Polite Dissent

Our Army at War #160 “What’s the Color of Your Blood?”
Bob Kanigher, script
Joe Kubert, pencils

Jackie Johnson is a haunted man. Before the war, he had been the world heavyweight boxing champion. He lost his title in a vicious bout with the German boxer “Storm Trooper” Uhlan. Now he finds himself a member of Sgt. Rock’s Easy Company. Although he is deep in the European theater of operations, he still has nightmares about his loss to the German and harbors dreams of a rematch.

While on reconnaissance, Jackie, Sgt. Rock and Wild Man are captured by a German patrol. This patrol contains none other than “Storm Trooper” Uhlan himself who immediately challenges Jackie to another fight to prove once again that the Germans are the master race. As he pummels Jackie over and over, he keeps asking him, “What is the color of your blood?”
Hoping to spare the lives of Rock and Wild Man, Jackie doesn’t put up much of a defense at first. Finally, Jackie realizes that he has no choice but to fight back. He punches Uhlan again and again, knocking him out. Enraged, the rest of the German patrol open fire on both competitors as well as Rock and Wild Man. Luckily, the rest of Easy Company was just around the corner and manages to save their comrades. Jackie, Rock and Wild Man all escape serious injury, but Uhlan was shot up badly. He needs a transfusion to survive, but the medic is out of plasma — only a donation of whole blood can save him. Jackie donates his blood to Uhlan, proving once and for all to the German that Jackie’s blood was red.

The story is entertaining without being overly preachy, and Kubert’s art, as always, is excellent. Many reprints are available, most notably in the America At War trade paperback (the source I used), and Sgt. Rock Special 1988 #6.

In the past I have been critical of comics that show plasma being used for emergency resuscitation. This is because plasma has a very limited use in the modern emergency setting. “Modern” is the key word here. Medical care was vastly different in Word War II and plasma was the blood product of choice.

I am surprised that the medic only inquired about type B blood, and did not specify B-positive or B-negative. Doctors and medics were aware of the rhesus (Rh) factor by this time, and it was known to be a main cause of transfusion reactions. I am also a little unsure of the transfusion apparatus pictured in the story; I can’t find any good information about such battlefield transfusions during WWII, so I’ll give Kubert the benefit of the doubt (for now).