Was Bucky Barnes an actual military recruit?

[tliscord]

I'm not clear the the purpose of this thread. My impression through I-don't-know-how-many-reads of both WS and Buck's history impressed me that their retcon involved being a camp mascot, and they'd eventual recruit to be Cap's partner. Recruited not only for purposes of creating a teenage symbol for the war but as Frontier noted a lethal scout or ranger, whatever you'd chose, a dagger both for partnering with Steve as well as the Invaders. Never occurred to me what his official station with the military could be. What military honors he was afforded after his "death" I'm not sure however Cap vol 3 by Jurgens I believe touched upon this, and brought forth his sister Rebecca. Interestingly, I wonder in the same light what Toro's standing with the military was. Both Buck and Toro attend a Christmas dance in full military dress in Brubaker's wonderful "Winter Kills" one off.

[Chris0013]

That depends on the version. Up until the seminal Winter Soldier arc, his affiliation with the US Army was as vague as it was implausible. The army did not let non-enlisted "mascots" run around in uniform (and absolutely not in combat) anywhere except in Marvel comics.

WS, however, strongly implied that Barnes was an enlisted soldier, and that his superiors were turning a blind eye to him being under-aged. While not exactly common, and officially banned, under-aged soldiers were not exactly rare prior to the end of the Vietnam War (the records got a bit tougher to falsify).

So, up until WS, you could say that Barnes was a not officially a soldier. After that, although it was never specified (to my knowledge), he probably held the rank of private.

IIRC...they put him thru all the special schools. Ranger and whatever...and even sent him to England and he went through SAS training. And he was not as young as originally presented.

[Dcnewb]

IIRC...they put him thru all the special schools. Ranger and whatever...and even sent him to England and he went through SAS training. And he was not as young as originally presented.

Brubaker’s Captain America 50 reveals that he’s only 16 at that time

[Dcnewb]

I'm not clear the the purpose of this thread. My impression through I-don't-know-how-many-reads of both WS and Buck's history impressed me that their retcon involved being a camp mascot, and they'd eventual recruit to be Cap's partner. Recruited not only for purposes of creating a teenage symbol for the war but as Frontier noted a lethal scout or ranger, whatever you'd chose, a dagger both for partnering with Steve as well as the Invaders. Never occurred to me what his official station with the military could be. What military honors he was afforded after his "death" I'm not sure however Cap vol 3 by Jurgens I believe touched upon this, and brought forth his sister Rebecca. Interestingly, I wonder in the same light what Toro's standing with the military was. Both Buck and Toro attend a Christmas dance in full military dress in Brubaker's wonderful "Winter Kills" one off.

What does his sister say?

[DrNewGod]

Uh... excuse me?

Yeah, I've deleted that. Even if you were arguing just to bait me, and its by no means certain that you were, it was an over the top reply.

[babyblob]

I read a lot of the Golden ag comics. When he was clearly underage. What I find funny was this Mascot went on mission and was given a gun.

I am sure they have reconed this as people have said. But I havnt read those. I just was always amazed at a kid being given a riffle and put to fight.

[DrNewGod]

I read a lot of the Golden ag comics. When he was clearly underage. What I find funny was this Mascot went on mission and was given a gun.

I am sure they have reconed this as people have said. But I havnt read those. I just was always amazed at a kid being given a riffle and put to fight.

Kirby had a thing about kids punching above their weight class under adult supervision. Look at The Boy Commandoes and The Newsboy Legion sometime.