Combat!

- Season 3

(1964)

A belligerent hermit is the only one who can guide Saunders through a treacherous mountain route, so Hanley's company can follow. The Frenchman claims his family was ripped apart in World War I, so he's sitting World War II out at the top of a mountain. The huge Francois is very itchy on the trigger toward Saunders and his troops. Is Francois a Nazi collaborator leading the dog-faces into a trap, or a dangerous misanthrope ?

When it appears Lt. Hanley and his men are about to be overrun by attacking Germans, they are miraculously saved by a squadron of fast moving jeeps with mounted machine guns. The squadron of jeeps is commanded by a Greek Colonel named Kapsalis, a gung-ho, no-holds-barred soldier fighting a personal vendetta against the Germans. He orders Lt. Hanley and his men to join him and they attack a heavily-guarded German depot.

Sergeant Saunders faces court martial, charged with a reckless decision costing two machine gunner's lives. The gunners' NCO O'Neill accuses Saunders of forgetting to check if the combined squads had ammo for their bazooka, just before a panzer attack. Instead of retreating prudently, Saunders ran down the hill they were defending to not only lug the ammo back up, but drag his wounded squad member who carried it, to safety. That allowed the tank time to get close, and blow up the 2 machine gunners. As the protagonists' commanding officers square off, Caje and Kirby ...

Sgt. Saunders tries to harass a Nazi tank with small arms fire before it discovers a GI trying fix a large supply truck.

While Mickey Rooney and Claudine Longet are the guest stars, this is Jack Hogan's chance to shine as Kirby. It begins with Kirby being sent back to town to recuperate from some minor injury. While there, he meets GI Harry White who is a truck driver who uses dirty dice to cheat other GIs. Harry has been running his dirty dice game when Kirby spots the dirty dice and tells the other players. Harry manages to skip out just as the town is hit with an artillery barrage. A shell shocked Kirby manages to get out of town and later comes across Harry White whose truck has run...

The Germans are entering a French Village, driving the Americans out before them. The squad is in retreat as Sgt. Saunders enters a building and discovers a member of his squad, a private named Kogan, cowering in a corner. As he drives Kogan out of the building, an artillery shell lands nearby and a roof-beam falls on Saunder's legs, pinning him to the floor. Pvt. Kogan flees from the town in terror, and informs Lt. Hanley that Saunders was killed. As the squad marches on, Kogan has an attack of conscience and returns to the village to free Saunders, as the Germans ...

A German captain warns Saunders that "a reckless hunter who sets a trap often becomes its first victim" when Saunders uses him as bait to attract a deadly Nazi Colonel. The infantry NCO battles not only the wily captain, but a cynical, fellow Sergeant, on loan for his German capability. Sgt. Maider doubts Saunders' every move, needling Saunders that his improvisation risks their lives, especially their wounded medic, solely for his own glory.

The Americans liberate a French village, and a young French girl follows Sgt. Saunders squad. She wants to be a nurse, but Saunders tells her to go away. However, her bravery wins even Saunders hardened heart.

Sgt. Saunders and his squad have been ordered to escort a Sgt. Keeley behind enemy lines with his trained pigeons. The birds have small cameras on their legs to photograph the enemy, but Keeley is belligerent and surly.

Lt. Hanley must flush out a Nazi spy among the soldiers he's leading on a dangerous intelligence mission, before the German sabotages the plan. Hanley's thrust into the unfamiliar leadership role when the G-2 Captain heading the mission is accidentally shot by another infantry unit, who are hunting a deadly hauptmann who speaks perfect English. Because it's a top secret infiltration of a German planning HQ, none of the MI men know each other, nor does the novice Hanley know them. Another suspect wanders into the mission's rendezvous point, an Army minefield specialist...

Kirby claims a civilian he assaulted is a deserter, but Saunders maintains the MIA Sergeant was killed. With his dying words, Kirby's pal gasped that his Sgt. dropped his carbine and abandoned his men, but Saunders can't imagine the RA tough infantry vet would panic. Then Sgt. Avery shows up in civilian clothes, with a strange tale, but instead of Saunders reporting Avery to the CO, he accompanies him to find a corroborating witness.

Saunders' squad is checking out a winery when a squadron of Germans enter carrying a badly wounded Lt. Hanley. Saunders and his men stay hidden until they can find a way to rescue Hanley.

Sgt. Saunder's squad captures an apparent GI who was firing on them, claiming he thought they were being impersonated by Nazis, but a shocking secret is behind it all.

Lt. Hanley and the squad are heading to French town to evacuate the inhabitants as the Germans are advancing towards the town. However, the inhabitants keep trying to prevent him completing his mission.

The squad is anxious to open Littlejohn's birthday cake he received from home, but Littlejohn refuses since his mother has a note attached telling him not to open the package until his birthday which is a day away. They are sent on a mission to tap into a German phone line to gather information, and Pvt. Cantrell is sent along because he speaks German. Cantrell, due to be rotated out of action and placed on leave, is sore and does nothing but constantly complain on the patrol. While Cantrell worries about surviving the mission to go on leave, Littlejohn's attention is...

Lt. Hanley comes across three German soldiers in a deserted French town. Two are killed and he captures the third...a demolition expert. He tells Hanley that the entire town is mined and booby trapped to kill American soldiers. When Hanley finds out there is no way to prevent the returning French population from reentering the town he forces the German to disarm the mines and traps at gunpoint. Hanley must be on constant guard because the German is very clever and always thinking of escape.

King company is quickly overrunning a French Village, and the German withdrawal is in complete chaos. Most of the German troops are killed, wounded, or captured in the action, but one German officer, Hertzbrun, tries to blow a bridge before he leaves the village. Unable to blow the bridge during the attack, he takes refuge in a Catholic church where he exchanges his uniform for the vestments a priest and becomes "Father Hertzbrun." His intention is to impersonate a priest long enough for him to finish setting his charges, blow the bridge, and make his escape. Much to ...

A loudmouthed cardsharp holds an ace in reserve over a young recruit, who volunteers for a dangerous recon in his stead. Corporal Jackson the older man, bitterly resents Caje being named temporary leader of Jackson's squad, after Sgt. Saunders sees how the Corporal lords it over the young Private Tommy. While Tommy slogs through a heavy downpour toward a German machine gun nest, Jackson in the comfort of a château, tries to wipe out the other poker players, plus sway them to his jaundiced view of the situation.

Out of ammo, Saunders is holed up with terrified young Private Carey ('Tommy Sands'): a pacifistic draftee who can't bring himself to fire on their pursuer, a relentless German sergeant.

Frankie Avalon plays Pvt. Eddie Cain, the kid brother of an old hometown friend of Kirby's. Cain has somehow finagled his way to be assigned to Kirby's squad, and he immediately gloms onto his old buddy, "Wild Man" Kirby, and begins making demands of him. The cutesy little Avalon does a fine job of making his Cain character into an exasperating little twerp you cannot help but detest. Cain believes his brother, Tony, and Kirby were best of friends and that Tony was killed in their old hometown while saving Kirby's life. Accordingly, Cain also believes Kirby owes him a...

Saunders, Caje, and Kirby are on a night mission moving through an abandoned French village when they notice an American paratrooper hanging from the church steeple in his entangled parachute - and the paratrooper is still alive. Immediately after they enter the church to rescue the paratrooper, two German trucks full of troops enter the village, stop just outside the church, and set up an armed perimeter with the apparent intention of establishing a command post. Saunders and his men ascend the steeple steps with the hope of rescuing the paratrooper under the cover ...

A escape convict sees a Resistance leader killed, steals his papers and tricks Sgt. Saunders in escorting him where he hopes to flee to Switzerland.

Sgt. Saunders and his squad are on patrol with a Captain from G-2 Intelligence. He informs them he intends to be captured by the Germans, allowing himself to be taken to a POW camp where an important writer for Stars and Stripes is being held. The Captain must get the writer out of the POW camp before he can talk, through a hidden tunnel he knows to be there. When the Captain steps on a mine and is killed, Sgt. Saunders and his squad are captured, but they intend to complete the mission.

Hanley, leads some squad members to recover a flying ace when he is shot down behind enemy territory.

After opening the episode with a short firefight in a French village, Saunders' squad is in a GI 2 ½ ton truck along with four GIs in need of surgery and a load of ammo needed for the front lines. Along the way, they get pinned down by a German machine gun crew and supporting infantry who are all well protected in an escarpment of large boulders. With a front tire shot out, Archie the truck driver backs the truck a short ways where it is protected by a large rock wall, but they cannot go forward or backward without being exposed to the German firepower. The conflict ...

Lt. Hanley leads the squad on a mission to find and bring back a French collaborator named Duval. The American intelligence folks want to interrogate him for the valuable information he has concerning the Germans, but the French Underground want Duval to hang him from the Tree of Moray for his treasonous activities. Robert Loggia guest stars as Etienne, the leader of the local underground forces. As the episode progresses, Hanley and Etienne jockey back and forth to gain possession of Duval. First the underground has Duval, and then Hanley's men get him, but his fate ...

Unearthing a French baby buried under ruins, unites Hanley's men and a Nazi squad. All the troops' hearts go out to the desperate young mother, but as the German lieutenant warns "distrust is a crippling thing." Laying down their arms in an unauthorized truce proves challenging to the frayed nerves of both squads in the village devastated by both sides' heavy artillery. Hanley's squad needs to get out for a rendezvous, the Germans are hustling to re-occupy the ville.

When their jeep hits a land mine, Saunders, a tank captain, and private Gavin attempt to maneuver an abandoned German tank through enemy territory.

A very large German railroad artillery gun is causing havoc with the American advance. When not firing, it is moved by rail from one secluded cave to another, and no one has been able to spot the gun so it can be targeted and eliminated. Artillery Lt. William Benton and Sgt. Stoner are sent to link up with Sgt. Saunders' squad which will serve as an escort to establish a forward observation post to find the German gun and report its location for targeting. When alone with Saunders' men, Sgt. Stoner is quick to tell everyone that Benton is the son of the famous Lt. ...

To clear the way for 5000 troops through a dangerous mountain pass, Hanley must blow up a German observation post. To succeed this time, a cocky sculptor who's now a demolition man is added to the stripped-down mission, in place of Hanley's sleep-deprived full squad. The all-business Lt. Hanley and the arty rock-hound Velasquez immediately clash, because the Corporal can't stop examining the local geology or expounding about the ancient rock fortress which became a famed museum, and is now the forbidding, mountain-top Heer post.

Sgt. Saunders is wounded and trapped behind enemy lines while trying to provide cover for Doc and Caje as they take a wounded Little John back to their lines. Saunders wakes in a German Field Hospital to find that a French worker has put him in German clothes to prevent him being shipped to a POW Camp. As a result he tries to escape by passing himself off as a shell shocked German soldier. Placed on a train going to the German rear with a German officer who considers many of the wounded as malingerers, Saunders and a captured American flyer manage to jump from the ...

Lt. Hanley receives a letter from the friend of the wife of one of his men, Steve Kovac [Chad Everett], advising that Kovac's wife is in hospital and dying. Unfortunately Kovac is on a patrol and Hanley decides not recall him until the news that his wife is dying is confirmed (at which time he will get an emergency leave). In the meantime, the patrol lead by Sgt. Saunders enters a French town to gather information and runs into the Germans. They manage to kill the Germans but another group moves in to occupy the building they have been fighting from which appears to ...