Filthy Thirteen

by Richard Killblane

  It was common belief that the Filthy 13 painted their faces with red and white grease paint. Jake remembered they used black and white paint. Jack Agnew said they wiped the still-wet black and white invasion stripes painted on the planes with their fingers to paint their faces.

  Tom Hoge, who wrote the first story, did not mention the color of the face paint. A June 19, 1944 Time magazine article, “13 Paratroopers,” stated that they painted their faces with red, black, green, and white war paint. Arch Whitehouse’s True Magazine article said they used red and purple paint.

  30. Tom Hoge’s June 8, 1944 Stars and Stripes article, “‘Filthy 13’ Squad Rivaled By None In Leaping Party,” seemed to have started the ball rolling. This article created the myth that they had sworn since Christmas not to bathe until D-Day. He also claimed that all of the Filthy 13 but one were full-blooded Indians. They had a ceremony to make the single paleface a blood brother before the invasion. All the other writers embellished this basic story.

  Chapter 3: A Bridge in Normandy

  1. Carentan and Ste. Mere Eglise were the two major transportation networks behind the Utah beachhead. The 82d Airborne had Ste. Mere Eglise as its main objective and the 101st focused on seizing Carentan and the surrounding bridges. Every commander from Eisenhower down saw the importance of Carentan to the success of the Normandy invasion. The Filthy 13, with 3rd Battalion, 506th PIR, essentially had the bridges on the Douve Canal and the 501st PIR had the locks of Barquette upstream from Carentan.

  “Two principal roads led from Normandy into the Cherbourg peninsula. One ran through the bottleneck at Carentan, the other up the far west coast. Between those two roads the Douve River severed two-thirds of the neck. If we were to plug the peninsula, our mission was clear; First, we must seize the bottleneck at Carentan, then hold that east-west river line of the Douve to the west coast road. Finally we would plug the nine-mile gap between that west coast road and the sea. These tasks were to be split between two airborne divisions, the 82d and the 101st.” (Omar Bradley, A Soldier’s Story, pp. 232–33.)

  2. All through training the paratroopers were reminded to expect high casualties on a combat jump.

  3. “This was the plan for Third Battalion: Supported by one platoon of 326th Engineer Battalion and two demolition sections, it was to land on DROP ZONE D, which was to the south of VIERVILLE and east of ANGOVILLE AU PLAIN. From this ground, the force was to strike southward as soon as possible and seize the two bridges near LE PORT at the mouth of the RIVER DOUVE. The bridges were to be expanded into a bridgehead as rapidly as the tactical situation permitted. By seizing the high ground in the direction of BREVANDS, the Battalion would be reaching toward the American forces which were moving northward from OMAHA BEACH. It was believed that all of these things could be accomplished on the first day.” (“Regimental Unit Study Number 3; 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment In Normandy Drop,” p. 3.)

  Frank Palys, who worked in the S-2 of the 506th Regimental Headquarters, confirmed that the Filthy 13 received the mission to prepare the bridges for demolition. (Frank Palys to Laura Erickson, Jan. 14, 1994.)

  4. Jake received Staff Sergeant Mariano S. Ferra out of C Co. 326th Engineers.

  5. Jack Agnew recalled, “The tension was terrific, though some, like Jake McNiece, tried to treat the whole venture like a joke. Some laughed all the way across the Channel. Even though it was the last day of their lives.” (Zehender, Globe.) Jake’s favorite saying was, “Hell, these guys are trying to get us killed.”

  6. Robert Cone remembered that the pilots panicked when the plane received flak. The plane pitched so much that the guys vomited. They were so angry that they yelled back to the last man to leave a hand grenade in the plane when he jumped.

  7. As soon as the aircraft reached the Cotentin Peninsula they ran into a fog bank which obscured vision with the ground. The aircraft became separated and some took evasive maneuvers against the flak. Since the lead aircraft had the radio equipment to home in on the Pathfinders’ signal, the others became lost. Lieutenant Mellen and Brown’s C-47s were off course flying from north to south and scattered the two demolition sticks from north of Ste. Mere Eglise near Montebourg to St. Come du Mont with the last half of the sticks landing in the flooded fields. 8. “‘Piccadilly Willy’ never did jump. ‘Just as I jumped there was a blinding flash and a roar,’ he [Chuck Plauda] said, ‘and the plane went up in smoke. There were 600 pounds of dynamite aboard.’” (“Story of ‘Filthy Thirteen’ Finally Released by Army,” Springfield Daily Republican, Dec. 4, 1944.)

  8. “‘Piccadilly Willy’ never did jump. ‘Just as I jumped there was a blinding flash and a roar,’ he [Chuck Plauda] said, ‘and the plane went up in smoke. There were 600 pounds of dynamite aboard.’” (“Story of ‘Filthy Thirteen’ Finally Released by Army,” Springfield Daily Republican, Dec. 4, 1944.)

  9. This method of assembly was referred to as “rolling up the stick.”

  10. The army issued each paratrooper a small switchblade knife for that purpose.

  11. Major General William C. Lee suffered a heart attack just prior to the invasion and Maxwell Taylor assumed command of the 101st Airborne Division.

  12. The toy metal crickets made a cricket sound when one squeezed them. One crick was to be answered by two. Some tied them around their necks. Jake had taped his to his web suspenders.

  13. This response and Jake’s fear that the invasion had been called off are clear examples of the paranoia that sets in when isolated on the battlefield.

  14. Jack Agnew landed at St. Come du Mont, near a German battalion command post about a mile from his objective. When he landed, the barrel of his bolt-action Springfield jammed in the mud which drove the butt up into his shoulder. He hid near a hedgerow while Germans ran up and down the road. He then moved across to another field and ran into a mortar man who was scared to death and crying. Jack told him, “Hey, you better come with me or stop making all that damn noise or I’ll shoot your ass right now!” He refused to go with Jack. He was shocked that a man like that was a paratrooper. Jack then ran into Keith Carpenter and Mike Marquez of his platoon. Carpenter had landed in the swamp. (Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, pp. 300–301.)

  Mike Marquez also landed in the swamp. When he pulled the three disassembled pieces of his M1 Garand out of the weapons bag, the trigger housing fell in the water and he could not find it. He could hear Germans talking nearby but had no intention of being taken prisoner even though he was only armed with a knife. He finally reached some high ground where he saw two figures approaching. He signaled them with his cricket and they turned out to be Jack Agnew and Keith Carpenter. They proceeded to the bridges and picked up Leonard R. Cardwell before they ran into Jake McNiece and the others. Jack Agnew and Clarence Ware then blew up power lines along the way. The first one was on a concrete telephone pole and the other was in a hole underground.

  15. Colonel Howard R. Johnson, commander of the 501st PIR, ran into a German command post about the same time he ran into some men from the 506th. (Rapport, Rendezvous, p. 111.)

  16. Colonel Johnson’s 501st PIR had the mission to secure the la Barquette lock and bridges on the Douve up stream from Carentan.

  17. “Jake McNiece, Clarence Ware, Keith Carpenter, and others of our company were walking toward a high bank and a sniper shot Clarence Ware about 30 feet to the left of me. The bullet went in just below his left shoulder and down through his back. I don’t see how it missed his heart, but it did. He went down like he was dead but it didn’t kill him.

  At first I thought it was Jake McNiece that got shot. Carpenter took out his first aid powder and sprinkled it on the bullet holes.” (Mohr, Memories, p. 31.)

  Keith Carpenter and two other paratroopers went back after dusk that first night to look for Ware, but he had already been taken back to an aid station. (Koskimaki, D-Day, pp. 300–301.)

  18. S. L. A. Marshall headed the European History Division that gathered information and wrote the official history of the
Normandy campaign. While Marshall’s group interviewing process has been applauded he has recently come under criticism for his research. Spot checks of his work in this area have produced inaccuracies. He admitted to Mark Bando that he did not use the group interview method for the action at the Brevands bridges. Consequently, there are discrepancies between the account by the demolitions men and the official report. However, the demolitions men are all in agreement on what occurred. (Mark Bando, 101st Airborne At Normandy, p. 110.)

  19. The wooden bridges led into the towns of Brevands and Le Port just a few miles northeast of Carentan. Jack Agnew remembered the wooden bridge closest to Carentan was a vehicular bridge with concrete girders and the one closest to the Channel was a foot bridge. They wired only the vehicular bridge leading into Brevands. Because of its proximity, most of the demo men referred to this action as taking place at Carentan.

  20. The official history states that the 3rd Battalion, 506th suffered extremely high casualties on the jump. The battalion commander, LTC Robert L. Wolverton, along with most of his officers were killed the first day. Captain Charles Shettle led about thirty-two survivors of the battalion to the two bridges at Brevands and established a bridgehead at 4:30. His force grew as others trickled in. He initially sent groups of men over to the other side but they withdrew as the Germans reinforced the other bank. (Utah Beach To Cherbourg; 6–27 June 1944, p. 24, and Koskimaki, D-Day, pp. 296–314.)

  Donald Zahn was the first to cross the bridge. He remembered seeing the demolitions men with scalp locks and war paint wiring the bridge. (Bando, Normandy, p. 106.)

  Jack Agnew remembered the demolitions men arrived at the bridges first and established the defense. Captain Shettle arrived sometime after that. Jake did not remember seeing Shettle at all. Jack did not remember blowing up the bridges initially but thought they blew the bridges up after the air force damaged them.

  1st Lt. Eugene Dance of G Co., 506th PIR, reached the east bridge

  with about fourteen men from his platoon. The other stick from his platoon straggled in later. He reported to Captain Shettle, then walked across the bridge to his objective, the high ground on the other side. Word came for everyone to return back to the west side of the canal and dig in. Shettle did not feel he had enough men to hold both sides. They were dug in by sunrise.

  John H. “Dinty” Mohr remembered that he also came upon Jake McNiece, Keith Carpenter, Mike Marquez, and others at the causeway. Wounded by mortar shrapnel that first day, Dinty Mohr was evacuated to a house behind the causeway that had been converted by medics into a dressing station. (Mohr, Memories, pp. 32–33.)

  The official report claims seven engineers and two demolitions men wired the bridges the next night. All the demolitions men agree they wired it the first night. (“Regimental Unit Study,” pp. 26–27.)

  21. Jack was one of two designated marksman for the company. That is why he carried an M1903A1 Springfield. He admitted that the sniper was just on the other side of the dike and not in the building.

  22. Richard Killblane’s interview with Jack Agnew.

  23. The official report claims the Germans tried to make a sortie across the bridge at 2:00 on the second morning. (“Regimental Unit Study,” p. 27.)

  24. Jack Agnew said he looked over and saw that Mike kept rising up to shoot from the same spot. He then told Jake, “Hey, look at that crazy Indian. They’re going to pick him off.”

  25. Jack Agnew remembered that many men were killed because of this. As many as three paratroopers were killed in the vicinity of one foxhole. Each time a paratrooper was killed another would come in and take his place. They kept rising up to shoot over the dike in the same spot. The Germans knew the hole was there and waited for them each time. Jack would go over and pull the dead paratrooper out of his hole then take his dog tags to Shettle.

  26. Eugene Dance remembered that men trickled in at about the same rate that others were killed. The size of the force on the bridges remained about the size of an infantry company—a little over a hundred men. Jack Agnew only remembered seeing about eight men around them. There were about five or six foxholes and the force on their bridge never exceeded sixteen at any one time because of casualties.

  The bridge was constructed on top of the dike with a road leading up to it. That road embankment separated their group from other paratroopers whom they wanted to make contact with. Jack Agnew remembered, “I went over to Captain Shettle and asked if it was all right to get all the explosives to dig through it. We wanted to blow through the hard road. Only Jake and Mike Marquez offered to help. We blew a trench through the road and then Mike and I dug it out.” Mike Marquez remembered they blew the trench through the road because men were killed every time they tried to run across it.

  27. There was no contact with the 3rd Battalion for three days. Not until Sgt. Cole of E Company, 506th, left the 501st position and went over to the two bridges did Sink discover that Captain Shettle had established a bridgehead. (506th Parachute Infantry, “Operation Neptune; S-1, S-2, S-3 Journals.”)

  Mike Marquez said that three other paratroopers had asked if he wanted to go looking for prisoners and souvenirs. He said yes. Jack Agnew said he and Jake gave him a bunch of prisoners to take back. Jack did not know Mike could not see in the dark. Along the way they came across about a dozen Germans with a white flag. Half of them were wounded and they wanted to surrender. The three other paratroopers still wanted to hunt for souvenirs so they sent Mike back with the prisoners. Eventually he became lost and asked the Germans if they knew where the Americans were. He warned them if they led him to the Americans he would treat them nice but if they led him to the Germans he would kill as many as he could. Jack Agnew described Mike as a fierce looking guy. “I don’t think they wanted to cross him.” They led Mike to the Americans but not back to his original location. There he asked for directions to the bridges and started walking back in time to see the planes bomb the bridges.

  28. Official history claims that P-47s bombed on the second day at 2:30 in the afternoon. Every account including newspaper reports differs as to whether the planes were P-47s or P-51s and whether it was the second or third day. Not everyone could tell the difference between one plane or another just as most soldiers could not always tell the difference between German tanks. The two men, Jack Agnew and Eugene Dance, who definitely knew the difference, claimed with certainty that they were P-51 Mustangs.

  29. In spite of the orange panels identifying that Americans held the bridges, the fighter-bombers bombed anyway. Each plane carried two bombs. Dance also remembered that the planes dropped all their ordnance on the bridges but not the troops. Debris landed on the men in their shallow foxholes.

  30. On the third day, Lt. Charles “Sandy” Santasiero saw the Germans approaching and told his men to hold their fire until the Germans were within 75 yards. After cutting down the Krauts he pursued those who fled into the hedgerows. After killing many more, he brought in the rest as prisoners. They were added to Shettle’s growing group of prisoners. Santasiero won the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. (Bando, Normandy, p. 108.) The official history claimed a battalion of the German 6th Parachute Regiment ran into the force on the Brevands bridges on the second day and as many as 255 Germans surrendered to Captain Shettle’s force. (Utah Beach, p. 72.) Eugene Dance did not remember any force of Germans reaching his bridge. Germans had surrendered to his force in ones and twos.

  31. Jack Agnew remembered, “Jake and I went looking for Ware. On the way we ran across this German. He was all green and rotten but still alive. I said that was a disgrace and someone should put him out of his misery. Jake said, ‘You’ve got the forty-five. You do it.’

  “I turned my head so I would not see it and missed. Jake said, ‘You missed that son-of-a-bitch.’ He has given me a hard time about that ever since.”

  32. The official history claims the paratroopers were relieved on the third day. Jack Agnew remembered that they left the bridge one day before the 506th
participated in the attack on Carentan. That would have been the fifth day. Eugene Dance said within twenty-four hours after his platoon left the bridge he walked through Carentan and it was secured. Carentan was taken on the seventh day. His force would have left on the sixth day. The official history of the action on the bridges on the lower Douve differs from the testimony of the veterans. While fifty years may have caused many to forget lesser important details they have not forgotten more important events such as when they entered Carentan. Jake is adamant that he was on the bridge for five days. There is no record of who or how many people were interviewed for the official history but the veterans I have interviewed tell essentially the same story. They were not relieved on the third day.

  33. Jack Agnew, Keith Carpenter, Mike Marquez, Leonard Cardwell, and Chuck Plauda.

  34. The 101st plan was to assault Carentan by double envelopment with the 501st attacking from the northeast from the Brevands bridgehead through the 327th Glider Infantry position and the 506th would first attack Hill 30 then enter Carentan from the south. 35. 12:35. (“Journal”)

  35. 12:35. (“Journal”)

  36. “Colonel Sink (506th Parachute Infantry) moved his command post group over the same route which the battalions had followed, but after leaving the highway he missed the way and swung to the south of Hill 30, where he dug in forward of the two battalions.” (Utah Beach, p. 89.) The S-3 log stated that at 4:30, “Reg. Hq. Co. and attachments spend night wandering around west and south of RR tracks trying to locate position for new CP. We were under enemy M.G. and small arms fire most of the night.” (“Journal”) This initiated the attack at around 4:30 in the morning and the other battalions had to fight their way to Regimental Headquarters Company. At 5:00, Sink ordered the 2nd Battalion to attack into the city where it linked up with the 327th at 7:30. Sink set up his CP in Carentan at 10:30. The 501st and the rest of the 506th established a blocking position. Schroeder won the silver star medal for leading this assault on Hill 30.