Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders

Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders

First Appearance: Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #1 (January 1968).
Appearances: Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #1-19, Sgt. Fury #10, 14, 26, 64.
Years Active: 1941-?

A second-tier version of Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos, Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders were active in the Pacific during World War Two. They consisted of:

Captain Simon Savage, the leader of the group, who had a wife and child at home, although his wife divorced him while he was overseas.
Sgt. Sam “Yakkety” Yates, the tough guy of the group.
Corporal Jacques “Frenchy” Larocque, the stereotypical Frenchman.
Private Jay Little Bear, the stereotypical Native American (he was also, for a short time, a member of the Deadly Dozen).
Private Lee Baker, a white man who taught children in the ghetto (he died in issue #10).
Seaman Roy “Blarney” Stone.

Savage is said to have modeled his unit on the Howling Commandos. The Leatherneck Raiders specialized in fighting the Japanese, although in at least one story they teamed up with the Japanese Samurai Squad to fight Baron Strucker and HYDRA.

Whether or not Captain Savage and the Leatherneck Raiders were active in Korea, and their current status, is unknown.

Note: Ronald Byrd points out that “the short J word and the short N word fly kind of freely” in the Captain Savage stories, something disappointing but not surprising. Michael Hoskin points out that issue #7 involved a mission to rescue Ben Grimm, a story undoubtedly retconned away by Marvel's Ten Year Rule.