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Rating: 
Summary: The Filthy Thirteen
Review: After years researching various aspects of WW2, I kept hearing tales of the Filthy 13. I met some, and ran into various A/B men associated with them. And while I can not vouch for every thing said in this book (I am not an A/B expert), most of it were extremely similar to what I had seen and read elsewhere. Keep in mind a lot of it is personal opinion, particulary the opinions about other officers and soldiers, but I quite enjoyed it. Of course the real reason the Filty 13 were so great is that on D-day no less than 3 of them were ex-29th Rangers! (see 'Spearheading D-day'). Anyway, I highly recommend this book as a very fun book, that portrays a quite small and unusual aspect of America's airborne troops in WW2. These are stories that are legend amoung many 101st troopers and historians. The book itself is like sitting down with Jake McNiece and listening to him tell his stories.
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Summary: The Filthy Thirteen
Review: Although the book is somewhat entertaining, the antics of the author, Jake McNiece is a disgrace to the military. He constantly refers to his lack of military discipline, his insubornination to officers, his love of fighting other American soldiers and his general military bearing. He is proud of the fact that he was never promoted and spent his entire time as a private. Although he likes you to think that he was alway an acting sergeant. All of this detracts from what otherwise could have been a very good book about combat paratroopers.
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Summary: The stuff of which movies and legends are made
Review: Co-written by Richard Killblane and Jake McNiece, The Filthy Thirteen: From The Dustbowl To Hitler's Eagle's Nest is the fascinating story of a sub-unit of the 101st Airborne Division paratroopers, the men who led Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe during World War II. These notorious and dedicated soldiers were known for their courage, recklessness, bad attitude toward officers, and undeniable toughness in combat. The 101st Airborne suffered heavy casualties as the war progressed. Here is an unforgettable portrait of men in combat who were not role models, yet who left their mark on history for striving their utmost in the face of often lethal battlefield conditions, and directly in the face of the enemy, making the ultimate sacrifice in the world's hour of need. The stuff of which movies and legends are made, The Filthy Thirteen is an impressive and mandatory addition to any personal, academic, or community library World War II Military History collection.
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Summary: The Filthy 13
Review: I just finished reading the Filthy 13. Jake McNicece is a great story teller and a true real-life hero. Mr. Killblane did a great job with the historical notes.
Rating:
Summary: The Filthy 13
Review: I just finished reading the Filthy 13. Jake McNicece is a great story teller and a true real-life hero. Mr. Killblane did a great job with the historical notes.
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Summary: the filthy 13 review
Review: I read most of this book but I was most interested in the pictures. I was told of this book buy my step mother. She told me that her farther's picture was in this book. She was right he was standing next to Jake McNiece. Man I have to say my grandfarther and his friends were filthy guys and have the number 13 put upon them was realy on lucky. My grandfarther never made it to Hitler's eagle's nest he was taken pisoner buy the german army some time later, after geting lost. 13 mabe unlocky but this guys are the toughest I have ever seen. altough my grandfarther has died now. I just wanted to let him know Thank You, and God Bless You,...
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Summary: Jake McNiece
Review: is one of the genuine crazies in the 101st Airborne's family tree. I met him at the Toccoa, GA, reunion of the 506th PIR after I came back from Iraq and he was happy to sign my copy. Yes, the writing is crude, yes, Jake loves to tell a good story, but if you want a dry day by day account of the 506th's doings, sit down with Rendezvous with Destiny instead. One, Bob Sink wasn't quite as stuck-up as Dale Dye played him, and second, why do you think Jake never got promoted and spent half his time at Toccoa in the stockade? There's a reason the pic of the old stockade there at the camp is captioned "Jake McNiece's command post" in the county historical society literature, his antics have been a running joke in Division circles since 1943.
I think it was the pics of the Mohawked, face-painted guys with the Thompsons when I was a real little kid that got me started on all this in the first place. Now I know the story behind it all, and I'm glad I met a genuine hero of an earlier time.
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Summary: The real dirt on famous paratroopers
Review: One of the most famous photos of WWII is that of 101st paratroopers with Mohawk haircuts and war paint preparing to board C47 aircraft for D-Day. This book is the story of those men, before and after D-Day. The squad was part of the 506th of the 101st Abn Div and this book is co-authored by a member of the squad. The book also includes interviews with others who were part of the squad or their officers and is well researched from numerous articles on the squad that appeared in the Stars and Stripes and other magazines that made the squad, for awhile, as famous as Carlson's Raider's or the Black Sheep. These were tough men from America's depression dust bowl and did not take well to Army displine. They formed the 506th demo squad and were encourged to be independent for the behind the lines work that paratroopers operate in. Before D-Day the squad built a reputation for not saluting officers or taking showers, their filth was their badge of membership of the squad. The men returned from D-Day and found that they were famous from the "Mohawk" photo and stories of the "Filthy 13" were picked up by US papers. Some of the squad were interviewed for other stories but were off for Holland before they could read the results. When the squad fought at the Bulge they had been trained as pathfinders and this book tells of the little known work that pathfinders did to bring supply drops into Bastone. After the war the squad went their own ways and over the years stories were published in magazines like "True Magazine" and in the early sixties Hollywood became interested in their story. The surviving squad members where not interested and would not allow their name "Filthy 13" be used. In 1967 the hit movie "The Dirty Dozen" came out. The novel, "The Dirty Dozen" was published in 1965 by E.M. Nathanson. Nathanson's story was inspired by WWII OSS officer Aaron Bank. In 1944 Major Bank was given the job of selecting anti Nazi German POW's and then lead them on a mission to whipe out Hitler's high command. The mission was scrubbed but Nathanson used the idea for a novel, only he changed the prisoners from German POWs to GI convicts. The title of his novel seems to have been borrowed from the "Filthy 13". Like the 13 the "Dozen" refuse to shower and are a bane to the 101st Abn brass, also in the book/movie the dozen take out a 101st HQ and have a party prior to D-Day. Regardless of the "Dirty Dozen" connections this is a good book about the conduct of WWII style airborne warfare.
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Summary: An Important Part of History But Disapointing....
Review: This is an excellent historical account, as verified through veterans and archived information. This is a real-life story, told as it was without any need to embellish or distort what happened. I am pleased to see an actual historical narrative presented, rather than the Hollywood version. Highly recommended for any WWII 101st enthusiast.
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Summary: Pitiful
Review: This is one of the worst books I've read in years. The reader is left with little doubt that the stories of the protagonist have been embellished with each telling, and the amount of ego on display is simply staggering. The writing is amateurish at best, and inexplicably switches between first and third person at whim. There apparently was no editing whatsoever.
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