Capturing the imagination of the World War II generation, these airborne demolitions men of Regimental Headquarters Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division shaved their heads with scalp locks and painted their faces in Indian fashion for the jump into Normandy. Their rebellious and rowdy antics during training defied the traditional concept of military discipline, but their leaders recognized they possessed a different type of discipline, one needed in this new airborne experiment of inserting men behind enemy lines. War Paint tells the story of those men who made up the Filthy Thirteen at the time it jumped into Normandy. While the two previous books, The Filthy Thirteen and Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen, recount the personal experiences or the unit's two key leaders, Jake McNiece and Jack Womer, War Paint provides a historical narrative of who all the men were and their ordeal in combat. It sets their stories into their proper context. This new book not only fills in many gaps left by the previous books, but provides a study of a single airborne stick that jumped into Normandy. It weaves together each man's account where he landed and what happened to him on the ground, through the rest of war and finally home. It verifies what the odds really were of a combat paratrooper ever surviving the war. In the decade since the first book came out, the authors and publisher have collected over a hundred photos of these men that bring their story to life as words never could. This is the story of one of the greatest legends to grow out of the 101st Airborne Division.

WAR PAINT THE FILTHY THIRTEEN Jump Into Normandy

Brian Miller

Richard Killblane

VictoryPublishing

Since World War II, the American public has become fully aware of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, a sub-unit attained legendary status at the time, its reputation persisting among veterans over the decades. Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy13 grew notorious, even within the ranks of the elite 101st. Never ones to salute an officer, or take a bath, this squad became singular within the Screaming Eagles for its hard drinking, and savage fighting skill--and that was only in training. Just prior to the invasion of Normandy, a "Stars and Stripes" photographer caught U.S. paratroopers with heads shaved into Mohawks, applying war paint to their faces. Unknown to the American public at the time, these men were the Filthy 13. After parachuting behind enemy lines in the dark hours before D-Day, the Germans got a taste of the reckless courage of this unit - except now the men were fighting with Tommy guns and explosives, not just bare knuckles. In its spearhead role, the 13 suffered heavy casualties, some men wounded and others blown to bits. By the end of the war 30 men had passed through the squad. Throughout the war, however, the heart and soul of the Filthy 13 remained a survivor named Jake McNiece, a half-breed Indian from Oklahoma - the toughest man in the squad and the one who formed its character. McNiece made four combat jumps, was in the forefront of every fight in northern Europe, yet somehow never made the rank of PFC. The survivors of the Filthy 13 stayed intact as a unit until the Allies finally conquered Nazi Germany. The book does not draw a new portrait of earnest citizen soldiers. Instead it describes a group of hardscrabble guys whom any respectable person would be loath to meet in a bar or dark alley. But they were an integral part of the U.S. war against Nazi Germany. A brawling bunch of no-goodniks whose only saving grace was that they inflicted more damage on the Germans than on MPs, the English countryside and their own officers, the Filthy 13 remain a legend within the ranks of the 101st Airborne. Table of Contents Preface Introduction Jake McNiece Chapter 1 Creating a Legend Chapter 2 Fuel for the Myth Chapter 3 A Bridge in Normandy Chapter 4 Surviving Holland Chapter 5 Rescue of a Division Chapter 6 End of the War Chapter 7 Get-Together Epilogue The Moral of the Story A Soldier’s Prayer by Jack Agnew Notes Bibliography Index

The Filthy Thirteen: From the Dustbowl to Hitler's Eagle's Nest :The True Story of the101st Airborne's Most Legendary Squad of Combat Paratroopers

History

Jake McNiece

Americas

Casemate

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Books by Richard Killblane