The Beardless Warriors

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The Beardless Warriors
TheBeardlessWarriors.jpg
Cover of the first edition
Author Richard Matheson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre War
Publisher Little, Brown
Publication date
August 22, 1960 [1]
Media type Hardcover & Paperback
Pages245 (paperback edition)
OCLC 861764005

The Beardless Warriors is a 1960 World War II novel by American writer Richard Matheson. [2] It was based on his experiences as a young infantryman in the 87th Division in France and Germany.

Contents

Plot synopsis

Set in late 1944 Germany, during the assault on the Siegfried Line, the novel follows 15 days in a US Army 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 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 film To Hell and Back . The film starred Universal contract players Steve Carlson, Jonathan Daly, and Robert Pine, with James Drury as the sergeant.

Notes

  1. "Books—Authors". The New York Times : 21. July 15, 1960.
  2. The Beardless Warriors at Amazon.com retrieved May 31, 2008


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The Young Warriors may refer to:

<i>The Young Warriors</i> (film) 1966 film

The Young Warriors is a war film filmed in 1967 by Universal Pictures based on Richard Matheson's 1960 novel The Beardless Warriors that was the working title of the film. The novel was inspired by Matheson's own experiences as an 18-year-old infantryman with the 87th Infantry Division in Germany in World War II. The film was directed by John Peyser.