As of August (and April) of this year, it has been 70 years since the end of World War II. Seventy years sounds like a lot of time, but honestly, it isn’t. You can still see the scars of the war on places like Normandy or the Ardennes, and, if you look, still on the faces of the brave men who took part in it.
Brokaw calls these guys the “Greatest Generation.” I tend to agree, although a tearful vet’s rebuttal has stayed with me for years and holds contention — he said the Greatest Generation were the ones that didn’t come home. Instead, they were just the survivors. Seventy years offers a little more perspective, a little more distance, but that doesn’t change the fact that only some decades separate us from now and the brink of annihilation that those men stood firmly against.
Speaking of perspective, it’s sometimes become vogue in history books and even history classes to try and downplay the severity of our need to enter World War 2, or the means which we used to end it. Next time someone does, remember this little nugget: Midway through the war, the War Department conducted a survey. They were trying to calculate how much bronze, silver, and copper could be extracted from our national monuments — statues, plaques, Civil War and Revolutionary War cannons, you name it. The concern was we could run out of these metals in making ammunition. Fortunately, the industrial powers of the US were up to the challenge, but it bears remembering: we were willing to melt down our own shared monuments, our physical history, to fight the Axis powers. That’s as severe as it gets.
Although fictional, Sgt. Rock is very much a part of that generation. His exploits were rooted in history, and anyone who feels his story is too fantastic to be true has never read the stories of men like Audie Murphy, Dick Winters, Francis Wai, Vernon Baker, and “Mad “Jack Churchill, along with God knows how many others.
Rock served with distinction as Top of “E” “Easy” Company, probably starting with the illustrious 1st Infantry, aka the “Big Red One,” based on where his tour took him across Europe and North Africa. His unit was always identified as just “Easy Company,” although some books mention his units transfer into other “E” companies to fill in lost strength, something that sadly happened all too often. He probably carried the full rank of Senor Platoon Sergeant by the time of most of his stories. Armed with his trusty M1911 Colt, an M3 fighting knife, and the venerable M1A1 Thompson, Rock also liked to carry around a couple of .50 caliber bandoliers — just in case, he’d say. He’s usually seen wearing remnants of a standard Olive Drab Herringbone twill (HBT) uniform, or a combination of several — again, not unusual, as uniforms would be modified and replaced with whatever was available. He was almost always seen with his “tin pot” helmet, adorned with Sergeant chevrons and rockers on the front.
The ending to his and Easy’s illustrious combat record is somewhat contentious. Some writers have progressed Rock out of the war and into contemporary settings, and that’s not been a good transition, some excellent Brave & Bold comics aside. Others have held that Rock took the last bullet of the European Theater, shielding a young boy from crossfire. Personally, I’m not sure I like either ending for the guy. He was a warrior, and while worthy of a warrior’s death, he deserved some peace and rest for all he’d fought — so I hate the idea of his being dragged through decades of geo-political b.s. and hot/cold wars like fellow veteran Nick Fury. I’d like to think he hung up his helmet in some quiet piece of French countryside, with Mademoiselle Marie, leaving all the fanfare and obligation with it, and the world to do it’s thing without him. But keeping that trusty Thompson over the fireplace — just in case.
Rock did get a DC Direct figure, back in the old days. It practically oozed Joe Kubert’s classic lines and style and is still a great figure to look at, if not play with much. Remco tried to knock-off some Joes and call them Easy Company in the ’80s, but as Rock would tell you, nothing’s easy in Easy company. G.I. Joe obviously forgave him, though, and there was a Rock-themed set of classic Joes in the early 2000s.
So, during this year of remembrance, let’s give this old war horse another memorial in 6-inch plastic. And cloth, if you really want to wrinkle Fritz’s shorts.
*Shoutout to Benty for always keeping this guy on the wishlists, and if you’re looking for some other WWII new hotness, be sure to throw in on INVICTUS Kickstarter for Lt. Turnbull: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/887725114/invicta-challenge-games-about-american-heroes-and
