During the dark days of World War II, the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team was comprised of Japanese-American “Nisei” soldiers, native-born Americans who volunteered to fight against tyranny and oppression overseas while many of their own family members were interned behind barbed wire in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s internment camps. The members of the 442nd RCT were not permitted to fight in the Pacific theater. Instead, they distinguished themselves in Europe, fighting the Nazis. The unit achieved a 400% casualty rate and remains one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history. Their real life story is central to Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, the upcoming mini-series by writer-artist Billy Tucci.

The series takes place in October 1944 with Sgt. Rock and his soldiers of Easy Company among the 275 men of the 141st Regiment/36th Division who ended up surrounded on all sides by an enemy force ten times their size in the Vosges mountains of eastern France, Tucci said. The men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team will play pivotal roles in the story alongside the fictional DC Comics characters. The project offered Tucci the opportunity to enhance his passion for art and storytelling by infusing it with his interest in studying history and collecting World War II memorabilia.

Scoop invited Tucci to tell us about the project and how he reached this point:

It’s nothing new for the elements of real life to make their way into the pages of a comic book. In fact, many of the most famous covers of the Golden Age featured World War II themes, with various characters fighting the Axis powers and even taking on Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. The first appearance of Archie’s patriotic character The Shield predated Timely’s Captain America Comics #1 by months, and Captain America in turn predated the attack on Pearl Harbor, but both showed that people believed American involvement in the war was inevitable.

Many real life figures have been featured in comics as well. Sometimes it’s been politicians having their life stories told in sequential art, while at others it’s been important figures in our nation’s social or pop culture history. Jackie Robinson, Dr. Martin Luther King, and others have been profiled. Because pop culture is so close to the hearts of many creators, you’ll also find plenty of cameos or appearances, too, whether authorized or not.

With Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, I wanted to do something different, and it dates back to my earliest comic book favorites. Before I went to college and discovered all sorts of great writers and artists, the only comics I ever purchased regularly were issues of Sgt. Rock. I was lucky to pick up a bunch of older issues of Our Army At War as well. I just gravitated towards the artwork and storylines. I especially loved when they were done correctly, and followed actual events. Most historians and authors I work with today all hold the same sentiments, their first hook into WWII history was through the DC war comics.

I think the covers to the war comics are among the best images in the history of comic books. It takes a lot of skill to draw all the weapons, uniforms, and equipment in such a small area. But also, many of the facial expressions (the racially insensitive depictions of Japanese soldiers, notwithstanding) are also very powerful and moving. The covers were always the hook, but the interior stories, especially those by Robert Kanigher, were so original and exciting. It would make you want to run to the library and look up the Battle for Monte Cassino.

I’ve always wanted to do a Sgt. Rock story, but wasn’t fully motivated until my agent at ICM put me in touch with one of his other clients, John Milius, the writer-director of Conan The Barbarian, among other things. I spoke with John on the phone and was sent the copy to John’s 1993 screenplay for Sgt. Rock. It was years before Saving Private Ryan and is an amazing script.

John wanted to turn that into a comic book. I reworked it, pitched it to DC and though they liked it, couldn’t do anything with it as producer Joel Silver owns the script. So Dan DiDio, DC’s Executive Editor and Sr. Vice-President, asked me if I had another Sgt. Rock pitch.

So I wrote up a pitch, Dan loved it and so did editor Mike Marts. Again, this is a lifelong dream of mine. Something I want to do more than anything else! I love Sgt. Rock and Easy Company and knew that if I ever got the chance would give my all to honor the title and its creators. I will also pay homage to the great creators of the war genre, Robert Kanigher, Joe Kubert, Frank Redondo, and my “modern” favorites Garth Ennis and Chuck Dixon.

It’s almost as if I’ve been preparing for this my whole life. I’m a soldier who knows the military and while I probably have 200 or so reference books on Japan, its art and history, I most likely have 500 or so books on World War II. As my friends can attest, this is what I know and this is what I do. I’m glad I finally have an outlet to unleash all this energy I’ve bottled up since childhood!

I love research and I believe that collecting gave me the background to understand the kind of detail this project requires. My collection has grown considerably since signing on to do The Lost Battalion, and a great excuse for me to purchase more without the wife getting too upset. My buddies also get a kick out of donning all my period gear and uniforms and posing with my weapons. My collection primarily consists of German and U.S. weapons and uniforms, helmets, web gear, and boots, basically the overall infantry kit. I actually just picked up a cherry M1 Garand manufactured in August of 1943. I also have lots of old Life and Yank magazines.

While in preparation for the writing phase of the project, I contacted historians Hervé Claudon and Gerome Villain in France. Since this Sgt. Rock is based on an actual battle and the soldiers who suffered through it, I felt compelled to write and draw a story as accurately as possible. Over the course of several months, Hervé and Gerome not only served as indispensable experts on the region, the battle, and the men themselves, but we became the best of friends as well. When I visited the Vosges region of France earlier this year, these two gentlemen opened their homes to me and treated me as family, guiding me throughout the region and introducing me to several resistance fighters.

What struck me was that these men, now in their seventies, where just mere boys at the time, boys who risked their lives guiding many Americans safely through the mountains and across rivers to attack the Germans, and now, here they were celebrating with me with all these photos and incredible stories.

On March 4, 2008 Monsieur Michel Langloix, Vice-President du Conseil General des Vosges bestowed on me the honor of Ambassador in the ancient town of Bruyeres. The citation reads, “William Tucci, Ambassadeur, De La Region De Bruyeres, Vosges, France.”

We gathered with many provincial VIPs from the mountainous region of Lorraine amid a driving snowstorm at the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team monument for a somber wreath laying ceremony, honoring the American soldiers who liberated the town from their German occupiers. The ceremony included regional mayors, vice-presidents, councilors, resistance fighters, and historians. It opened with a very moving speech by Monsieur Kronel, mayor of la Houssiére, and was followed by a wreath laying and the simultaneous raising of the French tri-color and Stars and Stripes. Hervé and Gerome led me in the footsteps of the 141st Infantry and 442nd RCT, and I was able to visit the Epinal American Cemetery and memorial situated at the foot of the Vosges Mountains overlooking the Moselle River. It was clear that the Vosgiens themselves would never forget the sacrifice of those gallant warriors six decades ago

As a result of these incredible meetings, I was interviewed by numerous newspapers and even French national television. That led me to another meeting. From the city of Nancy came a telephone call from the war bride of a 36th Infantry soldier, David Rosenbluth, who had seen me on TV. I wanted to meet him, but since I was leaving the next day, the only way possible would be at the Nancy train station, so here I was the next day, sitting in the train station with Mr. Rosenbluth and his beautiful wife. Again, I promised him that, as a former serviceman myself, I would do him and his fellow soldiers honor and tell their story.

That wasn’t my last meeting with a wonderful member of America’s greatest generation. At Comic-Con International: San Diego this year I was able to host three members of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team including Medal of Honor recipient George “Joe” Sakato (E Company), David Katagiri (F Company) and Jim Yamashita (I Company). Joe Sakato and Jim Yamashita both stopped at my booth and chatted with fans, most of whom were simply stunned to find them there, and then they were joined by David for a dinner hosted by my wife Deborah and me.

Having dinner and getting to spend time with these heroes is one of the greatest things ever to happen to me. The debt of gratitude this nation owes them can never be repaid, and yet it’s incumbent upon those of us who have a forum to try to live up to what they have done for us by telling the story. My good friend, Captain Paul Krumenacker, USMC, had just returned from his third tour in Iraq, and he was able to attend as well, as did several of my other friends.

Following that, I had able to arrange for two more members of the 442nd to attend Diamond Comic Distributors’ Retailer Summit in September. The moment I introduced the Professor Ken Inada and Colonel Arthur Nishimoto to the comic shop retailers in Las Vegas, is without question, the highlight of my career. I was stunned at the reaction as 400-plus people all rose as one and gave these two humble men a five-minute standing ovation. It brought tears to my eyes and dare I say, many others as well.

To bring this back to how it started with collecting comics, over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to meet just about all the top creators in the business. I know Andy Kubert and am friends with Adam Kubert, but am in such awe of their father, Joe Kubert, that I could never bring myself to speak with him. When my mini-series was announced, I was finally able to meet him. He was incredibly gracious and was happy I was taking on this project. Joe Kubert is my favorite, his Rock is the iconic “superhero,” to me more powerful than Superman himself, and to be following in the footsteps of someone who influenced me so much is just an incredible sensation.

In addition to the project itself, Tucci regularly authors a column, "Tour of Duty," on the subject for Newsarama.