GEORGE STONEWELL

Real Name: George Stonewell

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era)

Occupation: Soldier

Group Membership: Howling Commandos

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Nazis including Erwin Rommel

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Able Company Base, England

First Appearance: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#6 (March, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: Stonewell was a trained commando who wielded a machine gun and grenades. His greatest asset to the Howling Commandos was his ability to speak German.

History: (Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#6) - When Dino Manelli was temporarily laid up in a parachuting accident, George Stonewell was assigned to the Howling Commandos as a temporary replacement. He was less than enthused to be replacing an Italian, and was also unimpressed with the Jewish Isadore "Izzy" Cohen, but was furious when he found out that the African-American Gabe Jones was a member of the squad, and at first refused to sleep in the same barracks. Seeing that Stonewell was a bigot, Fury was forced to keep him because they didn't have time to get a "real human being." Only Jones took Stonewell's racism in stride, saying he was used to men like him.

The Howling Commandos were sent to North Africa on a mission to assassinate Marshal Erwin Rommel ("the Desert Fox"). When they ran across a camp of Nazis, Fury ordered Jones to take out their radio quickly, but Stonewell didn't trust Jones with the job and intercepted him, delaying action long enough for the radio operator to send a distress message. They took one of the Nazis prisoner, and Stonewell was used to interrogate him. The Nazi tried to play to his sympathies, claiming that they had much in common, but Stonewell was not swayed by his arguement. When a German plane flew nearby, the prisoner escaped Stonewell to signal it, but the pilots shot the prisoner dead, thinking he was an enemy.

More planes arrived, and the Howlers had to fight their way out, leading to more berating of Stonewell for his sloppy work. They eventually met up with some Bedouins who had heard of the Howling Commandos and provided camels and supplies to them so that they could reach Rommel's camp. At the camp, Fury ordered Cohen and Stonewell to go in and find Rommel. Stonewell still didn't like working with Cohen, but had no choice. Inside the camp, Stonewell saw a chance to kill Rommel and was going to take it despite orders that Cohen handle it, and a scuffle emerged, leading to their discovery. They had to fight their way through the Nazis, working side-by-side. When a grenade was thrown at them, Stonewell hurled it away, but it went off mid-air, and he was hit by shrapnel. Cohen carried Stonewell to safety with the other Howlers.

At a German hospital tent, they received aid for Stonewell. Needing a source of AB blood to save Stonewell's life, the needed blood was supplied by Jones. When Stonewell revived and learned what had happened, he was shocked. The Howlers ultimately learned that they were to call off their mission because of intelligence that Rommel was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, and so should be given that chance. When the Howlers returned to England, Stonewell was reassigned, and left the Howlers without another word. However, he left behind a piece of paper addressed to Cohen and Jones with his new address, inviting them to write to him as a gesture of friendship.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and George Roussos.

Based on what I understand of Rommel's life, this story must be set during 1943.

This wasn't the only time that Gabe Jones had to deal with racism from fellow soldiers-- Sgt. Fury#44 revealed that "Reb" Ralston had initially been prejudiced against him when they went on their first mission.

Stan Lee wrote a lot of stories in the 60s that dealt with racism; this is my favorite.

The American Nazi Party leader named George Lincoln Rockwell may have inspired his name.
--John McDonagh