''The Beardless Warriors'' is a 1960

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

novel by American writer

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

.''The Beardless Warriors''
at

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

retrieved May 31, 2008 It was based on his experiences as a young infantryman in the 87th Division in France and Germany.

Plot synopsis

Set in late 1944

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, during the assault on the Siegfried Line, the novel follows 15 days in a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Rifle Squad led by the venerable Sergeant Cooley. Everett “Hack” Hackermeyer, a troubled 18-year-old from a hellish family upbringing, is just one of several teenage soldiers. Over the course of the story, Hackermeyer will come to realize the value of his own life and shed his guarded cynicism.

Adaptation

It was filmed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

in 1966 as '' The Young Warriors''. Most of Matheson's story was jettisoned in order to build the film around stock footage from the

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...

film '' To Hell and Back''. The film starred Universal contract players Steve Carlson, Jonathan Daly, and

Robert Pine Robert Pine (born Granville Whitelaw Pine, July 10, 1941) is an American actor who is best known as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the television series ''CHiPs'' (1977–1983). Including ''CHiPs'', Pine has appeared in over 400 episodes of television. ...

, with

James Drury James Child Drury Jr. (April 18, 1934 – April 6, 2020) was an American actor. He is best known for having played the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series '' The Virginian'', which was broadcast on NBC from 1962 to ...

as the sergeant.

Notes

External links

* Fiction set in 1944 1960 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels by Richard Matheson Novels set during World War II Little, Brown and Company books {{1960s-WWII-novel-stub