The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission 1988

Major Wright leads a handpicked team of twelve commandos into Nazi-occupied Denmark on a perilous mission to rendezvous with an informant, Captain Carl Ludwig. They move carefully through shadowed streets, and when the supposed contact appears, the group discovers they are being tailed by a German patrol. Ludwig is shot in the ensuing tense moment, and in his dying breath he utters a cryptic line that sticks with Major Wright: > vierundzwanzig, zwanzig (2420). Wright barely grasps the clue, but it will become a landmark on their dangerous path.

Back in London, the operation shifts to a broader strategic view. At the U.S. Army Headquarters, Gen. Sam Worden and Lt. Carol Campbell meet with a British lieutenant colonel to discuss a shocking German plan: SS General Kurt Richter is assembling loyal Nazi figures to be transported to Istanbul and aid the birth of a Fourth Reich in the Middle East. The plan hinges on a single, pivotal transport — a train that will travel from Munich along the old Orient Express route through neutral Turkey. The objective is clear: stop the train and wipe out Richter’s network before it can reshape the region.

To make the mission possible, Wright is ordered to form a suicide squad from Forbes Road Military Prison — a twelve-man unit that will try to derail the train and neutralize Richter’s operatives. Before selections begin, Worden reveals a chilling detail: Richter’s men are slated to ride in Orient Express car #2420, tying back to Ludwig’s cryptic message. Sgt. Holt joins the effort to help keep the group in line, while the new assignment looms large and dangerous.

The training sequence tests the group in brutal fashion. The twelve are to make rapid, high-risk jumps at night due to the tight schedule, and tragedy strikes when Hoffman dies after his parachute fails. Wright and the others discover that Hoffman’s chute had been sabotaged, a hint that a traitor may lurk within their ranks. Lt. Campbell volunteers to stay with the team, bringing crucial linguistic and cultural skills that could prove essential for navigating Yugoslav terrain and European borders alike.

With the clock ticking, Wright confronts a gnawing suspicion: there may be a traitor among the “dirty dozen.” He insists the mission must continue, but he urges caution and vigilance, convinced that someone inside their ranks is feeding information to the Germans. To reduce risk at the drop, the pilots are ordered to aim away from the drop zone near Skopje, a tactical move that will complicate enemy attempts to anticipate their approach.

Arriving in Skopje, the team makes contact with resistance leader Yelena Voskovic. The alliance is forged quickly as the group, along with the resistance, mounts a bold assault to destroy a checkpoint that secures the railroad. The operation claims the life of Munoz, a grim reminder of the costs of every decision in this high-stakes game.

The convoy moves to Sofia, where the full plan unfolds. The dozen infiltrate the train, advancing car by car toward the designated target in [car #2420]. Along the way, Captain Craig and others are wounded, while Roberto Echevarria fights to stay alive. Dravko Demchuk works to seize control of the locomotive, forcing the engine to move despite heavy resistance. Tragically, [Wilson] and [Porter] are killed in the crossfire, and the team fights to keep Richter’s loyalists contained.

The central twist of the mission comes into sharper focus when the traitor is revealed: Carmine D’Agostino is exposed as the one who sabotaged Hoffman’s parachute and exposed the team to German counteractions. Wright acts decisively, killing D’Agostino and deciding to attach a tanker car to the front of the train to create a dramatic, armored barrier that German forces must breach.

As the train nears Dranos, the German roadblock closes in. Wright orders all nonessential personnel to evacuate while the train races forward. In the ensuing clash, Tom Ricketts is mortally wounded, and both [Mitchell] and Dravko Demchuk are killed as the train plows through the blockade. Richter and his loyalists in car #2420 are destroyed in the chaos, ending their bid for a new Reich.

With the German threat finally neutralized, Major Wright and the survivors race toward a search-and-rescue plan in the Aegean Sea, hoping for extraction by a British submarine. In a poignant turn, Yelena Voskovic chooses to return to Yugoslavia to join Tito’s partisans, embracing the fight for freedom on her own terms. The remaining team members regroup and count their losses, while Wright, Holt, and the others make their way home.

The final roster of survivors includes Major Wright, Sgt. Holt, Joe Stern, Lt. Carol Campbell, Joe Hamilton, Fred Collins, and Roberto Echevarria. Together, they carry the memory of the mission, the lives lost, and the fragile hope that their daring would contribute to a broader struggle against tyranny.