Jewish American comic book hero. Izzy is a master mechanic. Private Gabriel Jones - An African American serving in an integrated unit. (The regular U.S. armed forces were not in real-life integrated until after the war, in 1948. However, certain elite units were in other comic books.) Private Dino Manelli - He is modeled after Dean Martin. A swashbuckling movie actor, born in Italy, Dino enlisted to give back to the country that gave him so much. He is fluent in both Italian and German. Private Robert "Rebel" Ralston - An ex-jockey from Kentucky Bluegrass country. Private Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton - Loosely modeled after real-life Commando and movie actor David Niven, this British soldier replaced Juniper in issue #8 (July 1964). Private Jonathan "Junior" Juniper — In an unusual and daring move for comics at the time, Junior was killed in action after a few issues (issue #4 (Nov. 1963)). As one comics historian wrote in 1999, "Today that's no big deal but in 1963, comics heroes simply didn't die; not permanently, anyway. Suddenly, with the death of 'Junior' Juniper, the series acquired some real cachet. It now played like a true-life war drama where people got killed and never came back. You wondered who would be next." Private Eric Koenig - A defector from Nazi Germany who joined the squad in issue #27 (Feb. 1966). Private Jim Morita - Was an American of Japanese descent who served in the U.S. Army as a Ranger during World War II. He joined a Nisei Squadron under the command of Capt. "Happy Sam" Sawyer and served with the Howling Commandos on several missions. Private Jacques "Frenchie" Dernier - Was a member of the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation during WWII. Fictional team history In issue #34 (Sept. 1966) it is shown that a young Nick Fury with his friend Red Hargrove, left their childhood neighborhood to pursue their dreams of adventure, eventually settling on a daring wing-walking aviation act. Their death-defying stunts caught the attention of Lieutenant Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer when Fury and Hargrove were training British Commandos in low-level parachuting. Sawyer was serving with the British Commandos in 1940 and underwent training by Fury. Sawyer enlisted them for a special mission in the Netherlands. Nick and Red later joined the U.S. Army, with Fury undergoing basic training under a Sergeant Bass at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Both Fury