Our Fighting Forces #130

Our Fighting Forces #130 (On Sale: January 14, 1971), has a nice Losers cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with the Losers in "Nameless Target" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito. The Losers are sent to attack Rouen Beach as part of a fake invasion force intended to draw attention away from the real target, Normandy. The plane carrying the Losers across the English Channel is shot down miles from their intended target. As the Nazis chase the soldiers across the countryside, the Losers discover a town filled with weapons and ammunition. When the fighting continues in the town, the weapons caches are hit, and they explode.

The Losers escape the town with the assistance of a Frenchman. Despite their failure to reach their assigned target, the destruction of the unnamed town proves to be a significant distraction, drawing attention away from Normandy. As a result, the real mission was a success. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Losers Vol. 1 TPB (2012).

We end with "Three Graves to Eternity" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. One night, as the men of Dog Company make their way across the African desert they come across three graves, marked by new rifles, helmets, and dog tags. As they wonder who the three men were we are taken back in time as Hank, Red, and Rooster Anderson walk across the same desert on their way to join Dog Company. They think back to their time in an orphanage and how they would not allow themselves to be separated, even if it meant not being adopted. They grow older and join the army and are thrilled to be stationed together. 

They are attacked by a big enemy patrol and fight them back, but Red is killed. Hank digs a grove for him and they bury him in the desert. As they start to move forward,  the patrol has returned, this time with a tank Hank takes out the tank with a bazooka, but is killed as he does. Rooster alone pushes back the rest. Afterward, he digs a grave for Hank and buries him. He also digs a grave for himself. Hank holds them off as best he can, but eventually he is killed by a rocket that covers him in his grave. 

Dog Company never learns who the men were, but given how well they fought, they must have been Dog Company men. A nice story that has never been reprinted.

Edited by Joe Kubert.