Ernie

During the early years of World War II, the embodiment of Liberty approached a young U.S. Army infantryman named Joe Jones. Liberty transformed Joe into the super-powered General Glory when he uttered the words:

Lady of liberty, hear my plea

For the land of the brave, and the home of the free!

General Glory fought the Nazi war machine in Europe. However, on one fateful day at Camp Henderson, a ruckus brought orphaned Ernest E. Ernest to General Glory’s attention. Ernie’s father had been killed in combat, and the rest of the squad looked after him. Glory loved Ernie’s spunk, and invited Ernie to fight alongside him as his sidekick.

General Glory and Ernie fought through most of World War II. One untold mission had General Glory and Ernie team up with golden age heroes Liberty Belle, the Flash, Johnny Quick, and other members of the All-Star Squadron. One mission had General Glory and Ernie meet up with a time-traveling Booster Gold. Another mission had General Glory and Ernie meet up with Lobo who was transformed into a female. Yet another mission had them meet a time-travelling Power Girl, and had Power Girl become General Glory’s new sidekick when Ernie died, until Waverider wiped that possible history from continuity.

While General Glory and Ernie were battling on the front lines, a comic of their exploits was being published. Started in October, 1942, General Glory the comic was done by Joe Mason and Fred Hoover, and featured the wartime exploits of General Glory and “Ernie the Battlin’ Boy.” Issues tell of General Glory and Ernie’s butler Jeeves, their hometown of Megalopolis, their frequent team-ups with President Roosevelt, their ally Betty Jean Watley, Agent of B.U.L.W.A.R.K., their founding of their fan club (the Guardians of Glory Secret Society), and their fights against enemies like Doktor Sinister and Yellow Fang.

In the last days of the war, General Glory was sent to destroy a secret Nazi installation in the arctic. The General was given a shot to counter the cold, and jumped from the plane. However, there was a bomb on the plane, killing his handler Sharp and his love, Louise Lippincott. General Glory hit the ice cold water, and went blank.

In the modern years, Joseph Jones remembers little of his past, including how he survived the ice. He found his way to the Golden Age Rest Home in Pine Bluff, Pennsylvania. Sadly, Joe Jones had forgotten the trigger words that transformed himself into General Glory. Ernie became Major Ernest, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines. Major Ernest had no idea General Glory was even still alive.

All that would change, however, when an issue of General Glory #1 was up for auction at Northby’s Auction House. Green Lantern Guy Gardner was a huge General Glory fan. In fact, Guy’s trademark haircut was patterned after Ernie’s haircut from the comic. Guy went to purchase the comic, as did Joe Jones, who hoped to relearn the words to transform into General Glory. One of Glory’s old Nazi foes also came to try to destroy Glory. Guy defeated the Nazi, and after much debate, allowed Joe to read the comic. Joe read the words once more, and transformed into General Glory.

After performing a mission and joining the Justice League, word of General Glory’s return made it to Major Ernest in the Philippines by way of the mysterious Mr. Newkirk of Project USA. After defeating the Uberbot, General Glory was brought into custody by the F.B.I. for unspecified war crimes. When he surrendered himself, he was placed under arrest. It was in his cell that he met up with Ernest.

Major Ernest confronted General Glory on the accusation of being a traitor. According to Ernest, General Glory turned against his country, killing allied forces in an assault on a P.O.W. camp, and then disappearing. Ernest intended to see Glory be tried and convicted for this heinous crime. Major Ernest pulled a gun on Glory, but was interrupted by Martian Manhunter before being able to use it. Manhunter, with the rest of the Justice League and General Glory comic writer Joe Mason, found out the true story of General Glory.

Before the true story could be revealed, however, Glory, Ernest, and the JLA were attacked by the Nazi scientists in a flying airship. The League attacked the airship, and in the fight, General Glory and Major Ernest teamed up like old times. When the airship crashed, a lone Nazi survivor confirmed Mason’s story. Evidently, Glory’s handler Sharp faked the explosion and framed Glory, so that he could have Glory’s gal Louise all to himself.

The League and Major Ernest confront Sharp, and trick him into revealing the truth. After the jump, General Glory did not land into the arctic, but was rather taken by F.B.I. agents. The anti-freezing serum was in fact a sedative. Sharp wiped the General’s memory, and then released him on VE day without any link to his past.

After a short rest period, Major Ernest returned to active duty in the U.S. Army.