How long was Captain America's WW2 service?

[Love_Rhombus]

I was always under the impression that he only served for perhaps year or a half, and that he was frozen before the final push on Berlin.

[silenus]

The cover date on Captain America #1 was March, 1941. So even if he plunged into the North Atlantic in early 1945, he got a good 4 years of service in.

[thelurkinghorror]

It looks the the MCU version started in 1942. No end date given, although the “Categories” section has “Films set in 1945,” so presumably he was frozen then or at least Howard Stark’s search occurred then.

Still, it must’ve taken a Supreme Court decision to determine whether he gets a pension for the years frozen.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@thelurkinghorror

Still, it must’ve taken a Supreme Court decision to determine whether he gets a pension for the years frozen.

I dunno, he’s basically a very well preserved ~90 year old. Aside from the complexity of declaring him not-dead, I don’t see why him drawing benefits and back pay should be a problem.

[tripthicket]

Military bureaucracy. 1) He was never issued a DD Form 214 (or the WWII equivalent) as the culmination of the required paperwork to separate from the military; 2) Technically, he (like all members of the military for the duration of their service) was the government’s property, so he did not have the proper permission to die (as was expected when he took the plane down); and 3) he did not report back to his assigned station of duty, so he was essentially AWOL (absent without leave) for all those decades. He’s lucky he didn’t receive a court-martial and spend time in Leavenworth.

And yes, all of that was stated with tongue inserted into cheek in a proper military manner.

[TBG]

@tripthicket

Military bureaucracy. 1) He was never issued a DD Form 214 (or the WWII equivalent) as the culmination of the required paperwork to separate from the military; 2) Technically, he (like all members of the military for the duration of their service) was the government’s property, so he did not have the proper permission to die (as was expected when he took the plane down); and 3) he did not report back to his assigned station of duty, so he was essentially AWOL (absent without leave) for all those decades. He’s lucky he didn’t receive a court-martial and spend time in Leavenworth.

And yes, all of that was stated with tongue inserted into cheek in a proper military manner.

I think he could make a good case that he was MIA not AWOL.

[B.Serum]

@tripthicket

Military bureaucracy. 1) He was never issued a DD Form 214 (or the WWII equivalent) as the culmination of the required paperwork to separate from the military; 2) Technically, he (like all members of the military for the duration of their service) was the government’s property, so he did not have the proper permission to die (as was expected when he took the plane down); and 3) he did not report back to his assigned station of duty, so he was essentially AWOL (absent without leave) for all those decades. He’s lucky he didn’t receive a court-martial and spend time in Leavenworth.

And yes, all of that was stated with tongue inserted into cheek in a proper military manner.

You’re actually not far off.

Marvel essentially used this as a plot point in 1985. He ended up using the back pay to start a hotline service that allowed the average citizen to petition him directly for assistance. Kind of like a one-man A-Team, except he doesn’t charge.

Comic books: if you can imagine it, chances are they’ve already done it.

[B.Serum]

@silenus

The cover date on Captain America #1 was March, 1941. So even if he plunged into the North Atlantic in early 1945, he got a good 4 years of service in.

Correct! I checked the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (yes, that is a thing) and it says that he plunged into the water (it was the English Channel, in the vicinity of the Channel Islands, to be specific) in April of 1945.