FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of the Heroes: Jack McNiece ~ June 30, 2008

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[StarCMC]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Jake McNiece
Info mostly from this website with support info found here and here.

Thanks to OSTATE for a heads up on this hero!!

           

Born:                             24 May 1919               

                                 Mayville, Oklahoma

Enlistment date:            01 Sep 1942

Deployments:                Europe - 05 Sep 1943

Units:                             HQ Co, 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101^st Airborne Division

Rank:                            Staff Sergeant

Specialisations:             Engineer Explosives, Pathfinder

Qualifications:               Combat Infantryman

Decorations:                  World War II Victory Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Ribbon, EAME Theater Ribbon with 4 Bronze Stars and 2 Bronze Arrowheads, Presidential Unit Citation, Distinguished Unit Badge with 1 Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Belgian Croix de Guerre, Belgian Fourragere, Netherlands Orange Lanyard

Discharge Date:            26 Feb 1946

 

Other Information:       Jake is probably best know as being the inspirational leader of the “Filthy Thirteen” a notorious small band of non-conformists. In addition to his war record, Jake is a great supporter of the World War II Airborne Demonstration Team and will often be seen at team events and training sessions, accompanied by his wife Martha. Jake’s exploits have now been encapsulated in a book THE FILTHY THIRTEEN by Richard Killblane and Jake Mc Niece, published by Casemate.

 

World War II had its Eisenhower. Its MacArthur. Its Patton.
And then there were the likes of Jake McNiece, who apparently never saw a fight he didn't like.

An enlisted man, McNiece served 3 1/2 stormy years in the Army, and in Europe in World War II became knows as the leader of the "Filthy Thirteen."

McNiece said that during World War II he had a knack for fighting, whether it was against the Germans or while he was on leave or had gone AWOL.

When he was being separated from the Army in 1946, after the war ended in 1945, McNiece said he inquired about separation pay for the good time he had served.

He remembers a captain telling him that it appeared he had more bad time and he might owe the Army.

As a soldier, McNiece admits, he liked to fight, drink, chase women, go AWOL and often landed in the brig.

But, more than anything else, McNiece was in the business of fighting a war against the Germans.

The gruff-talking 85-year-old believes "The Dirty Dozen" movie starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson was loosely based on "The Filthy Thirteen."

In the 1967 classic, Marvin played a U.S. Army major assigned to train a dozen convicted murderers for an assassination mission targeting German officers.

"Hollywood," McNiece says of the movie.

"They were all good men," he says of the other 12 members of "The Filthy Thirteen," who were paratroopers.

But, he adds, "they were misfits. We didn't salute officers. We didn't mop barracks. We didn't do all that crappy nonsense that they had. But, we were all good combat soldiers," who often wore Mowhawk haircuts.

"We weren't there to play soldier. We were there to kill Germans," McNiece said.

The Ponca City resident is the author of a book titled "The Filthy Thirteen." It is subtitled "The True Story of 'The Dirty Dozen.'"
McNiece said his co-author in writing the book, Richard Kilblane, at first said several people "questioned whether these things really happened."

McNiece said Kilblane, a former Ponca City resident and now an Army historian, became convinced after around two dozen World War II enlisted men and around six commissioned officers said they did.

This story is based on the account by McNiece, who was a member of the 101st Airborne Division.

Book Description

Since World War II, the American public has become fully aware of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, a subunit attained legendary status at the time, its reputation persisting among veterans over the decades. Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy13 grew notorious, even within the ranks of the elite 101st. Never ones to salute an officer, or take a bath, this squad became singular within the Screaming Eagles for its hard drinking, and savage fighting skill and that was only in training. Just prior to the invasion of Normandy, a "Stars and Stripes" photographer caught U.S. paratroopers with heads shaved into Mohawks, applying war paint to their faces. Unknown to the American public at the time, these men were the Filthy 13. After parachuting behind enemy lines in the dark hours before D-Day, the Germans got a taste of the reckless courage of this unit except now the men were fighting with Tommy guns and explosives, not just bare knuckles. In its spearhead role, the 13 suffered heavy casualties, some men wounded and others blown to bits. By the end of the war 30 men had passed through the squad. Throughout the war, however, the heart and soul of the Filthy 13 remained a survivor named Jake McNiece, a half-breed Indian from Oklahoma the toughest man in the squad and the one who formed its character. McNiece made four combat jumps, was in the forefront of every fight in northern Europe, yet somehow never made the rank of PFC. The survivors of the Filthy 13 stayed intact as a unit until the Allies finally conquered Nazi Germany. The book does not draw a new portrait of earnest citizen soldiers. Instead it describes a group of hardscrabble guys whom any respectable person would be loath to meet in a bar or dark alley. But they were an integral part of the U.S. war against Nazi Germany. A brawling bunch of no-good niks whose only saving grace was that they inflicted more damage on the Germans than on MPs, the English countryside and their own officers, the Filthy 13 remain a legend within the ranks of the 101st Airborne.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[StarCMC]

Ping to a new Hall of the Heroes — thank you OSTATE for the heads up about this hero!!

[SoldierDad]

Thank you, Star, for this thread.

[Radix]

First!

[StarCMC]

Hey SoldierDad — long time since I’ve seen ya! Hope everything’s going ok for you and yours! *HUG*

[StarCMC]

Well actually....SECOND! LOL!!

Good to see you Radix!! I gotta go get dinner cooking!! *HUG*

[SandRat]

Check in.

[SevenofNine]

Well report from BBC wire Mongolia went to the polls on Sunday to vote in new parliament

I hope they didn’t vote in these guys LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abt3a7AOqsM

[ConorMacNessa]

Greetings To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, Our Veterans, Their Families, FRiends and To Our Allies!

Missing Man Setting

Never Forget Those Who Sacrificed All That We Could Live In Freedom!!

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Star - thanks for tonite's thread.

[Tanniker Smith]

Good evening, Star.

Good evening, everyone.

[Tanniker Smith]

Friday, June 27, 2008

Laziness Scale

(C)Copyright 2008, C. Burke. All rights reserved.
More to say when I have time for it . . .


Click on the link to see the full cartoon.

Or catch it on http://xwhy.comiccgenesis.com.
.

[AZamericonnie]

Supporting our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen
at more than 1,000 places across the U. S. and around the world.

~Tribute to Our Troops~

[AZamericonnie]

Thank you Starlette for this evening’s thread & thanks to you OSTATE for the suggestion!

[Jet Jaguar]

Happy Birthday Huggzz

[The Mayor]

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June 30, 2008

Lassa Fever

ODB RADIO: Listen Now |  Download
READ: Romans 3:19-26

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. —Romans 5:9

When Lily Pinneo, a missionary nurse, was in West Africa, she contracted a deadly disease called Lassa fever. After Lily was flown to New York for medical treatment, her temperature soared to 107°F. To reduce the fever, doctors packed her in ice and fed her intravenously. The fever subsided. After 9 weeks, she had lost 28 pounds and most of her hair. Yet somehow, she survived.

In a laboratory, Dr. Casals carefully isolated and analyzed the Lassa virus. But he too fell ill from his exposure to the disease. At the time, no known treatment was effective. Fortunately, Nurse Pinneo was convalescing and had built up antibodies to the dread disease. She donated blood plasma to Dr. Casals and he recovered too. Her blood saved his life.

All of us are infected with the fatal disease of sin (Rom. 6:23). There is only one cure. It resides in the cleansing power of Jesus Christ’s shed blood. Paul wrote, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:9). The righteous wrath of God against transgression has been fully satisfied through Jesus’ death in our place. All we need do is repent, recognize Him as our Savior, and receive the spiritual cure for sin. Have you made that decision?

Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am. —Crosby

The price of our freedom from sin was paid by Jesus’ blood.

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 10–12; Proverbs 31:10-31

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Mayor - thanks for the Daily Bread.

[HopeandGlory]

Good morning Troops, Veterans and Canteeners.

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Lord, Please Bless Our Troops, They're fighting for our Freedom.

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of the United States of America,
and to the Republic, for which it stands;
one nation UNDER GOD,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.

Prayers going up.

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[MEG33]

Good story! Thank you, Star, for honoring Jack McNiece.