Read Online Shadows In the Jungle by Larry Alexander - Free Book Online

set up a rigorous, innovative program gleaned from the training manuals of other elite units, such as Carlson’s Raiders, Merrill’s Marauders, the Amphibious Scouts, the Devil’s Brigade, and Darby’s Rangers, with a focus on intelligence gathering, jungle survival, and fighting skills. The new outfit was to be called the 6th U.S. Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, or Alamo Scouts, in deference to its parent organization, the 6th Army “Alamo Force.”
    Bradshaw was then to put out a call throughout the 6th Army for volunteers who wished to perform hazardous duty and develop them into a reconnaissance force capable of infiltrating enemy lines, gathering needed information, and getting out, preferably undetected. He had the pick of almost any man he wanted under Krueger’s command and free rein to equip them with the best weapons and materials the U.S. Army could provide. The training camp would also be the unit’s base of operations and could be wherever Bradshaw wanted, provided it was within easy reach of Krueger, for the general considered this unit his personal reconnaissance force, and their use in the field was solely at his discretion.
    Bradshaw had served as G2 intelligence officer for the 31st Division until he had been plucked from there by Krueger to serve on his staff in January 1943. The general liked Bradshaw’s clear-sighted intelligence and his quiet but firm leadership abilities.
    An attorney from Jackson, Mississippi, prior to the war Bradshaw had political ambitions on the state level, including an eye on the governor’s office.
    Bradshaw had joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1931, serving as a private in Company C of the 155th Infantry. Shortly thereafter, with his background and abilities, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and began to climb the command ladder. In October 1940, Bradshaw joined the 31st Division as assistant judge advocate and within four months was promoted to major and assigned to the general staff as assistant chief of staff for the division. Sent to general staff school, he graduated on December 6, 1941, just as Japan’s Pearl Harbor strike force was closing on Oahu.
    Now Bradshaw had been assigned to recruit and train an elite, tough team of jungle specialists, and for that he knew he needed an equally elite and tough staff of instructors.
    His first selection as executive officer was Maj. John F. Polk, formerly of the 1st Cavalry Division, but he soon lost Polk to 6th Army HQ, where he was made liaison officer.
    Bradshaw next turned to Capt. Homer A. Williams as his XO and chief training officer. The Philadelphia native joined the army in 1927 and rose through the ranks, where he developed a widespread reputation as a stern disciplinarian. With a shock of fire-engine-red hair—he was one of several men among the Scouts to be dubbed “Red”—and a gruff demeanor, he was a man to be obeyed. No soldier who served under Williams wanted to be called into his office for a dressing-down, for he handed out punishments long to be remembered.
    Williams’s job would be to help Bradshaw recruit and interview candidates, implement the training program, and select the men who would eventually comprise the Scout teams.
    For his supply officer, Bradshaw needed someone resourceful, so he turned to 1st Lt. Mayo S. Stuntz. Hailing from Vienna, Virginia, Stuntz was a former member of the Naval Amphibious Scouts. Bradshaw met Stuntz while the two worked together for 6th Army G2 and knew the man was a superior scrounger.
    Bradshaw called on Stuntz and told him about the Scouts and what he wanted Stuntz to do.
    â€œI want these men to have the best of everything, weapons, food, accommodations, you name it,” Bradshaw told Stuntz. “Think you can handle it?”
    Stuntz nodded.
    â€œProvided you don’t care about where or how I get the stuff,” he said.
    Bradshaw smiled.
    â€œNo questions asked,” he