
Synopsis for Haunted Tank: "Hero of the Haunted Tank"
The Haunted Tank has been in the heat of battle for days and nights. Its crew doesn't faulter. Each know they're job, and they're the best at it. Lt. Jeb Stuart calls the shots, Sgt. Bill Craig drives the tank, Gus Grey load the shells, and Rick Rawlins fires the cannon. Each enemy tank is taken out one by one, without miss. When the last of the enemy is defeated, the ghost of General J.E.B. Stuart appears to overlook the battlefield. Jeb is pleased with himself, but the General warns that "a soldier's work is never done". His words fall on deaf ears, and each of the Haunted Tank's crew dwell on their own ego.
At dawn, the battered Haunted Tank returns to base. Skipper is waiting for them with the good news... one man from the squadron has been chosen to represent the Armor Division on a nationwide bond drive, to be flown back to the states for an extended tour! Skipper has chosen the men of the Haunted Tank for the assignment, but only one can go, and he wants the four of them to chose which one before he returns on his latest patrol. Which one will go, when each one of them believes that they are the best of the best? The long day passes into night without a decision, but that must be put to the side when a message is radioed in that the Division has been stalled in a fight with Panzers near St. Croix. The enemy has been defeated, but the tanks are out of fuel and sitting ducks for a second assault. Jeb orders the others onto the Haunted Tank and they take off into the snowy fields to help.
As dawn begins to appear, a lone P-51 in the sky radios Jeb and tells him that a message intercepted telling that a squadron of Panzers are also stalled within a railroad tunnel outside St. Croix waiting to be refueled as well. Aircraft have been unable to penetrate the tunnel with their bombs, and the only hope for the American Division is for the Haunted Tank to get there before the Panzers can be refueled and stop them. Jeb orders Craig to change course for the tunnel. On the way to the tunnel, the Haunted Tank begins to drive on a slippery pass along a mountain covered in ice and snow. The barest vibration could bring an avalanche down on them, or slip them off the pass into the valley below. Craig takes it nice and slow, one foot at a time until they are at the end of the pass, just in time for the avalanche to come down behind them. Now in the safety of the clearing, they head full speed towards the enemy tunnel.
Both friend and enemy, one in the tunnel, one in the fields nearby, each waiting for their fuel reserves to arrive and begin the attack. The first to refuel will be the victor. In the middle of it all, the Haunted Tank races to the area, oblivious tot he dangers in front of them. Jeb looks down into the snow beneath them, then shouts for Craig to make an immediate stop. Jeb realizes that they have just driven into a minefield, the snow hiding the mines from their view. Jeb jumps out of the hatch and begins to comb the area, with Gus taking his place topside at the machine gun. As Jeb slowly begins to disarm the nearest mines to the tank, they are attacked from above by a German fighter plane. Gus swings the machine gun around and open fires. With precision skill he riddles the side of the plane with bullets and causes it to dive into a fiery crash. With the mines now clear, Jeb takes his place again and the Haunted Tank moves forward once more. The4 tunnel is now straight ahead. As the head of the tunnel comes into view, Jeb spots a tanker truck entering and orders the Haunted Tank full speed ahead. His plan is to destroy the truck at the head of the tunnel causing an avalanche, but the truck takes a curve and moves out of sight. They slowly enter the tunnel. Rounding the curve, the tanker truck once again comes into view. Jeb has to rely on his crew's skill for this one. Rick takes careful aim, and with one quick blast the shell slams into the tanker and explodes it and the tunnel into a fiery blaze of death. Craig slams the Haunted Tank into reverse and drives them out of the tunnel at full speed as the fireball quickly nears them. They exit the tunnel in the nick of time!
Later the Haunted Tank rolls its way back into base. The rest of the Division has returned, having been safely refueled due to Jeb and his crews' actions. Skipper is waiting for them. He is certain that after the crew proved themselves saving everyone's necks, that they would have decided who was the most valuable man to accept the stateside assignment. Jeb tells him to pick someone else, as no one member of his crew is more important than the other. They're a team, and they're staying together.
Appearing in Haunted Tank: "Hero of the Haunted Tank"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- General J.E.B. Stuart (As a spirit)
Antagonists:
- German Artillery soldiers
Other Characters:
- Captain "Skipper" Jamison
- American Radio operator
- American P-51 pilot
- American Artillery soldiers
Locations:
- St. Croix, France
Items:
- Land mine
Vehicles:
- The Haunted Tank
- Panzerkampfwagen IV
- North American Aviation P-51 Mustang fighter plane
- German Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/R2 fighter plane
- German Fuel tanker truck
Synopsis for OSS: "The Eagle and the Mole"
In the skies over Frankfort, Germany, enemy German fighters dive through their own FLAK to continue their relentless slaughter of the 5th Air Force Bombers trying to reach their targets. One on of the bombers, 1st Lieutenant Phil Brewster, known by his O.S.S. code name "Eagle", and his crew try to survive the onslaught of enemy planes. The bomber's No. 3 engine bursts into flames, and the crew watch as Lt. Brewster grabs a parachute and abandons ship. They think he's a coward, but little do they know of his secret mission for the O.S.S.!
Brewster is spotted making a landing and is quickly taken prisoner by the Germans on the ground. They are unaware that the "Eagle" is in radio contact with Control and the O.S.S. Headquarters back in London. They hear every last word, and everything is going as planned! Fourty-Eight hours before, Control had briefed Eagle on his secret mission. While the bombing raids on Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, and Frankfort were just diversionary attacks to keep the Luftwaffe busy, their ultimate objective is the oil refineries at Cologne. But at all the targets, the enemy had been waiting for them. There must be a leak, and it's been traced back tot he German prison at Stalag 12 where many of their airmen are being held captive. There must be a German impersonating an American prisoner who is picking up information from the others and passing it along to the German High Command, and it's the Eagle's job to find that man and stop him. Control planted him among the bomber crews, along with a mini-transmitter hidden within his hat's emblem, with the hopes that he would be found and captured among the other American airmen.
Meanwhile, Eagle arrives with the other prisoners at Stalag 12, processed, and then assigned his barracks. Eagle gets to know the other prisoners he's with in the barracks, including their leader Major Bolt, and begins to plant information in the hopes that the "mole" within would overhear and pass the information to the Camp Commandant. While walking outside, lost in thought, he stumbles into an old man named Foster, one of the longest serving prisoners at the camp. Foster is tending his makeshift garden, and offers Eagle a tomato. The others explain that Foster was shot down during the first raids at St. Lazaire, and the shock has turned his hair white and made him simple-minded. Eagle decides to keep an eye on him, suspicious.
That night, Eagle sneaks out of the barracks, with the hopes of catching the mole in the act of passing information. He watches from the shadows as the Camp Commandant walks to Foster's garden. The info had been buried in the garden, to wait for the Germans to retrieve it! Eagle is certain that Foster has to be the mole, and returns to the barracks to tell Major Bolt. But when he enters, he is grabbed by the other prisoners. Major Bolt tells him that no one leaves the barracks without permission from him, and orders the others to frisk him. They find the radio transmitter in his hat, and Bolt is convinced that Eagle is a German spy, planted to keep tabs on them. Bolt gives the hat to Foster, who puts it on. The Eagle slips away before he can be seen, determined to escape the prison before wither the Americans or the Germans kill him. He cuts his way through the fence to freedom, but then notices that Foster has followed him. Foster gives him back his hat, then strikes the Eagle in the head knocking him to the ground. He reveals his true nature, confirming Eagle's suspicions, and ready's a knife for the killing blow. Eagle swings around and stabs Foster with a knife he had secreted in the sweat band of his hat, killing the German mole and completing his mission.
The next day, Control and O.S.S. Headquarters receives a radio message from the Eagle that his mission has been a success and the mole is dead. Control orders that the raids on the oil refineries at Cologne should go ahead immediately. This time the combined bomber force catches the Germans by surprise. Lt. Brewster is picked up by one. The pilot of the bomber wonders who they have to thank for stopping the ambushes. Brewster, bandaging his wounds, just tells him that "Maybe it was an Eagle".
Appearing in OSS: "The Eagle and the Mole"
Featured Characters:
- First Lieutenant Phil "Eagle" Brewster
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- German Stalag Commandant
- German Infantry soldiers
- Reich Minister Albert Speer (Mentioned only)
Other Characters:
- Major Bolt
- Airman Foster (Dies)
- American Airmen
- British Airmen
- American bomber pilot
- American Bomber belly gunner
- British radio operator
Locations:
- Frankfort, Germany
Items:
- Parachute
- Mini-transmitter
Vehicles:
- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber
- German 170V Tourenwagen Military car
Synopsis for "Breaking Point"
Their platoon pinned down by unseen enemy guerrilla, two G.I.s, one newly-arrived private and his sergeant, scout a shell-shattered wasteland near Da Nang in Vietnam. The sergeant admits to being a little unnerved and worn down, and jumps at every noise they hear as they crawl along the jungle ground, keeping out of sight. The private begins to wonder about the sergeant. He was told that the man was a pretty rough veteran, but he seems more on edge than anyone. The sergeant notices a cloud of dust being stirred up ahead of them, but the private assures him it's only the wind. The sergeant is certain it's the enemy, and runs forward, despite the private's pleas to stay down. Then, just as he enters the clearing, the sergeant is gunned down by enemy fire from the Viet Cong. Seeing the gunfire, the American troops open fire, and artillery concentrate on the position of the gunfire. The Viet Cong nest has been exposed, and is destroyed.
After all is done, their captain finds the body of the sergeant lying in the dirt. He tells the private that the man smoked out the enemy by exposing himself, and he'll be giving the sergeant a posthumous medal for bravery. The private knows the truth, but decides to keep it to himself. The sergeant earned it... with his life.
Appearing in "Breaking Point"
Featured Characters:
- Sergeant Hale (Dies)
- Unnamed American Private
Antagonists:
- Viet Cong Infantry soldiers
Other Characters:
- American Infantry captain
- American Infantry soldiers
Locations:
- Da Nang, Vietnam
Items:
- Twig
Vehicles:
- American M110 self-propelled howitzer cannon
Synopsis for "The Anzac Chain"
At night under the light of the moon, an American PT-boat slowly glides through the water to a mountainous island in the Pacific. Naval Frogman Roy gears up in his wetsuit and dives over into the water to begin his mission. Narrowly avoiding sharks, he reaches the shore and discards his flippers, hurrying up a path leading into the mountains. His mission: to find the ANZAC coastal-watcher that has been signaling them and bring him back to the boat, along with the important information he is carrying that must remain out of enemy hands.
Roy reaches his objective, an abandoned planation on the cliffside of the island, and enters. There he finds the ANZAC messenger dead, and a woman hiding in the shadows. The woman's name is Mava Collins, the daughter of the ANZAC messenger, who had been hiding in the woods but returned to find her father murdered by the Japanese forces on the island. Roy decides to take her back with him, and signals with a flare for the PT-boat to return. Just then the plantation is attacked by the Japanese enemy. Roy tosses a grenade, taking out a few of the soldiers, but as the enemy begins to push their way in, he and Mava make a run for it. Their escape is cut short, and the tall cliffs are blocking their way to safety. With only one chance left for them, they both dive over the cliffs into the water below. Roy spots the PT-boat approaching from afar, but then it is hit with a shell and explodes in a fiery blast! Roy and Mava watch as an enemy patrol boat comes into view after having destroyed the PT-boat. The two begin to swim back for shore, but a shark appears heading their way. Roy decides to create a diversion, and tosses a grenade into the passing Japanese patrol boat. The boat explodes, sending its crew into the waters below, and diverting the sharks towards a feeding frenzy.
Roy and Mava swim to another section of the island, an underwater cavern. Mava tells Roy that her father had planned his escape should the Japanese find them, and had planted diving gear in the cavern for them to use. They both put on the scuba tanks and return to the water, and Mava shows Roy an underwater route through the caverns that leads to the other side of the island. Roy is hopeless that they'll be able to escae alive, but when they emerge from the water Mava shows him the speedboat her father stashed for their getaway, complete with weapons and enough extra fuel to get them to the nearest Allied base. As they speed away from the island, Mava tells Roy that the information her father had was of the Japanese are moving their fleet towards Midway in order to set a trap for the American Naval Pacific fleet. Not long after the speedboat is spotted by a Japanese gunboat, who turns to pursue. Roy orders Mava to let them close in on them. As soon as the gunboat is close enough, Roy tosses two of the barrels of fuel into the water. The gunboat gets right on top of them, and then Roy fies off his machine gun into the bobbing barrels. They explode, and take the gunboat with them in a blaze of fire! The message will make it safely through, and the battle at Midway a victory for the American fleet!
Appearing in "The Anzac Chain"
Featured Characters:
- Frogman Roy
Supporting Characters:
- Mava Collins
Antagonists:
- Japanese Infantry soldiers
Other Characters:
- ANZAC Coastal watcher Collins (Dies)
- American Naval officer (Dies)
- American Naval soldiers (All die)
Locations:
- Unnamed island, Pacific Ocean
Items:
- Mk2 grenade
- Fuel drums
Vehicles:
- American PT boat
- Japanese Patrol boat
- Japanese gunboat
- Speedboat
Synopsis for Haunted Tank: "Death Hunts the Decoy"
Lieutenant Jeb Stuart and the crew of the Haunted Tank watch from afar as two German fighter planes battle high in the sky. One fighter has the upper hand, with the other unable to respond or maneuver, having ran out of fuel mid-battle. The mysterious pilot of the paralized plane struggles to keep his plane level to glide in for a landing. His plane now on fire, the hapless pilot jumps. he waits for the last second to open his parachute, but then his attacker has swung around and begins to fire at the man. But now the attacking plane was low enough in the sky for the Haunted Tank to take a shot at it. One blast and the German plane is destroyed. The parachuting mystery pilot lands hard on the ground. Jeb orders the tank towards the landing site, just as General J.E.B. Stuart's ghost appears to warn him to "Beware... Lest you get your hands burned"!
Arriving at the landing site, they discover that the mysterious pilot is Major Kendall, the officer that Jeb and his men had been ordered by headquarters to find and retrieve. Kendall explains that he knew his plane didn't have enough fuel to make it, and had radioed ahead to be picked up at the nearby coordinates. At that moment, the Haunted Tank comes under fire from a Hornisse tank emerging from the woods. One shot nearly takes out the Haunted Tank and fills it with smoke, but Rick is able to see through the smoke and fire a killing shot. Too much damage has been done to the Haunted Tank, and Jeb orders his men to take their weapons and start back on foot. As they begin to leave, a German halftrack appears and begins to fire on the men, who flee into the safety of the woods. The Germans pursue on foot, with orders to bring the major back alive.
Barely keeping in front of the enemy, Jeb orders the others to take the major to the abandoned mill outside the nearby village of Le Vois, while he splits off to try and lure the Germans away from them. Sgt. Craig disagrees with his plan, and with Gus and Rick run off to try and decoy the Germans away, leaving Jeb to get the Major to the mill and to safety. Dispite his protests, Jeb decides to go along with the change in plan. As they flee, Major Kendall tells Jeb of his mission: after he was shot down on a recon mission, he was taken to St. Paul for interrogation. As he was being transported through the woods, he saw an entire squadrons of German Panzers ready for a surprise attack on the Allied lines. Kendall knew that the lines are so thin, the enemy would smash right through them. He succeeded in escaping and hijacking an enemy plane. he knew that the info on the attack had to get back to HQ no matter the cost. The Germans have caught up with Jeb and the Major, but Jeb is able to keep them at bay and away from their position.
The rest of the walk goes uneventful as Jeb and the Major arrive at the abandoned mill in Le Vois. There's no sign of the rest of the guys, but when Jeb and Kendall eneter the mill they find it full of Germans just waiting for them to arrive. The German officer in command orders the two restrained and taken outside to be executed. As the Germans form their firing line and bring their rifles to bear for the final kill, Craig, Gus, and Rick emerge from the water on the mill's wheel and open fire into the enemy. The Germans are all killed, just as Skipper arrives in a jeep. Skipper apologizes for his delay, saying he had a flat tire along the way, then turns perplexed at the three dripping wet men. Skipper asks them why they are wet, as it hasn't rained all day. Jeb just smiles, "Seems like everything else rained on us, Captain"!
Appearing in Haunted Tank: "Death Hunts the Decoy"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- General J.E.B. Stuart (As a spirit)
Antagonists:
- German pilot (Dies)
- German Artillery soldiers
- German Infantry soldiers
Other Characters:
- Major Kendall
- Captain "Skipper" Jamison
Locations:
- Le Vois, France
Items:
- Parachute
- German "Stielhandgranate" grenade
Vehicles:
- The Haunted Tank
- German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft
- German SdKfz 164 Hornisse tank destroyer
- German Panzerkampfwagen IV tank
- German Sonderkraftfahrzeug 6 half-track
- Willys MB U.S. Army Jeep
Trivia
- In this month's "Let's Make Tracks" letter column, editor Murray Boltinoff talks about a new development in military technology, the Williams Aerial Systems Platform, a flying platform that could hold one G.I. aloft for 30 minutes and reach 60 miles an hour at altitudes as high as 10, 000 feet. This would later be deemed inferior to the capabilities of helicopters and small, unmanned aircraft, and development was discontinued.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- World War II Recommended Reading
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 1)
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 2)
- All-American Men of War (Volume 1)
- All-Out War (Volume 1)
- Blackhawk (Volume 1)
- Blitzkrieg (Volume 1)
- Capt. Storm (Volume 1)
- Four-Star Battle Tales (Volume 1)
- G.I. Combat (Volume 1)
- Men of War (Volume 1)
- Military Comics (Volume 1)
- Our Army at War (Volume 1)
- Our Fighting Forces (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 2)
- Star-Spangled War Stories (Volume 1)
- Unknown Soldier (Volume 1)
- Weird War Tales (Volume 1)