From the Dustbowl to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest: The True Story of ‘The Dirty Dozen’

Each year, our Siblings’ Book Club votes from a list of 70-80 member-recommended titles in order to choose our top-ten reads for the year. Over the past few years, we’ve been nonfiction-heavy with a healthy WWII flair, and this title is a case-in-point.

Growing up, 1967 film The Dirty Dozen with Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland long remained among my top-five favorite movies (which itself was a pretty eclectic list). In the film, a ragtag group of misfit convicts were offered a reprieve from execution or life imprisonment to be trained for one desperate, suicide mission against the Germans—after which any survivors could enjoy a pardon. It was a movie that made you love NFL’s James Brown and hate Telly Savalas.

The Filthy Thirteen is the story of the men who inspired the film. Scratch that. It’s the story of some of the men who inspired two scenes from the film. Actually, it’s just the story of James McNiece, the filthy leader of various groups of other filthy men over the years (which at some point added up to thirteen).

In fact, it’s really hard to find much correlation between this book and the movie beyond McNiece’s famous filthiness and criminal inclinations, though he was never on death row. He had a penchant for impersonating officers and surviving suicide missions, and there’s also the wargames scene replicated with Earnest Borgnine in the movie. Beyond that, these are two completely different tales, except that this one is true.

I love Richard Killbane’s approach to recounting these events. As a researcher, he conducted many interviews and crosschecked much of the data he received, and while he could have written a lengthy report with thick descriptions, a fascinating history of events, he saw instead an opportunity to do something completely different. With interview transcripts in hand, he elected to let the soldiers tell the story themselves, organizing their comments into an historically chronological order and making editorial comments himself only when absolutely necessary.

The majority of commentary comes from Jake McNiece himself, but Killbane also peppers comments and clarifications from other soldiers throughout, offering a rich first-person history that’s unexpectedly rewarding. My brother likened it to sitting in a nursing home with a veteran and hearing him weave a colorful tapestry of war stories. You definitely get that vibe.

My dad said he had put the book down early, because it just seemed to be about a young drunkard and brawler who hated authority and loved cussing, but of course I think he jumped the gun. Granted, I too think that McNiece was a total jerk and that his lack of discipline and respect emphasized his marred character, yet what can one expect from an unregenerate fighter in the 1940s? It was McNiece’s attraction to trouble that served him so well once dropped behind enemy lines, and it was his fighting spirit and commanding presence that kept him alive and the men around him following. He might not have been a great moral leader during the war, but he was a deadly leader, which is exactly when the times demanded. And now that I’ve finished the book, I wonder how surprised my dad would be to find out that Jake later became “a born-again Christian” and even preached a sermon at one of his later reunions! (179-181)

This book is an excellent slice of military history and its follow-up regarding what has occurred since the end of the war offers a satisfying conclusion of remembrance and vindication that some accounts just can’t offer. McNiece most certainly was a war hero, and—despite his open antagonism against the rules and regulations of the military—many decades later, this fact was finally confirmed. The 95th Regional Support Command made him an honorary Colonel in 2000, and two years later he was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame (188).

In the end, author Killbane makes sure that we readers know “the moral of the story,” that men such Jake McNiece are what truly won the war for the Allies (187). Despite what physical or moral filthiness we might see in the men of The Greatest Generation, their courage and sacrifice helped rescue the Western world from collapse. It’s a sad reality of our fallen world—that killers keep us safe—yet it’s one we must acknowledge and accept, if not condone and praise. The military isn’t and will never be the echelon of spiritual fortitude and moral character, yet we rightly thank the personnel for their service and sacrifice and entrust them with our continued protection and safety. This book is a great reminder of that fact and definitely worth a read for anyone interested in WWII history, heroism, or just straight-up manliness.

©2022 E.T.