Interesting background story on the 506th PIR
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WWII vet, member of Filthy 13 unit dies
Stephanie Sanchez / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 10/28/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
EL PASO -- An El Paso man who was a member of World War II's Filthy 13, a group of soldiers who may have influenced the making of the "The Dirty Dozen" movie, died last week, his family said.
Miguel "Mike" Marquez, who is mentioned in historical accounts of the D-Day invasion and in accounts of the Filthy 13, died at Beaumont Army Medical Center, his daughter, Elizabeth Marquez Hernandez, said.
Miguel Marquez was 86.
Miguel Marquez would have been honored at the American Veterans Center's 11th Annual Conference on Nov. 7 in Washington, D.C.
"He thought, 'Why me. I'm nothing special,'" Hernandez said her father told her. "He was very humble and very modest."
Before he died, Miguel Marquez told his family he thought it was ironic the American Veterans Center wanted to honor him because he never saluted Army officers during his time in the service, Hernandez said.
Miguel Marquez's division, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, was known as the Filthy 13 because they washed and shaved once a week and never cleaned their uniforms. In June 1944, the unit was assigned to destroy a bridge over the Douve River in Normandy, France, according to a Web site dedicated to Jake McNiece, another soldier in the Filthy 13.
Hernandez said her father was a demolitions expert. During WWII, she said her father was involved in battles in France, the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium, and others. Fred Stell-Smith, Miguel Marquez's nephew,
said his uncle used to tell him stories about his experiences.
"He had a very bad memory for what happened yesterday, but he remembered vividly what happened 50, 60 years ago," he said. He said Miguel Marquez once told him that during D-Day, he parachuted and lost the trigger housing to his rifle, making the weapon useless.
"He said guys made fun of him for the longest time," Stell-Smith said.
WWII vet, member of Filthy 13 unit dies - El Paso Times
WWII vet, member of Filthy 13 unit dies
