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Able Company
Capt. Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer
Capt. Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer
A U.S. army captain responsible for recruiting Nick Fury as the leader of the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the "Howling Commandos."
- Alliterative Name: Sam Sawyer
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He's a dedicated pipe-smoker, in accordance to his distinguished military officer persona.
- Killed Off for Real: Is killed by Baron Von Strucker's self destructing Life Model Decoy in Captain America issue 274.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As Fury's direct superior, he's the one the Howlers answer to.
First Attack Squad / Howling Commandos
Sgt. Nick Fury
Sgt. Nick Fury
The one and only, later famous as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sergeant Fury leads his squad to victory time and time again against impossible odds.
See Nick Fury
Cpl. Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum-Dum" Dugan
Cpl. Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum-Dum" Dugan
A former circus strongman and Fury's second-in-command, known for his distinctive bowler derby and his impressive 'stache. The only things that scare Dugan are his wife and mother-in-law.
- The Big Guy: A former circus strongman, no less.
- Body Backup Drive: As Duggan learns, Nick Fury has a whole bunker filled with Duggan LMDs, which his mind is downloaded into after the previous body is destroyed.
- Dashingly Dapper Derby: He keeps his Corporal's insignia pinned to it.
- Dead All Along: An Original Sin tie-in claims Duggan's been dead since the 60s, and the Duggan we've been following all that time is actually a series of Life Model Decoys... except a few years later, New Avengers reveals this isn't quite true - Duggan's just been only mostly dead since the 60s.
- Depending on the Writer: His Post-WW2 rank varies, as he's been addressed as Captain, Commander, and Colonel.
- Morality Chain: One of the vanishingly few people who can keep Fury from being a total bastard... usually. He even accuses Nick of turning him into a "hair shirt" at one point.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Most people just know him as Dum-Dum.
- Overly Long Name: His full name is Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan. No wonder most people just call him by his nickname and last name.
- Signature Headgear: His signature bowler hat. It might actually be SHIELD protocol that it's part of his uniform.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: On the receiving end when he's apparently an LMD. John Garrett even tries to justify brainwashing him because he thought Duggan was "just a robot". John Garrett is an asshole. Duggan punches his head off.
Pvt. Dino Manelli
Pvt. Dino Manelli
A famous movie star who chose to stop making movies about the war and actually enlist. Dino is the squad's resident linguist, speaking German and Italian fluently.
- Bilingual Bonus: Dino is fluent in both German and Italian, making him the perfect candidate when the Howlers are incognito.
- The Charmer: Aside from being able to attract a multitude of women with his personal charm, he can also handle a lot of social situations when dealing with enemy troops.
- Cunning Linguist: Spoke fluent German and Italian, which was pretty useful.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Appears to be based on fellow Italian American actor Dean Martin, who was also drafted in WWII, though Martin became famous after the war.
- The comic also revealed that Dino used to be a comedian, working as a duo with an old friend named Jerry Larkins, who was obviously based on Jerry Lewis.
Pvt. Robert "Rebel" Ralston
Pvt. Robert "Rebel" Ralston
A southern farm boy never seen without Confederate cap.
- Alliterative Name: Robert Rebel Ralston.
- Family Theme Naming: He has a grandson, Ryan.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: In Secret Warriors, where he's an elderly US senator, he's drawn to resemble Robert Redford.
- Generation Xerox: His grandson followed in his footsteps as an Army Ranger.
- Inexplicably Awesome: Unlike Fury and Dugan, he doesn't have the infinity formula, nor was he even active in SHIELD. He still looks remarkably young, especially in his appearances right before he was killed.
- Southern-Fried Private: A ranch kid from Kentucky.
- The Gambler: Ralston has absurd luck with Poker.
Pvt. Isadore "Izzy" Cohen
Pvt. Isadore "Izzy" Cohen
A wisecracking Brooklyn-born Jewish soldier who joined the army in response to the persecution of his people in Europe. The Howlers' resident mechanic.
- Brooklyn Rage: He's extremely proud of his Brooklyn roots and is pretty quick to anger.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: He's a dead-ringer for Charles Bronson.
- Last of His Kind: The last Howling Commandos alive and fully human.
Pvt. Gabriel "Gabe" Jones
Pvt. Gabriel "Gabe" Jones
A jazz musician from New York, Gabe is the only African-American in the Howlers. He carries a bugle and often plays it when the Howlers are charging into combat.
- Politically Correct History: Gabe is a black soldier serving alongside whites in a frontline combat unit, despite the U.S. Army being segregated and black soldier restricted to non-combat roles during WWII.
- Actually averted, as the Howling Commandos are an experimental unit. One white soldier assigned to the commandos was surprised and vocally disapproving of his presence.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Tries unleashing these on Fury during Secret Warriors, but Nick's immune.
Pvt. Percival "Percy" Pinkerton
Pvt. Percival "Percy" Pinkerton
An effete and unflappable British soldier assigned to fill out the Howlers' ranks after the death of their youngest member, "Junior" Juniper.
- Affectionate Nickname: Pinky by the other commandos.
- Alliterative Name: Percy Pinkerton.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He may be a gentleman who hates violence, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous than the rest of the Howlers.
- Quintessential British Gentleman
- Nice Guy: Percy is easily the most soft-spoken and outwardly friendly of the Howlers. In other words, he's the perfect gentleman.Percy: You're obedient servant, madam.
- Parasol of Pain: Fond of carrying his "bumbershoot" into battle and using it to poke, hook, and otherwise humiliate Nazis.
- Parasol Parachute: Rather incongruously (in a semi-realistic war comic) uses his umbrella as a parachute.
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Word of Gay: Was one of Marvel's first gay characters. According to Stan Lee, decades after the fact.
Jonathan "Junior" Juniper
Jonathan "Junior" Juniper
An Ivy League graduate and founding member of the Howling Commandoes, he was the youngest member of the team.
- Alliterative Name: Jonathan Juniper.
- Killed Off for Real: In an unprecedented move he was killed off early in the comic.
Eric Koenig
Eric Koenig
A German ex-patriot and former pilot in the Luftwaffe, Koenig was convinced to switch sides by Nick Fury and eventually became a Howler after sharing all the intelligence he had with the Allies.
- Defector from Decadence: He highly dislikes what Nazism did to Germany, and figured out that the best way to save his country was by switching sides and help the Allies to purge Nazis from Germany.
- Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: To Fury's horror, Koening turns against the Allies and goes back to the Nazis, mocking Fury about how he was a Nazi spy all along and how easily he fooled everyone. Later Fury discovers this was a huge lie and Koening was just pretending to be a traitor so the Nazis could accept him back and so, he could spy and report their secrets to the Allies.
- Heel–Face Turn: As stated above, he's a former Luftwaffe pilot who defects to the Allied forces.
