Among the greatest images of World War II are the few photos of a demolition squad from the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. These men shaved their hair into mohawks and donned war paint just hours before jumping into certain battle with the German army on D-Day. They fought dirty and struck first. During pre-deployment training, three Filthies dressed as the opposing-force officers. Later, they infiltrated their ops order meeting and captured the chain of command.
Only weeks before deploying, the leader of this unwashed, hard-charging outfit blew up part of their barracks. He then stole a train while drunk in town, drove it back to base and spent numerous rotations in the stockade for fighting and disrespecting officers. His name was Jake McNiece, the son of an Irish Catholic father and Native American mother. He charged members in his squad initiation fees and was the meanest, drunkest and filthiest of the Thirteen. Once, he defeated an MP and used his sidearm to shoot out streetlights.
Different Walks of Life
The antithesis to Jake McNiece was non-drinking Ranger Jack Womer. He attended a condensed 10-day Airborne School where he did four of his five mandatory jumps in one day. McNiece recognized Womer as a hard charger and asked him to be part of his demolition squad. The two would go on to jump together into Normandy and Holland and to fight in Bastogne. Their unit was the inspiration for the book and hit film “The Dirty Dozen.”
They were also the two longest-living members of the Filthy Thirteen who, fortunately for Americans, penned their experiences in their autobiographies: “The Filthy Thirteen: From the Dustbowl to Hitler’s Eagle Nest: The 101st Airborne’s Most Legendary Squad of Combat Paratroopers” by Richard Killblane and Jake McNiece and “Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen” by Jack Womer and Stephen Devito.
