History
Sgt. "Socko" Swenski was an American soldier who served in the Korean War during the 1950s. He hailed from Brooklyn and was an avid baseball fan. He often charged into battle shouting "Remember the Alamo!" at the enemy. Among the troops under his command, he frequently fought with the Texan known as Battle Brady. At some point early in the war, Battle Brady had lent Swenski 97 dollars, to which Swenski promised to pay him back within a week. However, over a year late Swenski still had not paid Brady back the money he borrowed. This often led to many heated arguments between the two men even in the thick of battle, and was often the prime motivator for Battle Brady to risk his life to rescue Swenski from trouble. Often Brady's fierce protectiveness of the six-shooters (gifts from his grandfather) led Swenski into danger whenever they got lost or stolen, forcing Swenski to try to bring Brady back in line when the soldier rushed off to recover them.
The earliest instance where Brady saved Swenski's life for the purposes of recovering the money he was owed, happened when Swenski was knocked out by a mortar blast. Brady carried Swenski's unconscious body across the battle field to get him a medic. Later the pair put aside their differences long enough to foil a trap by the Chinese army to trick the American soldiers into going into their abandoned base after it was rigged to explode. Brady's protectiveness for his grandfather's six-shooters also came to the fore shortly thereafter. While on a mission to rescue American soldiers that were scheduled to be executed by the Chinese at dawn, Brady dropped one of his guns in the helicopter that deployed them. Brady disobeyed orders to go back and get it, with Swenski following behind him. The pair stopped Chinese troops from destroying the chopper and then Brady -- in an seemingly suicidal move -- used the chopper's rotor blades to mow down the entire enemy camp by flying over it upside-down. Miraculously Battle was able to land the chopper without crashing it[1].
Battle Brady and Sgt Swenski were next sent out to capture a Chinese soldier to learn how the enemy was carrying out secret raids of American bases. Along the way they uncovered that a group of Chinese soldiers were using horses as a means of stealthy transportation and destroyed the hidden coral. The pair were later captured by Chinese soldiers and forced to fight each other to the death. However, they used the fight to their advantage, managing to capture the commanding officer and escaping in a battered truck full of land mines. Their escape was jeopardized when the truck suddenly broke down, but when enemy soldiers began catching up to them, the pair rolled land mines like bowling balls at their foes, blasting them into oblivion[2].
While on another patrol, Battle and Socko came across an enemy radio relay station and destroyed it. During one mission, Battle Brady had his guns stolen by a Chinese commanding officer who in turn gave them to his daughter the so-called Pearl of Pyongyang. Battle managed to capture the Pearl of Pyongyang and briefly recover his guns. The Peal however managed to break free and escape with one of his guns in her possession[3]. Shortly thereafter while on patrol duty, Battle and Socko were ambushed and taken prisoner by the Pearl of Pyongyang who had come to their base to free her father. However, the two Americans managed to foil this plot and capture the Pearl, Battle then recovered his stolen gun[4]. Caught behind enemy lines Battle and Socko found themselves outnumbered but Battle was able to call reinforcements with his marksmanship skills by shooting a call to arms on the side of a cliff face. One more on the front lines, Battle and Socko found themselves out numbered and pretended to surrender in order to trick the enemy to get close enough to mow them down with a machine gun which Battle propped on Socko's back. Battle's upbringing in Texas often came as an assistance to him during the war, such as when he and Socko uncovered a group of Chinese soldiers using horses to stage sneak attacks. When Socko got captured, Battle started a stampede to trample the enemy soldiers and rescue Socko from danger[5].
Later while on patrol, Battle Brady befriended a stray dog, despite Socko's protests that the dog would lead them to danger. However, Battle proved Socko wrong as the dog assisted them avoiding many dangers allowing them to return to base unscathed[6]. In another similar instance, Battle recovered a donkey from an enemy position and fed it. When they were later captured by enemy troops and secret maps stolen, the donkey ate the plans and helped them escape. Later while out on patrol searching for enemy tanks they uncovered a secret underwater base and a number of waterproofed tanks. The pair sabotaged the tanks, leaving the enemy soldiers to drown at the bottom of the lake. Shortly thereafter, Battle an Socko were assigned to capture Chinese agent Manchuria Mary and her army of female gorilla warriors. They succeeded in capturing Mary with the aid of Hu Sha a South Korean woman seeking revenge against Mary for murdering her family. Battle and Hu Sha became smitten by each other during the course of this mission[7]. However, as Battle and Socko brought Mary and her minions back to base, they managed to escape. Battle used his tracking skills to go after Mary, and he and Socko found her trying to get revenge against Hu Sha. Battle came to her aid and with the help of Socko managed to recapture Mary and her minions and bring them back to base. Later when laying mines, Battle and Socko rescued a Korean baby from enemy troops and used the boys diaper to map out the location of the mines. When enemy troops tried to recover the map, the baby crawled over the mines without setting them off tricking enemy troops into walking on them and being blown away. On another patrol mission, the pair came across a Chinese bridge building operation. Using his ingenuity, Battle constructed a massive bow and arrow from nearby trees to launch huge flaming arrows at the bridge, blowing it up[8]. By this time, Manchuria Mary broke out of her prison and assisted Chinese troops in raiding American bullet proof vest supplies, capturing Battle and Socko in the process. Battle and the other captured American soldiers then used the stolen trucks to run down the Chinese army but Mary managed to escape capture[9].
Battle and Socko later encountered the ruthless Chinese official General Olga who captured them. Breaking free from captivity they learned of Olga's plan to launch explosives over Sniper's Ridge using catapults. While the enemy soldiers slept, Battle and Socko reset the catapults to launch to the other side, so when the Chinese sprung their trap they ended up blowing themselves up instead of American troops[10]. Following a battle where they took T-Bone Hill, Battle and Socko were ambushed by Manchuria Mary and her female soldiers and taken prisoner once more while they were on patrol in a mountain region. The female soldiers then used the American's for target practice. This proved to be their undoing as the shots triggered an avalanche that buried Mary and her forces alive while allowing Battle and Socko to escape. Socko was later captured by another group of Chinese soldiers who also used horses, once more prompting Battle to use his riding skills to rescue his comrade[11].
In one of their more bizarre adventures, Battle and Socko came across a group of Chinese soldiers whose commanding officers used a massive effigy of the Xian god Shang-Ti to force their obedience. Revealing that it was a fake, Battle and Socko were captured and almost executed when suddenly the real Shang-Ti, angered that the Chinese used his likeness, wiped out the entire troop leaving Battle and Socko to wonder if what they witnessed really happened[12]. Having survived her last encounter, General Olga captured Battle and Socko and attempted to feed them to sharks, but the pair managed to escape once again and forced Olga and her troops into the shark infested waters by disabling the breaks on their trucks. On another patrol, the pair discovered an enemy fuel dump just after they ran out of ammunition. Using his whittling skills, Battle fashioned a boomerang and lit it on fire then used it to ignite the fuel, destroying the enemy stockpile. Later, Battle and Socko were ordered to stay behind in a fox hole while their unit pulled back to base. Having run out of ammo again, Battle and Socko used cut C-Ration cans to line their trench and tricked the enemy into charging, leaving them to be cut to ribbons on all the broken tins[13].
Returning to active duty, Battle and Socko Swenski resumed patrols regular. Their fellow soldiers did not believe the stories of their encounters with General Olga and as a joke made fake wanted posters claiming that Olga had put a reward on their heads. The joke became a deadly reality when Olga and her forces tried to eliminate them, but Battle and Socko were able to fight off every attack that was sent at them, but Olga managed to escape. During another confrontation, Battle and Socko jumped onto the wings of a strafing MIG fighter and were taken back to an emey airfield where they were taken prisoner. Breaking free, the pair then managed to steal a MIG fighter and drive it all the way back to base to be studied. When enemy soldiers stole Captain Rocke's safe, Battle and Socko went after them and recovered the safe with the assistance of a stray cat that Battle befriended[14].
Battle and Socko were once again captured by their long time enemy General Olga and kept prisoner aboard the lead ship in a fleet of junk ships converted for combat for a sneak attack on American lines along the Imjin River. Freeing themselves using gun powder from their bullets they started a fire that alerted their fellow troops of the fleets approach and they were blasted out of the water while Battle and Socko swam to safety[15]. They were next assigned to assist the South Korean National Police to root out gorilla soldiers that were active in the area[16]. Later they were captured by Captain Chang who sought to bring them to Manchura by boat, but Battle and Socko were rescued by the Navy and assisted them in stopping Chang and his troops from escaping[17]. Back on the battlefront, the pair noticed that Chinese soldiers were stealing barbed wire from their fences in order to make crude ropes to take down said fences. They put a stop to this by using crank generator to electrify the barbed wire, electrocuting the enemy soldiers on their next attempt to take down the fences. When capturing two enemy soldiers the pair learned that their prisoners were going to rendezvous with spies in the town of Samchok to obtain the other half of a strategically important locations. Disguising themselves as Chinese soldiers, the pair went to recover the map and succeeded even though their disguises were briefly compromised by their fellow troops. General Olga captured the pair yet again, this time hoping to exploit Battle's experience in herding cattle in order to move beef meant to feed her troops. Instead Battle caused a stampede allowing the two American soldiers to escape[18]. In their last recorded activities, Battle and Socko helped defend a Korean town whose people refused to leave due to their sacred temple and the bell that they sacrificed all their valuables to make[19].
Battle and Socko have not been seen since, their subsequent fates are unknown.Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ Battle Action #5
- ↑ Battle Action #6
- ↑ Battle Action #7
- ↑ Battle Action #8
- ↑ Battle Brady #10
- ↑ Battle Action #9
- ↑ Battle Brady #11
- ↑ Battle Brady #12
- ↑ Battle Action #10
- ↑ Battle Action #11
- ↑ Battle Brady #13
- ↑ Battle Action #12
- ↑ Battle Brady #14
- ↑ Battlefront #14
- ↑ 3-D Action #1
- ↑ Battle #25
- ↑ Combat Kelly #18
- ↑ Battlefront #16
- ↑ War Comics #24