into any new soldier throughout their Basic Combat Training. Troops are meant to live these values every day and judge every action they take through them. The Army values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
Steve Rogers took one big step toward selfless service in that particular story. He put the welfare of the nation before his own government. He believed he could serve his country and its people outside the purview of the government. Whether this fact is true or not, Steve grasped the idea of selfless service and did not let go.
His replacement did not do as well when faced with a similar situation. Once Captain America turned his uniform back in to the government and quit the mantle of the sentinel of liberty, the very same presidential council quickly began to search for another man. The man they found was a vigilante by the name of John Walker. John had been seeking fame as a superpowered hero, but immediately put all of that on hold when the government calls on him. He proclaims that any true patriot heeds his country’s call, no matter what. When the council later delivers the news to John that they cannot meet all his conditions for taking on the position of Captain America, John solemnly delivers a “Yes, sir.” No fight, no debate, merely a simple soldier’s acknowledgment.
We can see the ideas of Rogers’ resistance also manifest in the film Captain America: The First Avenger. Abraham Erskine, the scientist who has developed the super soldier serum, asks scrawny Steve Rogers if he wants to kill Nazis. Steve responds,
“I don’t want to kill anyone. I just don’t like bullies.” This answer becomes the reason Steve is chosen. Erskine instructs Steve to be “not a perfect soldier, but a good man.” This is a credo all soldiers should follow. We are all human beings first, soldiers second.
Without Captain America, we would not have a model to judge all soldiers and service members by in storytelling. His legend shines as brightly as his costume. Many times, he is the perfect soldier, a military “deity” if you will, shining down from above, telling soldiers how they should act and how much courage they need to charge the next hill. Other times, he’s Steve Rogers, a simple boy from Brooklyn who’s going to do what’s right every time. He’s a perfect example, a perfect ideal, and a perfect soldier.
Captain America takes a step in the direction of being a better service member, the way I hope and dream all soldiers eventually will. At first, you join for ideals (or maybe you enlist for that sweet sign-on bonus). However you feel when you sign on the dotted line to Uncle Sam, one part of your brain has to be behind the idea of serving your country. I doubt anyone could sign any kind of contract that significant if they didn’t believe in part of it. The text is full of tall orders. Soon, you will take a few steps back from the idea of glorious purpose. The flag will lose some of its luster; the orders and missions may seem vague to you. That’s okay. You know in your heart of hearts what you signed up for. The values of your squadmates can see you through. All the while, you may come face-to-face with an order that you don’t agree with. If the order is just, you follow that order. You’re a soldier. That’s your job. But if the order is unethical, or would compromise one of your values, it is your duty to take a step back. Pause. Do the right thing. Orders are damned if the integrity and selfless service of the United States military is up for grabs.
From Shovel to Rifle
“A man soon to become legend.” This quote sits on the text box of the very first story starring Ulysses Hazard, better known to comic book fans as “Gravedigger.” Personally, I think any man with a name like Ulysses Hazard is an instant legend. Ulysses is the name of one of the greatest adventurers of all time, who overcame several mythological obstacles in a journey to return to his family. A hazard is an agent that causes damage to humans. It is implicit in his name that Ulysses Hazard was going to defeat burdens and foes far beyond his fellow soldiers.
We meet Ulysses hunkered down with his squad, enduring bombardment from Nazi forces, clutching their pickaxes and shovels. The first thing any eagle-eyed reader should notice is that his squad is made up entirely of African American soldiers.
I forgot to mention the other important quote from Gravedigger’s introductory caption box: “Just ask Ulysses Hazard, a man who had to fight not only the enemy—but his own country.” This is an important distinction I’m going to examine throughout this chapter; at every turn, Ulysses is a comic book character told not to fight, and in every case, he does so anyway.
During World War II, segregation laws infiltrated every aspect of American society. In the American armed forces, African Americans who were drafted or volunteered were assigned to segregated units as cooks, quartermasters, and gravediggers—just like the unit that Ulysses Hazard is a part of.
Thankfully, my time in the Army was nothing like this. I didn’t enjoy many privileges as an enlisted man, but as a Caucasian soldier, I spotted the differences. One of my best friends in the service was an African American sergeant by the name of Linus Thuston. He was without a doubt one of the smartest men in my unit, and one of the coolest non-commissioned officers in charge of us. Linus understood what it took to lead men. He morphed many of his commands into concepts we could understand. Plus, he was always good for a laugh. If Linus was around, we would make fun of many of the base commanders. Without Linus, our unit would have been worse off. We needed Linus like the DC Comics Army units needed Ulysses Hazard.
Before his grave-digging days, Ulysses grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. As a young boy, he had to overcome polio, which left him half-crippled. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to overcome his illness, pushed himself to walk, run, and do “everything a normal person could do or die trying,” as he says in his first appearance. Ulysses trained hard, working after hours, building up his strength and stamina to be the best soldier the US Army had ever seen. However, all of his accomplishments meant nothing. In the end, he still had to suffer the indignities of his time. As a result of his skin color, he was assigned to latrine duty.
Many other men would have folded in light of this setback, but not our hero Ulysses Hazard! He took his duties seriously. Ulysses endeavored to do every job so well that someone would take notice. After scrubbing toilets for years, he was promoted to sergeant and put in charge of a grave-digging detail. Ulysses remarked that he only hated the blind attitude behind his unfair treatment. Ulysses knew he was the best soldier out there—and soon he would get the chance to prove it.
In his first issue, deep in the European front of World War II, Ulysses and his unit heard the screams of a woman. Shells were flying left and right, pinning his grave-digging unit down. Even though his group was supposed to be non-combatant, Ulysses flew toward the farmhouse, the source of the screams. Next, when one of his fellow soldiers bellowed, “Let the real soldiers do the work,” Ulysses charged toward danger. He charged toward his destiny. In spite of the Army at the time classifying him as a gravedigger, at that moment, Ulysses was a real soldier. Then he launched himself through a window, shovel first, to take down several Nazi soldiers and save the woman. It is a powerful moment. A Black man with only a basic tool in hand was able to defeat soldiers of an empire dedicated to destroying anyone outside the scope of their perfect Aryan ideal.
He was a hero, certainly, but Ulysses did not achieve victory all by his lonesome. Behind his back, a luger was raised, ready to take the kill shot on the astounding Ulysses Hazard. Thankfully, Andy, a fellow gravedigger soldier, followed him into the farmhouse and walloped that Nazi with his own shovel. Andy saved Ulysses’ life.
These two American heroes would get little chance to celebrate their victory,
