"The Dirty Dozen" author E.M. Nathanson may have gotten the idea for the title (if not the plot) of his best-selling novel from a real-life group of World War II 101st Airborne Division paratroopers nicknamed "The Filthy Thirteen". These men, demolitionists in Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st, supposedly earned their nickname by not bathing nor shaving for a long period of time during training prior to the Normandy invasion. Members of The Filthy Thirteen can be seen in famous vintage film footage and still photos, their faces painted with Indian "war paint", before boarding their planes for the D-Day jump. Another idea source for Nathanson's book may have come from future director Russ Meyer, who was at the time a combat cameraman. He had shot some footage of a group of American soldiers, inmates at a military prison who were under death sentences for such crimes as murder, rape, and mutiny, who were training at a secret location for the D-Day invasion, for which they would be parachuted behind German lines to commit acts of sabotage and assassinations. Prison authorities told Meyer that the men, who volunteered, were told that if they survived and returned, their sentences would be set aside, their records expunged, and they would be set free. Guards told him that the group was called "the dirty dozen" because they refused to bathe or shave. After the invasion, Meyer made inquiries as to these men's fates, and was told that none of them came back. After the war, he related this story to Nathanson, who was a friend of his.

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