Captain America (vol. 3) #45
America Lost: Part 1
Now
Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan are getting dressed up for a formal occasion. However important this is though, Nick Fury is not a fan of the occasion, which just so happens to be death.
Louisiana, Six Days Earlier
In Louisiana, employees for the Trident Construction Company are on strike. That day, they have received some bad news: the company is not budging on their position. That’s when their union representative, Adam Hauser tells them that the company has hired a number of Mexican workers to take their place. This angers the employees who are furious that their employer is resorting to undocumented immigrants to use as scabs. While Hauser doesn’t tell the angry men what to do next, he does provide them with the address to the hotel where these scabs will be staying.
New York, Five Days, Seventeen Hours Ago
Nick Fury has arrived at Avengers Mansion to meet with Captain America. Jarvis, the Avengers butler, invites Fury in and tells him that Captain America is still upset about his recent break-up with Connie Ferrari.[1] In the training room, Fury finds Captain America totally trashing a bunch of training robots that are top of the line. Nick makes his presence known and offers to talk about Steve’s break-up, but Steve isn’t interested. That’s when Sharon Cater comes barging in, madder than hell because Nick had taken back the directorship of SHIELD without telling her.[2] However, her anger quickly falls on the wayside briefly when she learns that Connie dumped Cap after learning her secret identity. Fury reminds her that the gig was only a temporary one, and besides, he wants his best agent on the case to find the helicarrier after it was recently stolen by the Red Skull.[3]
SHIELD still hasn’t been able to locate it as the Red Skull has hidden it too well. That’s when Captain America suggests they try another avenue of investigation.
Louisiana, Five Days, Twelve Hours Ago
Adam Hauser has led the Trident employees to the hotel where he claims that company scabs are sleeping for the night. He begins playing into their job insecurities and xenophobia to rile them out. He doesn’t out right say it, but Hauser begins making veiled suggestions that they resort to violence to sort out their situation. Everyone except for one employee name Norm begin to read between the lines. Norm realizes that things are going too far and tries to get his co-workers to see this as well. Unfortunately, Hauser has already worked them up into an frenzy. Putting on masks to disguise their identities, the striking workers break into the hotel rooms and murder every Mexican they find inside.
New York, Five Days, Ten Hours Ago
Since SHIELD hasn’t had much luck finding the missing helicarrier, Captain America decides to enlist the aid of Iron Man and the Avengers computer database.[4] Iron Man can’t find the helicarrier conventionally, but then remembers to look for the massive ships emissions rather than the ship itself. Sure enough, he is able to pinpoint the helicarrier’s location. Somehow, the Red Skull has hidden it in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. While the massive ship wasn’t submersible, Iron Man recalls that Tony Stark had designs that would allow for this type of modification later.[5]
They decide to tune in to local news broadcasts in the area and come across the story about the murders in Louisiana. The case is a bizarre one as the arrested perpetrators all claim to work for the Trident Corporation, a company that does not actually exist. The killers — other than being white — are all from different walks of life. More over, the “scabs” that they murdered were actually educators from Mexico on a visit to learn teaching methods from their American counterparts. Seeing this, both Iron Man and Captain America agree that this is the work of the Red Skull, but they have no idea what his game is this time.
Louisiana, Five Days, Five Hours Ago
Adam Hausser meets with the Red Skull in an alleyway to report his mission was a success. As “Hausser” strips off his disguise — which includes a life-like mask — the Red Skull muses how the will destroy America by fanning the flames of its own racial intolerance. Once they have destroyed the country, the two of them can then reshape it into their Aryan paradise.[6]
Now
Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan arrive at a secluded location. Fury has been quiet the entire time, and this concerns Dugan. Nick tells his old friend that funerals always get to him. As they walk up to a coffin draped with the American flag, he figures that this is going to be the worst of them all.[7]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter), Red Skull, Hate-Monger, Iron Man, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
Steve and Connie had been dating since Captain America (vol. 3) #20. Last issue, Connie ended their relationship and left town after she discovered that Steve was secretly Captain America.
Nick Fury appointed Sharon to fill in for him as director starting in Captain America (vol. 3) #31.
The SHIELD helicarrier was stolen by the Red Skull in X-Men (vol. 2) #91/Annual 1999. It will remain in his possession until it is recovered in Captain America (vol. 3) #46-48.
Iron Man is depicted wearing one of his older suits of armor. This is because his most recent suit apparently became sentient and tried to kill him circa Iron Man (vol. 3) #26-30. He has been wearing an older suit since then out of fear that a suit using newer technology might also become self aware. Stark will get over this fear when he designs a brand new suit in Iron Man (vol. 3) #42.
As per Strange Tales #135, Tony Stark was the architect who designed the modern day helicarriers used by SHIELD.
The Red Skull’s ally is revealed to be the Hate-Monger in Captain America (vol. 3) #47.
In issue #48 we learn that this is a funeral being held for Bucky, Captain America’s wartime partner. At the time of this story, everyone believes Bucky died in 1945 as per Avengers #4. The coffin here is empty and is mostly ceremonial. This funeral is being put on because Steve noticed that Buck didn’t have a gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery when he visited it in Captain America (vol. 3) #39. What nobody realizes is that Bucky’s still alive, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Topical References
Of the terms used to describe the alleged Mexican workers in this story is “Illegal aliens”. This is now considered a dated term. The current one being used is “undocumented immigrant”.
Nick Fury refers to World War II as happening about half a century prior to this story. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the length of time between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age is always getting long. As such, this measurement of time should be considered a topical reference as it is relative to the date of publication.