AND THE FILTHY THIRTEEN
By: 11B1SG
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Having read the book "The Filthy Thirteen", I thought I'd try to
recreate the afternoon of June 5th 1944, for the 101st Airborne's most legendary squad
of Combat paratroopers. The true leader of the squad was Jake McNiece.
Although he never rose above the official rank of Private, his toughness carried his soldiers through four combat jumps and the biggest battles of the war in Europe. For the Normandy jump, McNiece had his men shave their heads in a Mohawk pattern to avoid the lice problem they would face once in France. The war paint he said was just camouflage to blend in any kind of foliage. McNiece had no idea until the after the war, that his squad had become something of a legend of D-Day, because of the articles done by the Signal Corps and the reporters of the Stars and Stripes news paper. As a demolition squad they had the mission of securing the main bridge on the Douve Canal near Carentan. After the confusion of the night drops, McNiece gathered a small force and held the bridge for days. McNiece went on to participate in Operation Market Garden and was one of the Pathfinders dropped into Bastone to guide in the resupply planes to support the besieged 101st. Thirty men went through the ranks of the "Filthy Thirteen" during the course of the war. |
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