I figure someone's gotta do the dirty work in this man's war ... and if I was one of the brass, I might be too busy polishin' my medals to have any fun!! 
Appearing in "On to Okinawa!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- ⏴ Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer ⏵
- ⏴ Pamela Hawley ⏵
- ⏴ The Skipper ⏵ (First appearance)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Colonel Phil "Pillbox" Parker (First appearance)
- Allied soldiers and sailors
- United States Army
- Charlie (First appearance)
- United States Navy
- United States Marine Corps
- United States Army
- Dum-Dum Dugan's wife (Mentioned)
- Mrs. Cohen (Mentioned)
- Uncle Sam (Mentioned)
- Nazis (Mentioned)
- Phileas Fogg (Mentioned)
- Marlon Brando (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Errol Flynn (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Emperor of Japan (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Europe
- North America
- Greenland, Denmark (Mentioned)
- Canada (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- Alaska (Mentioned)
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York (Mentioned)
- Asia
- Japan
- Okinawa Prefecture (First appearance)
- Okinawa (First appearance)
- Tokyo (Mentioned)
- Okinawa Prefecture (First appearance)
- Japan
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean (Mentioned)
- North Pole, Arctic Circle (Mentioned)
Events
- World War II
- European Theater
- Battle of the Bulge (Mentioned)
- Pacific Theater
- Battle of Okinawa (Mentioned)
- European Theater
Synopsis for "On to Okinawa!"
Captain Sawyer orders the Howling Commandos to train for an amphibious landing, and he personally oversees the exercise. On the way back to base, Sawyer lays out their next mission. G2 (Army intelligence) dropped someone onto Okinawa to evaluate the Japanese defenses before the Allied invasion. His luck held until he reached the shore for pickup by submarine, where he was wounded and captured. Nick Fury's squad has 72 hours to get from England to Okinawa, find the spy, break him out, and get off the island—that's when the carpet bombing begins. Finally, Sawyer tells him who the spy is: Colonel Phil Parker, with whom Fury served in the Battle of the Bulge.
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Fury makes his own gun turret
Their journey begins at 0300. They board a B-17, its payload and most weaponry removed to make room for extra fuel. Over the North Sea, two Stukas attack. Fury shoots one down with his automatic rifle, which apparently frightens off the other. They refuel in midair over Greenland, Canada, and then Alaska. The plane manages to land on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific—they have traveled 7,500 miles in only 40 hours. To get to Okinawa, they board a submarine. Once near their destination, though, a Japanese destroyer locates them and drops depth charges. The captain cuts the engines. The crew shoot the commandos out through the torpedo tubes and lead the destroyer away from shore.
Once on land, Fury bushwhacks a Japanese officer and gives his uniform to Cohen. Manelli disguises Cohen as a Japanese and puts a bandage over his mouth, since he doesn't speak the language. The squad stages a mock battle so that Cohen can pretend he has captured them. The ruse works. The other commandos go into the prison camp, where they meet Parker. He tells them that Cohen's uniform belongs to Colonel Yamabishi, the camp commander. Since Parker speaks Japanese, he gives orders through Cohen to load all the prisoners on a destroyer for Tokyo.
The commandos break out of the brig. Cohen, on the bridge and under suspicion, unmasks. When they reach the deck, Fury throws a depth charge at the machine gun pinning them down and destroys it. They go to rescue Cohen, but he sends the bridge crew tumbling down the stairs. The ship is theirs! They rendezvous with the aircraft carrier.
Back in England, Fury tells his girlfriend, Pamela Hawley, about the mission. She says, "Honestly, Nicholas! Can't you ever be serious??"
Notes
- The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1st, 1945. This story therefore begins on March 29th, or more likely the 28th, taking time zones into account. This Sgt. Fury story is the first one where the time period can be established so precisely.
Trivia
- Col. Phil Parker should not be confused with Lieut. Spencer Parker, who appeared in Sgt. Fury #7.
- Phileas Fogg from Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is mentioned, but misspelled as "Phineas Fogg".
- The inker's name is given as "Geo. Bell."