Ka cika wannan magana: Ya bar makaranta kafin ya sauke karatu don ya shiga rundunar sojan ruwa ta Amirka a lokacin Yaƙin Duniya na II, ya shiga aikin soja kwana ɗaya bayan harin da aka kai a Pearl Harbor. An ji masa rauni a shekarar 1942 a lokacin yakin basasa.
mamayewa na Solomon Islands kuma aka aika zuwa wani asibiti a San Francisco warke. A cewar wani asusun da aka buga a jaridu a duk faɗin Amurka, sojojin Japan takwas sun kai wa Combs hari; ya kashe bakwai daga cikinsu da bindigarsa kuma, lokacin da bindigar ta kama, ya kwance sojan Japan na takwas kuma ya "sassare makogwaronsa" da bindiga. Combs ya sami lambar yabo ta shugaban kasa da kuma Purple Heart don hidimarsa. Bayan da ya dawo daga raunukansa, Combs ya koma aiki a cikin Pacific. An kashe shi a lokacin mamayewar Iwo Jima a ranar 19 ga Fabrairu, 1945. A cikin 1986, an shigar da Combs a cikin Jami'ar Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.