the plane who must do the actual fighting. You must have the best and sufficient quantities of it, to be sure, but you, individually, must be the best also.
* In December 1943 it was redesignated the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.
EVANS CARLSON
MARINE RAIDERS
On 2 February 1943 Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson assembled his 2nd Raider Battalion of the United States Marine Corps at their camp on Espiritu Santo one of the islands of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean, in order to celebrate their first anniversary. Just a year earlier Carlson had formed the battalion at the behest of President Franklin Roosevelt, ‘the first organization in the history of the American armed forces to be organized and designed purely for raiding and guerrilla missions’.
Casualties had been high on the battalion’s two major operations but the sacrifices had been worth it, explained Carlson, because they had ‘proved to the world the value of democratic practices in connection with military operations’. Then the lean, wiry grey-haired Carlson, about to turn 47, told his men why the battalion had achieved such success. It was, he said with his customary zeal, because each of them possessed ‘a deep spiritual conviction in the righteousness of the cause for which he fights and in the belief that victory will bring an improved social pattern wherein his loved ones and the loved ones of future generations will enjoy a greater measure of happiness and well being than was his lot. And so it has been an unfailing policy in this organisation to articulate for you and constantly remind you of the reasons why we endure and fight and sacrifice.’ 1
Yet despite the impassioned address of Evans Carlson the 2nd Raider Battalion never saw action again. The following month the Marines decided to incorporate the unit into the new 1st Marine Raider Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alan Shapley, a far more conventional officer than Carlson, who was ordered back to the States to recover from the effects of disease and exhaustion. While Carlson was recuperating, Hollywood released Gung Ho! , a motion picture based on the exploits of the 2nd Raider Battalion. Randolph Scott portrayed Carlson, and while the film was a box-office hit it further alienated its real-life star from the Marine Corps, who bristled at the attention lavished on their maverick comrade. As a result Carlson never again commanded troops in battle, and when he retired from the Corps he did so a bitter and disillusioned man, yet one who was held in the highest regard by the men who served under him in the 2nd Raider Battalion.
Evans Carlson was born in Sidney, New York, on 26 February 1896, the son of a New England minister. Like Orde Wingate, the founder of the Chindits, Carlson grew up in a household where the influence of religion was pervasive to the point of being restrictive to his development as a young man. And just as Robert Frederick of the 1st Special Service Force fled the nest as soon as possible to escape his overbearing mother, so Carlson sought a route away from the religious doctrine of his father – however he bore for the rest of his life a deep and abiding respect for the gospel.
Carlson went to work on a farm at the age of 14, and then had a spell as a railroad worker before, in 1912, he enlisted in the US Army, adding five years to his age to meet the minimum requirement of 21. After basic training Carlson was sent to the Philippines and for three years endured a series of exotic if ultimately unexciting postings. He showed aptitude, however, for the military life and by the time he was 19 he had risen in rank from private to sergeant major. In April 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany, Carlson was commissioned a second lieutenant and posted to the 13th Field Artillery Regiment.
Even at such a young age Carlson displayed an unorthodoxy in his views on leadership that was fostered as much by his independent spirit as by his
* In December 1943 it was redesignated the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.
EVANS CARLSON
MARINE RAIDERS
On 2 February 1943 Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson assembled his 2nd Raider Battalion of the United States Marine Corps at their camp on Espiritu Santo one of the islands of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean, in order to celebrate their first anniversary. Just a year earlier Carlson had formed the battalion at the behest of President Franklin Roosevelt, ‘the first organization in the history of the American armed forces to be organized and designed purely for raiding and guerrilla missions’.
Casualties had been high on the battalion’s two major operations but the sacrifices had been worth it, explained Carlson, because they had ‘proved to the world the value of democratic practices in connection with military operations’. Then the lean, wiry grey-haired Carlson, about to turn 47, told his men why the battalion had achieved such success. It was, he said with his customary zeal, because each of them possessed ‘a deep spiritual conviction in the righteousness of the cause for which he fights and in the belief that victory will bring an improved social pattern wherein his loved ones and the loved ones of future generations will enjoy a greater measure of happiness and well being than was his lot. And so it has been an unfailing policy in this organisation to articulate for you and constantly remind you of the reasons why we endure and fight and sacrifice.’ 1
Yet despite the impassioned address of Evans Carlson the 2nd Raider Battalion never saw action again. The following month the Marines decided to incorporate the unit into the new 1st Marine Raider Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alan Shapley, a far more conventional officer than Carlson, who was ordered back to the States to recover from the effects of disease and exhaustion. While Carlson was recuperating, Hollywood released Gung Ho! , a motion picture based on the exploits of the 2nd Raider Battalion. Randolph Scott portrayed Carlson, and while the film was a box-office hit it further alienated its real-life star from the Marine Corps, who bristled at the attention lavished on their maverick comrade. As a result Carlson never again commanded troops in battle, and when he retired from the Corps he did so a bitter and disillusioned man, yet one who was held in the highest regard by the men who served under him in the 2nd Raider Battalion.
Evans Carlson was born in Sidney, New York, on 26 February 1896, the son of a New England minister. Like Orde Wingate, the founder of the Chindits, Carlson grew up in a household where the influence of religion was pervasive to the point of being restrictive to his development as a young man. And just as Robert Frederick of the 1st Special Service Force fled the nest as soon as possible to escape his overbearing mother, so Carlson sought a route away from the religious doctrine of his father – however he bore for the rest of his life a deep and abiding respect for the gospel.
Carlson went to work on a farm at the age of 14, and then had a spell as a railroad worker before, in 1912, he enlisted in the US Army, adding five years to his age to meet the minimum requirement of 21. After basic training Carlson was sent to the Philippines and for three years endured a series of exotic if ultimately unexciting postings. He showed aptitude, however, for the military life and by the time he was 19 he had risen in rank from private to sergeant major. In April 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany, Carlson was commissioned a second lieutenant and posted to the 13th Field Artillery Regiment.
Even at such a young age Carlson displayed an unorthodoxy in his views on leadership that was fostered as much by his independent spirit as by his
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