M1A1_Thompson_101st_1

Enter the best caption for this photo in the comments before midnight Sunday and you’ll win a box of 9mm frangible ammo from Team Never Quit (sales of TNQ ammo benefit the Lone Survivor Foundation).

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115 COMMENTS

    • Go read “The Filthy Thirteen” by Killblane & McNiece then make your jokes.

      More evidence that RF and his band of neophytes know little of the things that really matter, like US military history.

        • A wet sock demeaning the writers of the blog we all enjoy,making light of the shortcomings of others,while professing the importance of military history study and then failing to enlighten us anyway. Oh ye of superior humanity,bestow upon us the morsel of wisdom you feel we lack!

    • This whole contest is tasteless. This photo shows Clarence Ware putting war paint in Charles Plaudo before the “filthy 13” jumped into Normandy, in honor of their Choctaw sergeant. Most of them were wounded or killed. These men are heroes that should be celebrated, but instead they are subjected to jokes by anonymous internet trolls.

      • Tasteless like chicken?

        Sorry, couldn’t resist. For those not-in-the-know that’s a reference to the comment “tastes like chicken” winning one of these contests ages ago and the occasional chiding that still surfaces from time to time for picking that comment as the winner.

      • Never seen this photo before or heard of the filthy thirteen. So thank you for the topic to research. I am assuming this means more to people decades older than me.

        That being said, nothing is sacred that we can’t make jokes about it. Freedom of speech is wonderful, humor is subjective.

        • there’s not a lot of humor in making fun of Army paratroopers who jumped into the Normandy campaign, where they took enormous casualties in order to help wipe out naziism and liberate Europe. And it’s sad that kids today have no idea what happened.

      • Yeah, maybe TTAG needs to provide trigger warnings on posts like this – and a nice safe page to go to instead.

  5. And then steve says “those drapes look Fabulous!”
    And then I said well of course, I picked them out.
    And, oh my God, this make up looks Fabulous on your skin!

  14. “After this war is over, I think I’ll drive a cab for a while until I figure out what I really want to do…”

  26. Best training in the world. Best food in the world. Best equipment in the world. 2 years leading up to this moment and a pimple takes you out,

  28. I would never desecrate the honor of one of my brothers by mockery.
    But I’ll say this,

    I am an American fighting man.
    I serve in the forces that guard
    our country and
    Our way of life.I am prepared
    To give my life in their defense.

    Take time to look this photo over and realize that your poking fun at men that stood tall and. Did what very few have the calling to do.
    You should feel shame for making fun of these brothers.
    For me i bow my head and give thanks.

    • Get over yourself. I would have probably drawn a dick on one of my brothers and gotten rid of all the mirrors. Semper Fi

      • Sure Bob, in the barracks or in the field.
        But here on this gun blog?
        It’s nothing but dishonorable to these men and comrades.

    • Dude, I was one of those American fighting men(later generation). We made sport of each other and the other branches of service.

      In the words of the immortal Sgt. Hulka, ” Lighten up, Francis.”

      • Sure ..poke fun at you.face to face in a pub over a beer.like I’ve done with many of my friends.but who knows these guys or what happened to them?
        It just irked me when i started to read some of the crap being said.
        Id do the same for you. Brother.
        So as for me…sure maybe i should lighten up as you say but i still have a tough time watching people just belittle evrything in life.
        I dont see much solem dignity given as much anymore, to me it means a hell of alot more.
        People don’t respect the very things that deserve respect.everybody is in a rush to tear things apart and mock everybody without hesitation.go ahead and piss all over these two guys but ill stay out of it.
        Im just currently disappointed with this one.
        This could easily be a pic of my father so just know that i didnt fond it amusing today.

        • The reason this is tasteless is because it’s such a well known photograph that was hugely popular after the Stars and Stripes published it – and because so many of this unit died just after the photo was taken. My brigade was attached to the 101st in Afghanistan, and this photo was displayed prominently in division offices. These men in the photo are still revered as heroes.

          Making fun of these men and telling someone to get over yourself when they object is laughable. That’s exactly the same as making fun of FDNY firefighters photographed before they ran into the burning World Trade Center, and then saying “get over yourself, I used to be a firefighter, they make fun of each other all the time.”

  29. …and in co-opting the hair styles and face painting rituals of the Native American we have further proof of white privilege..

    • Get over yourself. If these heroes were anything like the men I served with, they would love this. Semper Fi.

      • They might have enjoyed ball-busting from fellow marines in their unit, or other servicemen, but I seriously doubt they’d love anonymous people on the Internet making gay jokes about them after seeing a picture taken of them gearing up for a battle in which they were wounded the next day. None of the men and women I went to war with would have appreciated it in this forum.

  34. As Dad used to say about paratroopers….”Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?”. I am sure he thought that being in the 25th Armored and threatening the Pas De Calais was a great occupation about this time in the war.

  39. If we paint snails on our faces, the enemy will THINK we’re slow, but then we’ll surprise them with how fast we are at regular speed!

  40. Think we should let that guy take the photo of us doing something curious?

    Why?

    Any comments that put us in any humorous light might offend some people because it would be considered an example of mocking and degrading us.

    Huh? You must be thinking of the future.

    • I’ll stop beating this dead horse and get off my soap box after this. It’s not offensive to make light of service members in funny pictures – there are countless photos floating around that warrant humorous comments.

      This particular photo is different though, it’s not just a random photo of dudes painting each other. It became so famous because this was just before these guys dropped into Normandy, and it gained a lot of notoriety because most of this unit didn’t make it back. It’s the equivalent of the marines raising the flag on mount suribachi or the firefighters raising the flag over the rubble at the WTC. I think a lot of people are unaware of the significance of this particular photo.

      • There is little doubt that there are people that exist that are unaware of the significance of the men in this photo. I am not one of them.

        What I am less confident about is that these men were in any way concerned with people in the future defending any use of photos of them on their behalf. Most of what I have read is clearly humor that is not based in truth and it is quite easy to see. Some people call that a type of joke. For some some personal reasons (that is far from universal) they are off limits? I guess it takes a lot more for some of us to be offended.

  41. Things sure are different since the Washington Redskins changed their name to the Washington Red Starbucks Holiday Cups.

  42. This photo of paratroopers Clarence C. Ware and Charles R. Plaudo painting each other’s faces on the afternoon of June 5, 1944, was printed in Stars and Stripes, and helped form the legend of “The Filthy Thirteen.”

    Charles R “Chuck” Plauda
    PVT, 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
    Born: Feb. 20, 1924
    Died: Apr. 30, 1950
    Buried:
    Fort Snelling National Cemetery
    Minneapolis
    Hennepin County
    Minnesota, USA
    Plot: C BLK, 9153

    Clarence C. Ware
    PVT, 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
    Born: Dec. 5, 1922
    Died: Jan. 4, 2001
    Buried:
    Green Hills Memorial Park
    Rancho Palos Verdes
    Los Angeles County
    California, USA

  46. Sorry guys, ever heard of Freedom of Speech? You know, the one right before the 2nd. Of course, you also have that right.

    • Bruce…if your not standing up for what’s right then your just sitting down with the rest of the clowns.
      45 knows what i mean.
      Although i think he put it together a bit better than i did.
      Some things you just don’t piss on.
      This is one of those things!
      I’m former 12 bravo. Demo was my thing too, im in awe after reading this story. I guess i never heard it before.

  47. No caption needed. 101st Airborne, Thompson sub-machine gun, and WWII. When Men were Men and Boys learned how to be Men real quick.

  48. A-koo-chee-moya. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers, and from the bones of our people

  51. “There. Now not even Nintendo can stop us!”–SEGA prepares for battle. The Dreamcast would be their last video game console.

  52. “These men deserve better than jokes. Seen here applying face-paint in honor of part Choctaw Sgt. Jake Mcniece – and because bitches love face-paint. 1st Demolition, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne. The Filthy Thirteen. Half of the men in Demolitions Platoon would die in Operation Market Garden. Half of those who survived would join Mcniece in Pathfinders. These Special Operations pioneers, knowing their mortality rate was 80-90%, would parachute in before everyone else – often behind enemy lines – to coordinate all drop zones.”

  55. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the freedoms that I was later able to defend and that my children enjoy today

  58. Real men preparing to leave their “safe space”.

    Too bad American history is no longer taught in public schools any more. All those whiny jackasses on college campuses should read about these men and their sacrifices. Hopefully, they would be wise enough to walk away and get a life.

  59. “just a tiny incision from here to here and when you wake up you’ll have those high cheekbones you’ve always wanted.”

  67. As a veteran and the recipient of a special warfare badge I can say that my comrades would have loved this. Humor sometimes dark and almost always politically incorrect got us through some pretty tough times far from home and sitting on the edge of destruction. Virtually nothing was sacred, unless done with malice. I can only imagine the banter that went on between them while they were making their final preparations,some of it serious, some with humor. All in an effort to relieve the tension among men closer than a lot of brothers. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.

  68. As a veteran and the recipient of a special warfare badge I can say that my comrades would have loved this. Humor sometimes dark and almost always politically incorrect got us through some pretty tough times far from home and sitting on the edge of destruction. Virtually nothing was sacred, unless done with malice. I can only imagine the banter that went on between them while they were making their final preparations,some of it serious, some with humor. All gin an effort to relieve the tension among men closer than a lot of brothers. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.

  71. To everyone metaphorically up in arms over this being a caption contest photo: nothing about the post or the contest implied or directly asked for humorous, ironic, pejorative, uncouth, or in any way negative comments. Instead of jumping all over someone preemptively, why not submit your own caption that does the photo justice in a creative way?
    Something like “How true Heroes get dressed for a night out of defending the world from tyranny”, or some such.

  75. How, kemosabe? I’ll tell you “how”! We get on that plane, jump out, and when we hit the ground we start killing the freekin’ nazis. That’s how!

  83. These men are heroes. Their commitment to their country and comrades in arms is hardly paralleled. They deserve the utmost respect for what they did to defend freedom and rid the world of Nazism.

    But still…

    “Steve, if you draw a dick on my face again, the Krauts are going to be the least of your worries.”

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