Half were either killed, wounded or captured on the jump, but the rest led by Jake McNiece accomplished their mission. They were ordered to secure or destroy the bridges over the Douve River. During the Normandy Invasion of Europe in June 1944, the group was airdropped with the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment by aircraft of the 440th Troop Carrier Group of the United States Army Air Forces.
The inspiration for this came from McNiece, who was part Choctaw. Photos of the men wearing Indian-style "mohawks" and applying war paint to one another excited the public's interest in this unit. A demolition section consisted of thirteen enlisted men and they refused to bathe during the week in order to use their water ration for cooking game poached from the neighboring manor. The unit acquired the nickname the Filthy Thirteen while living in Nissen huts in England. Inspired by Jake McNiece's leadership style, the unit had a tremendous mission focus but their blatant disregard for those aspects of military discipline that did not contribute to the mission became the bane of their officers. This group of soldiers were the inspiration for The Dirty Dozen, and were known to be rogue soldiers who did things their own way, orders be damned.
McNiece's, to honor his Native American heritage and to energize the men for the danger ahead. Filthy Thirteen member Clarence Ware applies war paint to Charles Plaudo, 5 June 1944.
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