The first special service force of World War II was known as the Devil's Brigade. Ferocious and stealthy combatants, the men of the unit garnered their moniker from the captured diary of a German officer who wrote, "The black devils are all around us every time we come into line and we never hear them." Handpicked U.S. and Canadian soldiers trained in mountaineering, airborne operations, and close-combat skills, they numbered more than twenty-three hundred and saw action in the Aleutians, Italy, and the south of France.<BR>In this book, a member of the brigade who fought in Italy and a World War II combat pilot who later became a journalist explore the unit's unique characteristics. They describe the men's exemplary toughness and ability to fight in any terrain against murderous opposition, and they profile some of the unforgettable characters that made up the near-mythical force. The forerunner of the U.S. Army's Green Berets, the bridge underwent rigorous training in Montana and was originally conceived to sabotage the German submarine pens and oil storage areas along Norway's coast. That campaign was canceled, but the men quickly moved on to other daring missions.