LIke Father, Like Son (Our Fighting Forces 106)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you ready? [00:00:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:01] Speaker A: Are you with it? [00:00:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, let's go. [00:00:04] Speaker A: You know what to do. The whole world's watching and counting on you. And all you people listening out there. Everybody everywhere. [00:00:13] Speaker B: Hang on, hang on, hang on. Welcome to Checkered Past, a loving postmodern examination of the. Go. Go. Check branded comic magazines published by DC Comics between February 1966 and August 1967. I'm Dr. Bob, and each week I'll be your guide on this trippy tour through 535 mid century masterpieces of graphic noveldom. This week, Our Fighting Forces 106. Cover date March April 1967. Cover price, $0.12. Cover artist Irv Novick. Edited by Robert Kaniger. Featuring Trial by Fury Written by Robert Kaniger, Art by Jack Abel. And Hunter's Hellcats written by Robert Kanigher, art by Jack Abel. Are you ready? Are you with it? Then away we go. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Go. [00:01:03] Speaker C: If you're walking in the shadows? Then it's time that you get wise? Just forget about your troubles? And open up your eyes? When you wear a smile? The world will shout hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine? You're gonna push the blues away. [00:01:31] Speaker B: Lu Lin learns that three pilots are being held prisoner in a Viet Cong village. Captain Hunter stages a rescue and finds that his missing brother Nick is one of the captives. Then, while recuperating in the hospital, Phil and Nick are visited by their father, Colonel Ben Hunter, who offers to tell them about his World War II adventures. The A former homicide detective, the then Lieutenant Hunter recruits a group of soldiers from a prison stockade for a special mission. Confused? Don't worry. I'll be right back with doctor Husband to explain everything. He isn't much in the eyes of the world. [00:02:06] Speaker A: He'll never make history. No, he isn't much in the eyes of the world. But he is the world to me. [00:02:21] Speaker B: My dad. [00:02:27] Speaker A: Now here is a man. [00:02:34] Speaker B: To me. He is everything strong. No, he can't do wrong. My dad. This freaking neighborhood. [00:02:51] Speaker A: What? [00:02:52] Speaker B: A leaf blower on a Saturday afternoon. They know. This is the time that we podcast. The whole neighborhood is aware. [00:03:00] Speaker A: No tolerance for leaf blowers. I don't know what it is. There's something about the frequency of them. It grates on my nerves. The other day. So we have a landscaping service at school that we contracted with and they've been really, really good about keeping the leaves under control. So they go and they come to the Frank Center. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:18] Speaker A: Which has a lot of trees. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Yes. [00:03:19] Speaker A: And they blow the leaves and the guy comes and mows them and composts them like composting blades. Which is great. I love that. It's environmentally friendly. It's great. You know, whatever. Man, that leaf blower, it is so, so loud. And. And they're there forever. Like if they're by your office blowing leaves, you can listen to them for an hour. An hour out there just going. Because we have a lot of trees and a lot of property over there. Boy, it's just relentless. It's relentless. And what really, you know, what really bothers me about it? And this is going to be like, I can't wait for a certain listener to make fun of me by writing that I have autistic properties. It bothers me that they go. In like intervals that are uneven. Just let it go. Just keep it cranked up at full all the time so at least a person can get used to the fact that you have just one constant. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Well, you know, what they're avoiding is what I always do when I'm blowing something. I don't turn it off. But then I. If I turn around or walk backwards, it just blows all the things I just blew right back to where I blew them from. [00:04:33] Speaker A: So be a clever or leaf blower user. [00:04:37] Speaker B: There's so much to think about though, when you're blowing. [00:04:40] Speaker A: Is there? [00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:41] Speaker A: Is there? [00:04:41] Speaker B: You gotta think about your angle geometry. You gotta calculate your angles and your. [00:04:47] Speaker A: Well, I need to go out there and do the leaves here pretty soon before you do. I do. [00:04:51] Speaker B: Okay. Well, you have fun with that. [00:04:53] Speaker A: I do have fun with it. [00:04:55] Speaker B: Boy, for a day when I had nothing to do, I really feel time crunched and busy. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Well, that's what you're like. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yes. [00:05:04] Speaker A: I mean, I got up whenever I wanted to. Like I didn't get up early today and I don't know what I did. [00:05:11] Speaker B: Well, I got up after you got up and then I went for a. [00:05:14] Speaker A: Three mile walk with Butler. [00:05:15] Speaker B: Yes. [00:05:15] Speaker A: Made us breakfast. [00:05:17] Speaker B: Yes. [00:05:17] Speaker A: Did some laundry. Yeah. And then I gave the dogs a bath, which. Which is something I've been talking about for several days now. And I finally got around to doing then. [00:05:25] Speaker B: You did that, right? Yeah. That's good. Then I took a nap. Well, I played a little Super Mario Galaxy 2 and then I took a nap. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Yep. [00:05:33] Speaker B: And here I am. [00:05:35] Speaker A: I thought I was going to do some grading today. [00:05:38] Speaker B: Oh, I need to do that too. [00:05:40] Speaker A: I really did. Like I thought. Oh, yeah. By the time that we go see the movie tonight, I will have graded for a little while. That hasn't happened yet. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Well, guess what? Maybe we'll Be so hyped up after the movie that we'll stay up late and do all our grading. [00:05:51] Speaker A: But God, one could hope. [00:05:53] Speaker B: How you been doing otherwise? [00:05:55] Speaker A: Oh, I know what. I also rewatched the part of the movie that I fell asleep at last. [00:05:58] Speaker B: Yes, we watched 25 minutes. Yeah, we watched Wicked last night in preparation for seeing the sequel today. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Yes, yes. And I cried my way through the last 25 minutes. I'm not afraid to admit it. I don't care. I did cry. It's a beautiful story. [00:06:10] Speaker B: I cried at the end and the beginning and all the way through. And I'm gonna cry tonight and just get over it. [00:06:16] Speaker A: Yep. [00:06:17] Speaker B: Well, here we are with a surprising transition. [00:06:22] Speaker A: I could not believe it. [00:06:24] Speaker B: Our fighting forces number 106. The exciting end to Captain. Wait a minute. Captain Hunter's not even on the COVID Nope. Who's this? Lieutenant Hunter and his Hellcats. Hellcats, an explosive new feature. What about Captain Hunter finding his lost twin brother? I wonder if we'll ever see a resolution to that. We will. We will. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Spoiler alert. But we'll talk about the resolution when we get to it. [00:06:50] Speaker B: Yes, we will. Now this is if you're new here, Captain Hunter is a recurring feature in our Fighting forces. Captain Hunter is a former Green Beret who's left the service, but he's gone back to Vietnam to find his twin brother with whom he has a psychic bond as all twins do. And the army is fine with him just keeping all his uniform and equipment even though he's no longer in the service and traipsing around solo through the Vietnamese jungle. Now he's not really solo because his pretty Asian Vietnamese girl, Lu Lin has been helping him. He thinks she's involved with the Viet Cong and leading him into a trap. So why she's he's let her hang around this whole time we may never know. But she's got moxie because she's traipsing through the jungle in three quarter inch pumps. [00:07:50] Speaker A: And I think you and I have been talking about this story for eight years. [00:07:54] Speaker B: A long, long time. Wait, let me just do a quick search for the very first issue we did. All right. Our fighting force number 106. That's the one we're on now. Find all. I'm very good at Excel. Now, you know the first issue we covered, our fighting forces number 98 was the fighting devil dog. That was Sergeant Rock's brother. So that doesn't count. Our fighting force is number 99. That was the first issue. That was July. No, June 2019. So. [00:08:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:08:39] Speaker B: Almost seven years. [00:08:40] Speaker A: Almost seven years, yeah. Yeah. Wow. [00:08:43] Speaker B: And there have been exactly seven stories of Captain Hunter. [00:08:49] Speaker A: Wow. [00:08:49] Speaker B: This is the last. [00:08:50] Speaker A: Wow. [00:08:51] Speaker B: He'll never appear again. [00:08:52] Speaker A: June 2019. [00:08:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:56] Speaker A: I just started my job. Well, I don't like to talk about work. [00:08:59] Speaker B: No. Yes. Lots of transition in that time. [00:09:03] Speaker A: I try not to ever talk about work on that. I don't think I ever talk about work specifically. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Well, you just talked about doing all your grading for school, so. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Okay. [00:09:13] Speaker B: The long hunt for his missing twin, shot down somewhere over Vietnam, led ex Green Beret Captain Hunter into a Kong trap, trussed up like Christmas turkey, slung into a cage on an elephant's back, moving up the jungle paths of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. And waiting for him at the end of the line was a rigged trial by Fury. Now, I actually did do some research because I was doubtful whether there were elephants in Vietnam. There are. [00:09:41] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:09:42] Speaker B: And we have another animal coming up which I also did some research about. [00:09:46] Speaker A: And is it in Vietnam? Vietnam's a very large country. [00:09:49] Speaker B: I'll talk about that in a minute. Okay. Now we are in 1967. This was probably written maybe late 1966. My first assumption was that public sentiment was starting to turn against the Vietnam War, and that's why we have a pivot away from Vietnam War era stories. Possible. I think it's also just as likely that Robert Kaniger got bored with the storyline and just wanted to finish it up because he didn't really know anything about Vietnam, but he knew a lot about World War II. Okay, so we may never know. [00:10:30] Speaker A: This is it, right? [00:10:30] Speaker B: This is it. I mean, I don't know if this is it for Vietnam stories, period, in DC Comics, but this is it for this character. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Are you kidding me? [00:10:39] Speaker B: What? [00:10:40] Speaker A: This is it for this character? [00:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think he appears, like, in cameos later on, but this is it for this character. [00:10:48] Speaker A: Now I'm angry. [00:10:49] Speaker B: Why? [00:10:50] Speaker A: Because of how this ends. [00:10:54] Speaker B: Okay, I'm sorry. [00:10:58] Speaker A: All right, let's go on. [00:10:59] Speaker B: All right. A few hours ago, Captain Hunter had been trekking the trail with Lu Lin, who is guiding him through the terrain where the Viet Cong cropped up like toadstools. And he was still searching for his twin brother Nick, whose giant head appears in the jungle with their psychic bond. I'm still here, Phil. [00:11:18] Speaker A: I just wish one of them had been named Tab. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Ah, wouldn't that have been nice? Well, then they wouldn't be in the army because one of them would be gay. [00:11:27] Speaker A: Oh, they were gay people served in. [00:11:30] Speaker B: The army back then served, but not openly. [00:11:33] Speaker A: Well, yeah, but I'm here, Phil. [00:11:37] Speaker B: Not as far away as you think. Keep looking, Twin. We're getting closer with every step. [00:11:43] Speaker A: As everyone knows, twins, brothers and sisters all call each other twin in the first. [00:11:49] Speaker B: Like instead of saying famously Tabitha on. [00:11:51] Speaker A: The witch, hey, sister, or the Olsen twins, hey, sister, would you like to go shopping or not? By the first name, they often refer to each other as twin. Hey, twin, would you like to do this thing? Twin. [00:12:03] Speaker B: Twin. But even guys with one track minds, like Captain Hunter, have to eat. So they come upon a village instead of Starbucks. [00:12:13] Speaker A: Yes, the Vietnamese Starbucks. [00:12:15] Speaker B: Lu Lynn in her three quarter inch pumps, offers to go into the village and buy food. But it turns out that she picks up more than rice. She also picks up. [00:12:28] Speaker A: She gets five guys to go. [00:12:30] Speaker B: Yes, she picks up some vital intel. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry. [00:12:36] Speaker B: Because. [00:12:36] Speaker A: Let's stay focused on the story. Yes. [00:12:38] Speaker B: Okay, okay, listen, I told you I was time crunched. I was very nervous about the schedule. [00:12:44] Speaker A: Okay, go on. [00:12:47] Speaker B: This is a Viet Cong village. And she overhears some armed guards talking about the prisoners. Three prisoners who are pilots and are about to be transported to Hanoi where they will meet Jane Fonda and stand public trial for the bombing of Viet Cong villages. [00:13:07] Speaker A: Perhaps one of them might be the brother, Jim. Phil. [00:13:12] Speaker B: Wait, no. Nick is the prisoner. Phil is the ghost. Lu Lynn reports back to Captain Hunter and he develops a plan. So soon, in the grass near the village, he instructs Lu Lynn to snake over to the far end of the village, wait five minutes, then fling a grenade and get out. While the Viet Cong investigates, he will jump in to free the prisoners. Ready, set, go. [00:13:50] Speaker A: So she does as directed. 300 seconds tick off that he crawls. And while he gets close to the edge of the village, the grenade is lobbed in and the Viet Cong head toward the source of the sound. And then he also fires on the guys, breaks the lock on the door and sees Nick. Nick. [00:14:11] Speaker B: I'd found him after so long. [00:14:14] Speaker A: For once. He must be so happy. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Well, Nick's not surprised. He says, you found me. You made it. Yes, I did. But we'll save the reunion celebration for later. Let's scram before Charlie gets wise. [00:14:29] Speaker A: Well, they were a step too late. The Vietcong came out and they figured out the trick. They came and they were met with machine gun fire. So they started firing at them right away. And that came into the. Where the guys were staying. And now it's fisticuffs. [00:14:45] Speaker B: Well, if there's one thing Captain Hunter can't stand. It's a smart Charlie. So too close quarters to fire. So they start punching Captain Hunter and Nick and the other prisoners. They get some good punches in, but they run out of steam. Captain Hunter sees his brother in a jam, turns around to help him and he gets knocked out. That's right. [00:15:16] Speaker A: Well, he wakes up, his face is swollen and he's tied to. He's tied up. [00:15:21] Speaker B: Yep. Now he's also going to be going to Hanoi for trial. [00:15:28] Speaker A: Oh, he's going for shopping. [00:15:30] Speaker B: He knows it's going to be a kangaroo court rigged by cutthroats who wouldn't know justice of it. Bit him on the neck. [00:15:37] Speaker A: They slung him and the other guys bound in ropes onto elephants. [00:15:42] Speaker B: Yes. In bamboo cages slung over the backs of elephants right down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The guards are gloating. Pictures of the trial will be shown everywhere. Yankee pilots will be frightened to fly when they see what happens if they are captured. Captain Hunter still has hope in his heart. Don't bet on it. So he knew. He knows deep inside that he's just talking the talk. Yeah, he apologizes. Nick apologizes to him for getting him into the mess. And Phil says, stow that talk. If we go out, we go out together as all twins do. You know, all twins die at the same time. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Yes. Which is so unfortunate. [00:16:36] Speaker B: I know, because you'd think one of them can have a long fulfilling life if the other one dies. [00:16:41] Speaker A: But no, no, it's known fact. It is a known fact. If ever one dies, even if like one's a car accident, the other one immediately dies. [00:16:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it probably in a car accident. Even if they're raised separately. Yeah, especially if they're raised separately. [00:16:55] Speaker A: It is known. [00:16:55] Speaker B: That's actually a true thing. You know, twins that are separated at birth and raised separately often grow up and like marry women of the same name and have the same clothing tastes and whatnot. [00:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. Because of that special bond that all. [00:17:09] Speaker B: There's a psychic bond. Yeah. We don't make the rules. [00:17:12] Speaker A: Fraternal twins. [00:17:14] Speaker B: What? [00:17:14] Speaker A: Identical twins? [00:17:15] Speaker B: Yeah. No, fraternal twins, you're on your own. No, because, you know, they probably had separate fathers if they're fraternal twins. That's how biology works. All right, the caravan makes camp for the night and Cap' n Hunter thinks he hears someone landing on the elephant's back. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Right. Someone who's wearing. She's not wearing three quarter inch heels. [00:17:41] Speaker B: Oh, no, she's wearing flats now. But she has worn three quarter inch pumps in the past. [00:17:45] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think out of respect for the elephant, she put her flats on. [00:17:49] Speaker B: That tracks. Yeah. She's very considerate. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Yes. She's not fighting a war and acting as a spy. [00:17:57] Speaker B: No, listen, she's not a spy for the American. For the American. Okay. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Yes. She's animal activist. [00:18:03] Speaker B: Yes. [00:18:04] Speaker A: I just made that up for her. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Now the voice. Well, we have to make a lot up for her. The voice of Lulyn comes to his ears like honey on the evening breeze. I follow all day at a distance. When night came, I slipped into a tree edge closer to me. She's got a big dagger in her hands. [00:18:23] Speaker A: She sure does. She hands him a dagger. [00:18:24] Speaker B: She hands him a dagger. [00:18:25] Speaker A: Now his hands are tied behind his back. [00:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know why she's. Why she can't just cut the ropes for him. [00:18:30] Speaker A: She might be seeing. Oh, that's true. [00:18:33] Speaker B: All right. He takes the knife. He orders her to hide away again. [00:18:38] Speaker A: Wouldn't it be terrible if, like, he. She gave him the knife. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And drops away. [00:18:43] Speaker A: She slips away. And then. And then he drops the knife. [00:18:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:46] Speaker A: He calls after, and she's. She's, like, gone. She's so far away. He can't. She can't hear him. [00:18:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:18:51] Speaker A: And the knife just sits there. And then the story goes on. In the morning, you see the elephants walking away at the knife. [00:18:59] Speaker B: And she comes back with her bag of rice to feed them prisoners. And they're all gone. All right, so he cuts his ropes, but still pretends that his hands are tied. Dawn breaks, and he calls a guard over. [00:19:15] Speaker A: Drawn like a stereotypical Chinaman. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah, well, except that he's Vietnamese. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Right. You know, I mean, like an Asian stereotype. An Asian stereotype. I know. He's not really. I was saying that, like, to refer to the stereotype that they used to do. [00:19:30] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Although I will give them props that the Asian's skin is not colored lemon yellow. It's actually sort of orangey tan. So Captain Hunter says, I've got a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. How about you help me light up? And the guard says, ooh, American cigarettes. Those are better for the guard than for you. I'm gonna help my. Is that how he says it? He does, because he thinks they're Camel crushes, which are now a hot commodity. Okay, yeah, that's actually also true. My sister's in Europe right now, and she has some kind of. Because they're banned in America too, but she has some kind of hookup that gets her. Her Camel crushes, and she's taking them to Europe and they're. It's like in the old days when teenagers would go to Russia and take their extra pairs of jeans and sell them on the black market. [00:20:26] Speaker A: Although she's given the pack away. [00:20:28] Speaker B: Yeah, she's given it away, but she could probably sell it if she wanted to. Yeah. All right. He surprises the guard with his free hands, knocks him out, cuts open his cage, frees the other prisoners, and the prisoners are ready to go. And Phil says, nope, we've got to make sure the Viet Cong don't come stomping on our heels. He's got an idea. [00:20:56] Speaker A: I can't believe what they choose to do. [00:20:58] Speaker B: They link up with Lu Lin, who's got some more grenades. They throw the grenade to startle the elephants. [00:21:06] Speaker A: They throw the grenade to startle the elephants so that the elephants will stampede the Viet Cong. [00:21:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:12] Speaker A: Why not just throw the grenades right into the camp, right around the Viet Cong, and kill them all? [00:21:17] Speaker B: Because we don't know where the Viet Cong might be. They might be all scattered throughout the jungle. [00:21:21] Speaker A: No, if they're all going to be negatively affected by the stampeding of two elephants, they're probably all close enough to just be hit by a handful of grenades and effectively disarmed, if not killed. [00:21:36] Speaker B: Well, then the story would be over sooner and we'd have to have more pages to fill. We'd have to haul in another family member to have a feature written about them. [00:21:43] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:21:45] Speaker B: Maybe they have a little sister or something. Helen. Helen Hunter. [00:21:49] Speaker A: Cindy Hunter. Helen Hunter. Helen Hunter. [00:21:54] Speaker B: The elephants trample into the jungle, trampling everything and everybody in their path. The Viet Cong shoot wildly, partly to try to stop the stampede, but mostly because the prisoners are now loose. And with all that gunfire, someone's bound to get hit. Who do you think it is? Nick. [00:22:13] Speaker A: Nick? [00:22:14] Speaker B: Nick Hunter. [00:22:15] Speaker A: Nick. The one who's been looking for his brother the whole time? [00:22:18] Speaker B: No, Nick is the brother. [00:22:20] Speaker A: Oh, God. One's Phil, and one's. [00:22:21] Speaker B: Phil is the Green Beret. [00:22:23] Speaker A: Okay. [00:22:24] Speaker B: Nick is the fruit. [00:22:25] Speaker A: Yes. Nick got hit. [00:22:27] Speaker B: Nick got hit. He says, go on without me. Save the others. [00:22:30] Speaker A: As if that would even happen. As if Phil would even consider that I came all this way talking to your floating ghost head through Vietnam for the last eight years for us. [00:22:42] Speaker B: You know, and everyone knows that if you go to Hanoi and are executed, I will die immediately. [00:22:49] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. Because they're twins. [00:22:51] Speaker B: Yes. [00:22:52] Speaker A: Yes, of course. No, he's not gonna let him go. He's not gonna leave him behind. [00:22:55] Speaker B: Nope. So he slings him over his shoulders. I don't understand how people do that in every television show and movie. Just take a full sized adult and sling him over their shoulders. I wouldn't be able to move. [00:23:08] Speaker A: Well, you never train like that. [00:23:10] Speaker B: I'm strong, though. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Not likely. [00:23:12] Speaker B: Yes, I am. [00:23:12] Speaker A: No, you aren't. [00:23:13] Speaker B: But they do it in movies. Even people that I know are not strong like Matt Damon. He's not strong. [00:23:20] Speaker A: Sure he is. [00:23:21] Speaker B: Tom Cruise. [00:23:22] Speaker A: No, he's we thing. Yeah, he's not strong. [00:23:24] Speaker B: He's like 2ft tall. [00:23:25] Speaker A: He looks strong, but he's only. He's only like really? Honestly, he's like three, five. [00:23:29] Speaker B: I know. [00:23:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:32] Speaker B: All right. So off he goes into the jungle with Nick over his shoulders. [00:23:35] Speaker A: It is a scientific fact that Tom Cruise is no bigger than three and a half feet tall. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Well, thank God he's not a twin. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Why? [00:23:44] Speaker B: Because he'd be dead. [00:23:45] Speaker A: You don't know me. [00:23:46] Speaker B: I do, because I know that he had to sacrifice his twin to get into movies to earn his fame. It was a satanic, Right? [00:23:55] Speaker A: Was it? Yeah. Wow. [00:23:57] Speaker B: That's why he. [00:23:58] Speaker A: Is that, like part of the. Is that why we don't really actually perceive his real height when we. When we see. [00:24:02] Speaker B: Yes, because he had to perform the satanic rite. And that's why he's a scientologist. To atone for the satanic ritual. Satanic ritual. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:24:11] Speaker B: But for entertainment purposes only. Listener. All right. Meanwhile, the Viet Cong are still active and still tracking them through the jungle. They are going to split into small groups and scour the jungle. If the prisoners succeed in escaping, we all lose our heads because we are a platoon of. Of twins. And if half of us die, the other half automatically die. [00:24:43] Speaker A: Well, it didn't take Charlie long to pick up our trail. [00:24:45] Speaker B: No. Because Nick's dripping blood all throughout the jungle. [00:24:47] Speaker A: It must be a lot of blood. [00:24:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:50] Speaker B: All right. There's another enemy besides the Viet Cong which has picked up the scent of blood. One just as dangerous. A tiger. Now this is where I said, surely there are not tigers in Vietnam. Well, they don't anymore because they're extinct. But during the Vietnam War, there are many accounts of American soldiers being attacked by tigers. Wow. I know. I was so surprised. [00:25:16] Speaker A: I didn't know that. [00:25:17] Speaker B: I didn't either. Who would have known? [00:25:19] Speaker A: No. [00:25:21] Speaker B: All right, so they're trapped in between a wild tiger and the Viet Cong. He could shoot the tiger, but that will. Yeah. Give their position away. [00:25:32] Speaker A: And then they got a brainstorm. [00:25:34] Speaker B: Yes. [00:25:34] Speaker A: So they sent Nick ahead with the other pilots. I guess he lobbed him on somebody else's shoulders. And Lulin and Phil stood behind using their knives and built a tiger trap. A tiger trap? [00:25:46] Speaker B: You know what we're talking about. It's one of the. You build a pit and you put wooden spikes in the bottom, and then you cover it with brush so that the unwitting tiger will walk over the brush, fall into the pit and die. [00:25:57] Speaker A: How much time did it take them to dig a tiger pit with their knives? [00:26:02] Speaker B: Well, they worked hard and fast. We read in the text without pause. So why isn't there like a little. [00:26:09] Speaker A: Box at the top that says meanwhile, days later when they finish it with their knives? [00:26:13] Speaker B: Because they worked hard and fast. Rob, can you read? [00:26:18] Speaker A: I know it's a comic book. But they didn't work comically hard and fast, like in Fast smoking, like in Benny H. [00:26:36] Speaker B: That saxophone. Yakety Sax is the name of the song. Did you know that? [00:26:43] Speaker A: I had no idea. [00:26:45] Speaker B: All right, the pit is done. Phil and Lulyn catch up with the others. The other prisoners report that they laid Nick down so that they could rest. And then when they looked up, he's disappeared. [00:27:04] Speaker A: I guess Nick could walk all the time, right? [00:27:07] Speaker B: Well, not fast, because he's leaving a blood trail through the jungle. [00:27:11] Speaker A: They didn't think to put a tourniquet on his leg? [00:27:13] Speaker B: I guess not. So Phil tracks him back into the jungle. He's, you know, Nick's selflessly trying to give the others a chance. That's why he's slinking off. [00:27:24] Speaker A: Maybe he's suicidal. [00:27:26] Speaker B: I hope not, because then Phil's gonna die too, and not have any idea of what's gonna happen. [00:27:33] Speaker A: I forgot about our scientifically proven fact that all twins expire at the same time. [00:27:38] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Just for a second, I forgot. [00:27:40] Speaker B: All right, Phil, here's something in the jungle. It might be Nick or it might be the tiger or it might be the Viet Cong. So I better hold my fire until I figure out which is which. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Well, it was the tiger. [00:27:52] Speaker B: It was the tiger who has found Nick and is leaping to attack to eat him. And Phil kills the tiger. [00:28:02] Speaker A: That reminds me. [00:28:03] Speaker B: And this is in fact the last wild tiger in Vietnam. So this is when. The moment they go extinct. [00:28:10] Speaker A: This one that reminds me. What? Of my walk this morning. [00:28:15] Speaker B: Yes, of course. You know, did you see a tiger? [00:28:18] Speaker A: No. Okay, you know I told you I'm going for a three mile walk and I was going to go down Cedar Lane, right? [00:28:25] Speaker B: Yes. [00:28:25] Speaker A: Well, what's on either side of the houses on Cedar Lane Woods? And do you know what time it Is this time of year hunting season has begun. Oh, I swear to God, when I was walking the dog, it was like I was walking closer and closer to an army firing range. [00:28:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:47] Speaker A: It was insane. Like, I. So I got to the one mile mark. Yeah. Which is that mailbox that they always decorate is exactly one mile from our front door. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:57] Speaker A: And I usually go another half mile, but that gets you closer to, like, property where there's only houses on one side and it's just. It's just woods on the other side. Yeah. And I was starting to get scared. [00:29:11] Speaker B: You should be scared. [00:29:12] Speaker A: And I mean, I'm not kidding you. Like, I know 30 to 40 shots while I was out there. [00:29:17] Speaker B: Well, they're shooting all day in the woods behind our house. [00:29:20] Speaker A: Are they really? [00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Oh, because there's 75 acres back there and there are a lot of deer back there. [00:29:25] Speaker B: Speaking of tigers. [00:29:26] Speaker A: No problems whatsoever with hunters. This is not about that. [00:29:29] Speaker B: No, no, no. [00:29:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. Need population control of deer. Deer. What I'm saying is I was really scared, so. Because I thought, what if there's an errant bullet? What if I get hit? And I was wearing my, my, my neon safety vest over my sweatshirt because, you know, it's like that road has no shoulder for you to walk on. So anyway, I turn around at that one at the one mile mark, I was like, no, I'm going to go up. So then I came back into the neighborhood and then walked down Azure Drive. But I could still hear in the distance. Just like you would think that the deer would hear one shot and see one go down and be like, I'm just gonna cower down here for a while. [00:30:13] Speaker B: You know, they're not very smart. [00:30:15] Speaker A: Listen. [00:30:15] Speaker B: What? [00:30:17] Speaker A: I thought it was illegal to feed deer from a feeding station and hunt at that feeding station. I thought it was illegal, but it might not be illegal in West Virginia. And at the end of Azure Drive, is exactly that an automatic feeding station? Because I've heard it and watched it dispense corn before the deer come and eat the corn. And I'll be damned if not. 50ft from the feeding station is a dome shaped camouflage structure with slits where the guy sits there. He's going to shoot the deer that come and eat from the feeder. That doesn't seem very sportsmanlike. [00:30:53] Speaker B: Well, this is West Virginia, as you noted. [00:30:56] Speaker A: But that's why in some states, I mean, you're not allowed to do that. It's called something. But like feeding, shooting, that's prohibited. But generally the sportsman's code is don't do that. Because what happens is large herds of deer begin to equate that area with safety and food so that it just becomes that you could just pluck them off one by one. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Well, listen, we don't need your big city hunting laws around here. If you're that concerned, maybe you should walk down the general store and have Sarah call the county sheriff, ask about it. [00:31:35] Speaker A: Let's finish up the story. We're close to the end. [00:31:37] Speaker B: Well, as I was saying, deer are not very smart. When they see another deer go down, they just assume it's a twin whose twin has been killed. All right, so now what he feared happened has happened. The Viet Cong heard him shoot the tiger, and they've located their position. [00:31:57] Speaker A: So they come in after the boys. [00:31:58] Speaker B: Nick and Phil, and open fire. [00:32:01] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:32:03] Speaker B: Now, remember, Nick is crippled, so Phil's having to carry him and fight off the Viet Congs. [00:32:09] Speaker A: He doesn't have him on his shoulders right now. I mean, he was carrying him. But then they both lay down and then Phil takes position and tries to fight the Kong, the Viet Cong. [00:32:20] Speaker B: Right. [00:32:21] Speaker A: But one of them moves around back and Nick runs out of ammo. No, Phil runs out of ammo. [00:32:28] Speaker B: Click, click, click, click. [00:32:31] Speaker A: Get into a hand to hand combat. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Hand to hand combat. The Viet Cong he's in hand to hand combat with is shot by his own comrade. [00:32:42] Speaker A: Yep. That's because Phil takes him and puts him. [00:32:46] Speaker B: Puts him and uses him for. [00:32:48] Speaker A: Yep. [00:32:50] Speaker B: All right. A little more fisticuffs, a little more gunplay, and Nick takes a. Phil. [00:32:57] Speaker A: Phil, I'm so sorry. They're twins. [00:33:00] Speaker B: They're twins. [00:33:00] Speaker A: You know how hard it is to tell twins apart? [00:33:02] Speaker B: I know. Well, one has a Green Beret on. [00:33:04] Speaker A: And the other one does the Green Beret. So Phil. Phil actually barely gets shot. [00:33:09] Speaker B: He gets grazed across the head, but. [00:33:13] Speaker A: The powder discharge burns his eyes. So now what's wrong with him? [00:33:17] Speaker B: He is temporarily, temporarily blind. He's rolling around on the ground with this Viet Cong soldier. Just happens to have come upon his own tiger pit, which he. [00:33:30] Speaker A: Tiger pit. So he kicks the guy away, the Viet Cong. Then the VC comes running at him and he does a thing where he kicks him in the stomach and flips him over and the guy falls right onto the tiger pit and to his death. [00:33:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Nick crawls over to him and says, let me be your eyes, twin. He does say twin. We help each other twin, like we always did. You're my legs and I'm your eyes. [00:34:01] Speaker A: So I guess the one who's blind is going to carry the one who can't walk. And the one who can't walk will be turning his head and doing like. Yep, left there. Sit left foot there. Turn left. Yep. But do they make it? [00:34:15] Speaker B: With Lu Lynn leading us through the jungle, we played hide and seek with the Kong. They make it to home base. And who do you think came to see them at the hospital? Not Lu Lynn. She's gone. [00:34:27] Speaker A: She's gone. Well, she should be welcomed there because she helped them. [00:34:30] Speaker B: She should be. [00:34:31] Speaker A: And we get no scene. This is why I got so angry. Yeah. Okay. Why did I get angry about the. Why did I say I can't be. This lesson. You and I are about to go to the. You're about to announce who is in the hospital room, right? Yeah. Folks, this is it. This is the end of this story. This last panel that we're about to talk about. Is it? No. Thanks, Lulynn. Thank you so much. [00:34:58] Speaker B: Marry me. [00:34:58] Speaker A: Marry me. I didn't trust you. And you rescued me. You helped me get my brother. I'm ever indebted to you. Thank you. Nothing. Not one single letter of closure with that relationship that we have been. You and I have been reading for seven issues. [00:35:16] Speaker B: Yes, right, right. [00:35:19] Speaker A: We get this. Who do you think came to see us at the hospital? Phil, it's dad. Hi, Colonel. Come to see. Come to see our war? [00:35:28] Speaker B: Call this kindergarten A war? Read about my war boys. The boiling pot in the Pacific. My book was just published. [00:35:37] Speaker A: Look. And it's Lieutenant Hunter's Hellcats. And folks, that's it. We're gonna go right into the next story, which is the father's story about Lieutenant Hunter's Hellcats. We get nothing. We've got the boys, the twins recovering in the hospital. Lulynn, we. We didn't even get to say goodbye to her. [00:35:58] Speaker B: Nope. [00:35:58] Speaker A: Dad shows up with his book. Isn't it just like their dad to do this? Steal their thunder? [00:36:04] Speaker B: Yes. [00:36:04] Speaker A: Right. Just come in with, hey, boys, I'm glad to see you not. He didn't say, I'm glad to see you alive. He's like, you call this a kind a kindergarten war? Read about my war, boys. He thinks he's like, you, think you boys are hurt and in trouble. Look, I just published a book. Why don't you all read this while you recover? Bye. [00:36:23] Speaker B: This is it. [00:36:25] Speaker A: Aren't you angry? [00:36:26] Speaker B: Well, it does give us license to make up our own stories like we used to do about the checkout boys at the Food Lion, Green Beret. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Phil married Luly. [00:36:36] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:36:36] Speaker A: For sure. And they lived happily Ever after. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Probably had a passel of children who had their own adventures. [00:36:43] Speaker A: And she probably came, you know, they lived in the United States. She was his bride. [00:36:47] Speaker B: They had children. [00:36:49] Speaker A: And she was probably a very smart, very strong, really good mother. She might have gone to college. [00:36:55] Speaker B: Sure. [00:36:55] Speaker A: You know, she actually, she dressed so nice, so she probably hasn't had education. Let's say she went to college. And what did she do for a living? What do you think after she. While she was raising children. After she raised children, what do you think she did? [00:37:06] Speaker B: Real estate agent. [00:37:07] Speaker A: No, probably a teacher. [00:37:09] Speaker B: Interior designer, maybe. Teacher. Interior design, I think. [00:37:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm gonna say teacher, but that's okay. Okay. [00:37:15] Speaker B: All right. Or maybe nurse. Nurse. [00:37:17] Speaker A: Oh, a nurse. Of course, a nurse. Yes. Well done. Yes. [00:37:20] Speaker B: Thanks. All right, folks, now on to Hellcat. Here we go. New series starting right now. They were never mentioned in dispatches. Maybe the top brass pretended they didn't exist, but they were there, all right. This gang in the USA prison stockade whose credo was every man for himself. But to Lieutenant Ben Hunter. [00:37:40] Speaker A: Ben Hunter. [00:37:41] Speaker B: They were the raw material for a solid fighting machine. A group he could weld together into a killer outfit called Hunter's Hellcats. Roll call. Lieutenant Hunter. Brute. Lightfingers. Snake Oil Brains Swinger. Hardhead. It's like the Thunderbirds off brand. Now, this is very clearly based on the Dirty Dozen. Yes. Which was a popular film in 1967. However, it had not been released yet. It's released in July of 1967. It had been a novel and there supposedly was based on a true story of prisoners who were sent on a mission in World War II in order to gain their freedom or gain some clemency or something. [00:38:33] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:35] Speaker B: There's no verification that it was ever a true story, but it was a popular novel, soon to be a major motion picture. [00:38:41] Speaker A: Okay, well, we get here in Media race. [00:38:45] Speaker B: In media race, Lt. Hunter is breaking up a fight amongst these prisoners. If you stop fighting each other, I'll spring you from prison to fight the enemy. [00:38:55] Speaker A: You talk real loud. You tone it down plenty with that gold bar. What does it say? Wait, you talk real loud. You'd tone it down plenty without that gold bar. Yeah. [00:39:06] Speaker B: This is Brute. [00:39:07] Speaker A: When I put on a stupid voice, I get stupider in my reading. [00:39:11] Speaker B: Now he knows Big Brute and I are about to tangle. And a lot was riding on who'd be left standing after it was over. Suck. Brute gets a good one in. [00:39:23] Speaker A: Brute looks like a little bit like a grown up version of one of our early classmates at DBCC Okay, Raphael. [00:39:37] Speaker B: All right, well, Raphael was an adult when we knew him, so. [00:39:41] Speaker A: No, like a sort of older version. Because Brute's not 20. [00:39:45] Speaker B: You don't know how old he is. [00:39:48] Speaker A: Alright, whatever, he's a priest. [00:39:49] Speaker B: He might have had a rough life. [00:39:52] Speaker A: Probably a boxer. [00:39:53] Speaker B: Oh yeah. All right. Now Lieutenant Hunter knows he's got to win this fight because if he gets knocked out by this goofball, all his plans and maybe the whole mission will be knocked out. So he's got to clobber him right here so these other bull headed goons see him do it. It's classic military strategy. [00:40:14] Speaker A: Where the hell are you reading? Oh, I see. We are. [00:40:16] Speaker B: Okay, all right, so he lets out a karate kick. He knows that if he can knock out Brute, Brute's the ringleader and the other guys will know who's boss. [00:40:27] Speaker A: But Brute was like a steel derrick but needed TNT to collapse it. And Brute got in a hell of a punch on Ben Hunter. [00:40:36] Speaker B: Now we learn some information. Lt. Hunter has previously been a homicide detective. And that's where his fighting prowess comes from. But Brute's not quitting. Lieutenant Hunter knows this is just the kind of guy he needs for his mission because he won't go down when the going gets rough. [00:40:58] Speaker A: That's right. [00:41:00] Speaker B: He lands him down with a haymaker. Yeah, he lands and takes a few before he could let go of the haymaker. And then he knows he's top dog. And when Brute's laying on the ground, he just. No, I won't say that, he says. [00:41:15] Speaker A: Now hear this. [00:41:16] Speaker B: I was gonna say his pisses on him just to drive the coin home. That doesn't happen in a comic book. [00:41:22] Speaker A: No, he says. So he establishes dominance over him. He says, now hear this. I didn't come to fight just to get volunteers. Anyone coming with me will find this stockade as a country club compared to what's coming up. You'll get all dirty, all the dirty deals, spearheading and mopping up. But you'll be fighting the enemy, not yourselves. Anyone who wants it falling behind me. [00:41:42] Speaker B: He starts walking away and nobody follows him. [00:41:44] Speaker A: You're not walking out on me. I gotta get another crack at you, so count me in. Wherever you go, I go till we're even. [00:41:52] Speaker B: Wherever you go, whatever you do, we're gonna go through it together. Look at the. They broke into song. Yeah, can't believe that. One by one, they all fall in line behind Brute, who taught them the. [00:42:07] Speaker A: Choreography there in the. In the prison camp. Look at them doing their jump kick, their round kicks. [00:42:12] Speaker B: And stuff like that. [00:42:13] Speaker A: They're all like. They got their arms in the air. They're doing that thick and thick and through. Thin throughout and through. [00:42:19] Speaker B: In. [00:42:19] Speaker A: We're gonna go through it together. [00:42:25] Speaker B: All right. [00:42:25] Speaker A: From Mame? Yeah, just a shitty musical. [00:42:28] Speaker B: Now Lieutenant Hunter round rounds up. Is it from Mame? [00:42:33] Speaker A: Yes, it's Vera and. And Mame's song. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:42:38] Speaker A: It's me for you and you for me. We can't muddle through and everything together. [00:42:44] Speaker B: My fondest wish is that I could go back in time and have Judy Garland live to play Mame on screen because I've only seen the movie once, but it's Lucille Ball and it's not great. [00:42:58] Speaker A: Oh, no, that's. I mean, the only good thing about Mame is the movie musical is Bea Arthur, who I think should have played Mame. Oh, no, not Vera. [00:43:11] Speaker B: Oh, no, no. She originated the role of Vera. [00:43:14] Speaker A: Oh, she did? [00:43:15] Speaker B: Yes. It should have been what's her face. Who did it? [00:43:20] Speaker A: Broadway? [00:43:21] Speaker B: No. [00:43:21] Speaker A: Oh. Oh, who did on Broadway? [00:43:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Murder, she Wrote. [00:43:26] Speaker A: Oh, Angela Lansbury. [00:43:27] Speaker B: Angela Lansbury, Yeah. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Oh, of course it should have been her. [00:43:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:31] Speaker A: What should have been she? Why did they choose Lucille Ball? [00:43:35] Speaker B: Well, Lucille Ball probably produced it. And also Angela Lansbury wasn't really a big name in film at the time. She was. She'd done Bed Gnomes and Broomsticks. [00:43:44] Speaker A: That's it. [00:43:45] Speaker B: Well, she was contract player of the. [00:43:48] Speaker A: 40S, but she wasn't like. She wasn't a huge star like Lucille Ball was. [00:43:51] Speaker B: No. Yeah. Now, Rosalind Russell, of course, did the movie Auntie Mame, which is the greatest movie ever made. [00:43:58] Speaker A: Ever made. [00:43:58] Speaker B: The non musical version. [00:43:59] Speaker A: That's a Christmas movie for us, isn't it? [00:44:01] Speaker B: It sure is. All right, the Lieutenant Hunter has rounded up his volunteers, quote, unquote volunteers. And now he's getting briefed on what the actual mission is. [00:44:13] Speaker A: It's an invasion. They're going to go to the Jap held island. Japanese held island. It was called Japan in the comics. The problem, an air base located inside a mountain. [00:44:22] Speaker B: Inside a mountain? What is this? Challenger's Mountain? Fighter bombers. [00:44:25] Speaker A: Can do a hatchet job on our task force solution. Blow it up method. You figure it out. Can do. Can do. Will do, sir. Challenger's Mountain. Is that from Escape from Which mountain? [00:44:34] Speaker B: No. The Challengers of the Unknown. [00:44:36] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:44:37] Speaker B: Or Blackhawk island, which is the Blackhawk. All of which are hollow mountains which house air bases. [00:44:44] Speaker A: It's gotta be big. Big Runway strip to launch aircraft from a mountain. [00:44:50] Speaker B: No, it shoots out right out of the Top of the volcano. [00:44:53] Speaker A: No, they can't. [00:44:54] Speaker B: Like the thunderbirds. What are you looking at in the sky? [00:44:58] Speaker A: I'm trying to figure out if I can't tell from here what kind of bird it is. Oh, it's a woodpecker. [00:45:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:45:04] Speaker A: A rather bird just flew up to the bear tree outside of in our neighbor's yard. And it's pecking away and it's kind of pretty. [00:45:13] Speaker B: That reminds me, that teenage eagle was out back this morning. You don't say. [00:45:17] Speaker A: Oh, my God. I now know where Willoughby's been staying. [00:45:20] Speaker B: You do? [00:45:21] Speaker A: Yes. [00:45:22] Speaker B: Willoughby is our cat. Oh, I was gonna say, speaking of tigers, did you see our cat when you were on your walk? [00:45:27] Speaker A: I knew that he was in the barn. [00:45:28] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:29] Speaker A: The neighbor's barn. [00:45:29] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:30] Speaker A: I have never seen all of the barn, but I walked down Azure Drive as I told you about my guy. Took my diversion the second last mile of my walk to avoid getting shot by the hunters today. And I saw around the back of the barn. It's completely open. It's full of hay. That's where they store their hay. That's where he's going in that open barn. He's probably back there, like catching mice. [00:45:52] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:53] Speaker A: And it's dry, it's open. It's got places for him to climb and stuff like that. That's what he's doing. [00:45:59] Speaker B: Okay, well, I feel a little better about that. Our cat has been going for the past week. We have a tracker collar on him. So he goes across the road over to the horse barn. He stays there all day, all day long. [00:46:10] Speaker A: And it's starting to meet. Both of us insane. Because he crosses a road to do it. And I'm terrified that I'm gonna walk out there someday and just see him on the road. [00:46:21] Speaker B: Well, on the plus side, he's afraid of car noise. [00:46:24] Speaker A: He is. He has made it for years going across that road. But that was rare because we have tracker listen center. We actually get to see the history of where he's been. It was rare for him to cross the road. We live on the country, so it's not like. But still, you know, it was rare for him. And now he's doing it every single day, every day. [00:46:43] Speaker B: And he stays all day in that barn. Well, I guess there must be a lot of mice or something. [00:46:49] Speaker A: Something to keep friends or something. I don't know. He's not. He's fixed. So he's not making babies? No. [00:46:55] Speaker B: No. Well, you should talk to the neighbors. [00:46:58] Speaker A: I'm going to. Okay. Before we go. [00:47:00] Speaker B: Yeah. All Right. [00:47:02] Speaker A: On vacation. I'm going to talk to them. [00:47:04] Speaker B: Yes, well, he's. When we go on vacation, he is locked. But I think I'm gonna write him. [00:47:08] Speaker A: A note and just give him my phone number and I'm gonna have a little picture on the note of him. [00:47:12] Speaker B: Yes. [00:47:13] Speaker A: You know, say if you see him, he is loved. He's an indoor outdoor cat. We've got a tracker on him. Please don't feed him. Please don't, you know, please don't, don't. [00:47:23] Speaker B: Feel or please don't poison the mice or, you know. [00:47:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Please just know that for some reason he's taking an interest in your barn. And if you see him, he has a home. Please don't think of him as a stray. Of course, the fact that it's wearing a collar with a GPS tracker and now a little tag, name, phone number on it. Yeah. [00:47:42] Speaker B: Hopefully they'll all right these. They board a sub to go to this island. They've got six hours to blow up the air base inside the mountain before the invasion starts. If they run into any Japanese soldiers before the air base is blown up, we eliminate them without firing a shot or the enemy will know we're here. Any questions? Yes. Why can't we shoot them. [00:48:15] Speaker A: Fingers? [00:48:17] Speaker B: So Lieutenant Hunter wants to shake the men's hand for good luck. But Light Fingers, who's one of the criminals, steals his watch. Off his finger, off his, out of his pocket. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Losing your touch, Light Fingers? Anyone could feel you fumble for my ticker. And he goes, just, just rusty. Lieutenant, I'll begin practicing again. [00:48:36] Speaker B: Oh, Lieutenant, that's not what I was fumbling for. The Hellcats hit the beach in rubber rafts with enough TNT charges to blow the mountain target into bits. They hit the jungle. Now Lieutenant's getting antsy because he's broken his own rule not to turn his back on a hoodlum. Yeah, but that's the mission. So it's got to do. [00:49:00] Speaker A: They see some lights up ahead from a car and they all quickly duck into the underbrush. The car stops close and they're worried that maybe the Japs, the Japanese could have spotted them. Yeah, they think they have been spotted. [00:49:15] Speaker B: Yep, because the car stops, car stops. [00:49:18] Speaker A: And then they start fighting. [00:49:20] Speaker B: Well, Brute single handedly tips the jeep over and knocks these Japanese soldiers into the sea. Brains pulls out one of his bag of tricks and says if we keep on the road, we're gonna get spotted sooner or later. Why don't you let Swinger do the scoutin'? [00:49:45] Speaker A: It's a very specialized skill. Yes, because apparently he's called Swinger because he can swing. [00:49:50] Speaker B: He was. Well, he was a cat burglar. So he would rob top floor apartments and things, right? He does resemble a chimp, both in his face and his body proportions. Like my mother's Uncle Harv, who she always said looked like a monkey. So Swinger goes swinging through the trees like a monkey after bananas. He spots a Japanese sniper. Luckily he is not seen. And also luckily there's a tank coming. So he's able to swing over and knock the Japanese sniper out of the tree. The Hellcats keep pulling tricks out of their hats. Now it's Snake Oil's turn. He apparently speaks eight different languages, including Japanese. So he takes this Japanese soldier's uniform, makes up a name for himself. [00:50:53] Speaker A: Major Kito. [00:50:54] Speaker B: Major Kito shimmies up a tree to wait. Oh, no, that's Lieutenant Hunter shimmies up a tree to wait. Snake Oil gets the Japanese uniform on just as this tank comes around the bend. He introduces himself as Major Kito orders them to open the tank. And just as the turret opens up. Lieutenant. Lieutenant Hunter flings out of the tree and punches the pilot. Huh? [00:51:22] Speaker A: Is he corporal? What is he? [00:51:23] Speaker B: He's a corporal in the Vietnam days, but here he's a lieutenant, punches out the Japanese tank driver. Sorry, there's a lot of pages to turn. [00:51:39] Speaker A: Colonel. So the dad's a colonel when he sees his boys in the hospital? When he sees his boys, yes. Introduces them. And is he. This is bothering me. I want to know what his rank is. [00:51:47] Speaker B: Lieutenant. It's on the COVID Lieutenant Hunter's Hellcats. It's the title of his book. [00:51:55] Speaker A: Okay, all right, you're right. [00:52:01] Speaker B: I'm always right. I'm a Leo. That's our burden to bear. He takes care of the other Japanese soldiers in the tank. And now it's his turn to show the other Hellcats that he's not a deadhead. They stow their guns and the TNT in the tank. Snake Oil will stay in the tank with me. You guys march in front of the tank like prisoners. We trick the guards, slip into the enemy mountain hideout, knock off those bombers and cut out fast. It's just a Trojan horse situation. All right. Well, these guys can't stop Gripen. [00:52:43] Speaker A: Mm. [00:52:43] Speaker B: Like they invented it. They want action. Things were jumping better back in prison. [00:52:52] Speaker A: The guards took one look at the Hellcats logging up in front of the tank and believed every word Snake Oil spouted from the buttoned up tin can. [00:52:59] Speaker B: Open up. Half captured Yankee commandos must deliver them to Commandant for interrogation. Hurry. [00:53:07] Speaker A: Yes. [00:53:08] Speaker B: All right. What do they find? [00:53:10] Speaker A: Hidden. [00:53:11] Speaker B: Japanese fighter bombers loaded with gas and ammo ready to zoom out and chop up the Yankee invasion. Right. [00:53:18] Speaker A: So the says get ready Hellcats, we're tossing out your guns in tnt. We dive out the exit in the back of the cave, dump the TNT around the opening and bail out before the place comes down around our ears. [00:53:31] Speaker B: Now the gate machine gun opens up on them. The Hellcats tackle the mob who are blocking their escape with fisticuffs. Of course, even though they have their guns now, Lt. Hunter swivels the tank gun around and lets fly at the gate gun, knocks it out until the guys can get clear and drop their tnt. A Japanese soldier attacks from his flank but he's dead before the grenades land. But he does manage to fling the grenade onto the tank which blows the tread off. So Lieutenant Hunter is going to just sit in the tank and cover the guys as long as he can. [00:54:20] Speaker A: Right. [00:54:22] Speaker B: He holds off the enemy while the Hellcats play plaster their charges against the cave opening and dive seaward. And look at this. Brute's going to stay behind until the Lieutenant comes, makes his escape. [00:54:38] Speaker A: Right. [00:54:40] Speaker B: Could he be noble at last? [00:54:42] Speaker A: Well he does say he's got a score to settle with. That's true, but I suspect that actually he has noble intentions. But he just covered up. [00:54:52] Speaker B: Yeah, sure, he's got a heart of gold. Lieutenant Hunter is now angry that the Hellcats are not escaping. They're disobeying orders. He doesn't want them playing hero for him. He hustles out of the tank, beats it to the exit with gunfire chasing him and he is going to throw these guys back in prison for disobeying orders. If they make it out, he says they dive out of the cave just in time for the mountain to blow. [00:55:21] Speaker A: We sure do have a long. It's a fall to the water. This reminds me of the time I went over the wall and swing Sing Sing but for a hot car. But a hot car was waiting for me. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:32] Speaker A: Once the fuzz had be pinned on a ledge, I went flying six story into a net that was holding for me. The guy's going shut up your mouths Hellcat, or you'll fill in full. The Pacific Ocean. That all that time to say that. [00:55:44] Speaker B: They weren't in the drink for two minutes when all of a sudden the US Navy shows up to rescue them. All right, the Hellcats are picked up. Lieutenant Hunter is leading them back to base. He says mission accomplished this time maybe I've got me an Outfit. The roughest, toughest, meanest bunch ever assembled in any army for any war. But what's next for us? Can I keep the Hellcats in line? [00:56:18] Speaker A: Watch for the next sizzling battle tale featuring Hunter's Hellcats in the latest issue of our Fighting Forces magazine. Oh, and readers, we didn't conclude the other story at all. [00:56:27] Speaker B: No. [00:56:27] Speaker A: Hope you enjoyed it. Damn. [00:56:30] Speaker B: Hunter's Hellcats will continue for much longer than Captain Hunter did. I believe they go through issue 129, 130, something like that. And then you'll be happy to hear this. The feature that takes over for the Hellcats is the Losers, which is Captain Storm and Johnny Cloud and Gunnar Sarge. Wow. We won't get that far with checkered past. Of course. Now, I said that I wasn't sure that the reason that they stopped Captain Hunter was because the Vietnam War was losing popularity. Popularity. But this letters page is all about Captain Hunter. Captain Hunter? Yes. It's the answer to a prayer. Yes. Why doesn't he stop looking for his brother and just fight in Vietnam? And look at this. Dear Editor, as a youngster reading the newspapers every morning, the war in Vietnam means something to me. But if it keeps up, I'm eventually going to wind up there myself. That's why Captain Hunter means so much to me and guys like me. I can identify myself with him because I can understand why he has to search for his twin. I'm one of an identical twin myself. And when my brother goes to the dentist, my tooth hurts when the drilling starts. What? But all kidding aside, the guys fighting in Vietnam could be me and maybe will be me. That's why I'm so tied up with Captain Hunter, your faithful fan. Reed Cranmore. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Now, I did a little bit more research. Listen, I did find. [00:58:06] Speaker A: This is his response. Robert Kanigher, right? [00:58:09] Speaker B: Yes. [00:58:10] Speaker A: Dear Mr. Cranmore, as an identical twin yourself, you could. You could better understand the mysterious attachment between Captain Phil Hunter and his brother Nick. But as a teenager growing up in a manhood, the war in Vietnam does have special meaning. I wish you all the luck in the world in case you do eventually end up in Vietnam. As a matter of fact, a cousin of mine was just sent to Saigon. I'm eagerly waiting for his letters, which I hope will shed more light on that savage war in Vietnam. Robert R.K. that's it. [00:58:37] Speaker B: That's it. Now, I did find a Mr. Reid Cranmore, 73 years old, living in Arizona. He is an active model railroad. Enthusiastic. Oh, and presumably his twin's still alive. Because he's still alive. Wow. I don't know if it's the same one, but, you know, it's out in the west. I'm just assuming it's the same person. Like, I assume Lulin is married to Phil Hunter, living happily ever after, possibly in Arizona. Wow. Yeah. The more you know. [00:59:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Once see, the Vietnam conflict ended in 72 gu. [00:59:21] Speaker B: Around there. Yes. I don't know. [00:59:25] Speaker A: When was the fall of Saigon? [00:59:27] Speaker B: I don't know. Shamefully. Oh, hang on. Yeah. 1975. Wow. Yeah. [00:59:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. So it raged on for several years after this. [00:59:46] Speaker B: Yes. Anything to add? [00:59:51] Speaker A: Just that I. I'm really disappointed how this story concluded. I really am. I liked this. [00:59:57] Speaker B: This story. Lieutenant Hunter. Captain Hunter. [01:00:02] Speaker A: Sorry. I really did. And I enjoyed the relationship that he built with Lulynn. And there was always that tension. Is she a spy? Is she not a spy? And he used to call her kewpie doll and honey pie and all these different things. He called, and it was always Laika. Laika using similes all the time. Right. So I'm. I'm. I am disappointed and sad to see how it concluded. I'm glad that he did find his brother. [01:00:24] Speaker B: Yes. [01:00:25] Speaker A: I'm glad that they got to the hospital. One's gonna assume that they lived happily ever after. [01:00:28] Speaker B: Yes. [01:00:29] Speaker A: However, I would have loved a little bit more conclusion wrap up instead of launching right into another story. [01:00:37] Speaker B: I'm sorry. Yeah. [01:00:39] Speaker A: Well, anything else? [01:00:42] Speaker B: No, I. We have to feed the dogs before we leave. Yeah. I was gonna see if he ever appeared again just to make you happy. [01:00:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:56] Speaker B: Blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah film. Although this character was originally da da da da da. No, I don't think so. [01:01:09] Speaker A: Well, I was invested. [01:01:11] Speaker B: I know you were. Well, I'm sorry. It's okay. [01:01:17] Speaker A: There are lots of other stories. [01:01:19] Speaker B: There sure are. And we'll get to some next week. You can find us on social media, ogocheckpod. You can rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find us on our sister podcast, Nerd Orchestra. A new episode just dropped featuring Jaws. And you can find us right back here next week. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Bye, politician. [01:01:44] Speaker C: You can change it all with a sin and dispositions over heaven and spread it all around. If you find yourself a frowning, just turn it upside down? When you wear a smile, the world will shout hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine? You gotta give in one time? You gotta turn on the sunshine. Push those blues away. Man, this dialect exp too much.