John "Jack" Agnew
† 2010

Jake McNiece
† 2013

Before the Battle of the Bulge, Agnew, Womer, McNiece and other members of the unit were requested for pathfinder duty and parachuted into Bastogne, which was besieged by German forces. Agnew operated a beacon to help guide in planes carrying badly needed supplies.
The unit’s members (like the novel’s characters) were not convicts but because of their reputation for brawling, drinking and spending time in the stockade.
In interviews, Agnew, who was a private first class during the war, said that came directly from the unit’s leader, Jake McNiece.
“We weren’t murderers or anything, we just didn’t do everything we were supposed to do in some ways and did a whole lot more than they wanted us to do in other ways,” he told the quarterly. “We were always in trouble.”
Agnew was among those interviewed in a documentary, “The Filthy Thirteen: Real Stories From Behind the Lines,” that was included in a 2006 special edition DVD of “The Dirty Dozen.”
The 1967 movie, about an Army major who has to train and lead 12 convicts into a mission targeting German officers, starred Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Jim Brown.

Besides Agnew, McNiece and Womer the original Filthy Thirteen included: Lt. Charles Mellen, Joseph Oleskiewicz, John Hale, James Green, George Radeka, Clarence Ware, Robert Cone, Roland Baribeau, James Leach and Andrew Rassmussen. With Frank Palys, Tommy Lonergan and Charles Plaudo also part of this squad.

It was a privilege to meet these men. Jack I've met in Eindhoven, Jake in Bastogne and John in Normandy. Photos: Peter van de Wal ©

INDEX