Units

The first Merrill’s Marauder killed in action during the 1944 Burma campaign was Robert W. Landis, 23, from Youngstown, Ohio.  He was killed during a firefight Feb. 25, 1944, at Lanen ga.  To honor his sacrifice during this 2021 Memorial Day, a red carnation was placed on his stone at Ft. Benning’s National Ranger Monument. The red carnation was one of 100 placed on stones of his fellow Marauders alongwith the unit’s pedestal located at the back of the monument. Although a ceremony was not held at the NRM, Ranger families visited the site while the carnations were being placed on the stones. There are more than 7,000 Ranger stones at the monument.  There are more than 100 Marauder stones at the monument.

Retired Ranger COL Ralph Puckett JR, 94, was honored May 21, 2021, when President Joe Biden draped the Medal of Honor on him during a White House ceremony. Puckett, a Korean and Vietnam War veteran, was honored for his actions on Hill 205 in Korea. The ceremony marked the first time Biden has awarded a Medal of Honor as President. South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the ceremony, signifying the first time a foreign leader has taken part in that type event. Moon praised Puckett, saying, “Without the sacrifice of veterans including Col. Puckett and the Eighth Army Rangers Company, the freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldn’t have blossomed in Korea.” Puckett was surrounded by family members during the ceremony. A Georgia native, Puckett has been a familiar presence at Ft. Benning Ranger events for decades.  He was one of the first board members on the National Ranger Memorial Foundation, and attended many events at the monument. Some of the first newsletters I did when editor of the NRMF newsletter focused on Puckett, including his “What the Ranger Creed Means to me,” which you can click on below. It is one of three newsletters below about him. The fourth square is a page of photos I’ve taken over the years of Puckett and Ranger friends.

Please click on the images above for more information about Puckett.

It’s been almost 77 years since PFC James W. White, 21, was killed July 2, 1944, fighting to hold Burma’s Myitkyina airfield and capture the town of Myitkyina.  White was one of about 2,500 replacements to the 5307^th Composite Unit Provisional flown into the Myitkyina airfield between late May into July 1944. His remains were identified in January 2020 but Covid-19 prevented them from being sent home for burial. Marauder spokesman and historian “Bob” Passanisi, 97 in July, said, “As one of only about 200 Merrill’s Marauder still standing and healthy enough to continue fighting when James White and the other replacements were flown in to help hold the Myitkyina airfield and capture the town of Myitkyina, I am grateful that his journey is finally over and that our country never gave up its search for him.  We cannot ever forget James White’s ultimate sacrifice. Those who didn’t make it home are the ones we need to be remembering around this Memorial Day.” Gilbert Howland, 98, NJ, one of the other seven remaining Marauders, said, “I am extremely moved to know that James White has been identified at last and will finally be returned home for burial.”  Members of the 75^th Ranger Regiment, plus other active and retired Rangers will attend White’s June 12, 2021, funeral in Long Bottom, Ohio. Tammy Dixon, daughter of 5307^th CUP replacement James Junkins, assisted White’s family with funeral arrangements and served as a resource to media and military groups. The 5307^th CUP disbanded Aug. 10, 1944. The number of living replacements, which is a higher number than the seven living Marauders, is not known. 

Other WW II Burma MIAs: An announcement was made this June that remains of 1LT Myles W. Esmay, with Co. B, 236^th Engineer Combat Battalion, reinforcements for the 5307^th Composite Unit at Myitkyina, have been “accounted for.” The remains of 5307^th CUP replacement Hulett A. Thompson were buried in his hometown of Carrolton, GA. Nov. 30, 2019. In Pembroke, GA, WW II Rosie the Riveter Eleanor Stark, who turns 97 in September, is still waiting for remains of her husband, Luther “Buck” Bagley to come home.  He was killed July 25, 1944, at Myitkyina. 

Fran Tunnell Carter, who founded the American Rosie the Riveter Association (ARRA,) died Memorial Day, May 31, 2021, 10 days after her 99^th birthday. In the early 1940s, the Mississippi native, who had two years of junior college, was teaching elementary school on a “defense certificate” when she decided to move to the Birmingham area in 1943 to become more involved in the war effort.  She worked at Parsons Airplane Modification Center in Birmingham drilling holes and riveting B-29 bombers. “Before taking the job,” said Carter, “I didn’t know what a rivet was and had never seen an airplane up close.” During that time, she was falling more in love through V-Mail with a young paratrooper, John Carter, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. They married after the war, had two children and successful careers.  Years later after she and other “Rosies” were asked to share their stories at FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA, she became inspired to start an organization that would keep their  legacy alive. On Dec. 7, 1998, Carter founded the American Rosie the Riveter Association. The first meeting was at the Little White House, ARRA’s honorary headquarters. Female descendants of “Rosies” are “Rosebuds.” Husbands and male descendants are “Rivets.” Today the organization has grown to more than 6,000 members and hosts its conventions in a different state each year. Condolence cards can be mailed to Carter’s daughter at the following address:

Nell Branum
745 Country Club Trail
Gardendale, AL 35071

NOTE: In 2007 after my Merrill’s Marauder Dad, Vincent Melillo, and I met Fran and John at a Little White House event, I started the 13^th national chapter in 2008, which Fran nicknamed the “Baker’s Dozen Chapter.” In 2017, I was elected national president in Kansas City, but soon had to step down due to Marauder Congressional Gold Medal campaign responsibilities.  The Rosies have since achieved their own CGM.

Please click image above for a 99th birthday tribute to Carter 

A Memorial Day front-page column by Jeff Edelstein in New Jersey’s “The Trentonian” revealed that stories from four Mercer County survivors of the WW II troopship, HMT Rohna (correct spelling,) will be part of an upcoming documentary about the worst loss of life at sea in U.S. history. There were 1,105 American troops headed for the China Burma India Theater who lost their lives Nov. 26, 1943. The small number of survivors were sworn to secrecy for more than 50 years since the Rohna was sunk by the world’s first guided missile.  Merrill’s Marauder Fred Randle, who died not long after we discovered he was alive last September, was also sworn to secrecy since he witnessed the disaster from another ship in the Mediterranean Sea convoy. Randle’s Nov. 23, 2020, death was three days away from the 77^th anniversary of the sinking of the Rohna. The disaster had such an impact on his life that he wrote the book, “Hell on Land – Disaster at sea …the story of Merrill’s Marauders and the sinking of the Rhona,” collaborating with another CBI veteran, William Hughes. To read Edelstein’s Memorial Day column, please click the small image below – emailed to me by Bob Howland, son of Merrill’s Marauder Gilbert “Gil” Howland, 98, in New Jersey.  Bob has been my teammate since late 2017 in pushing the Marauder Congressional Gold Medal campaign through Congress.

Merrill’s Marauder’s 14 Nisei were among 33,000 Japanese Americans who served during WW II who will be honored by a new “Go for Broke” postage stamp. The first-day issue of the U.S. Postal Service stamp was June 3, 2020. The stamp shows PFC Shiroku “Whitey” Yamamoto, who fought with the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe. The 442nd is the most decorated unit for its size in U.S. military history. The stamp’s first city of issue was Los Angeles, where three Japanese American women started a “Stamp our Story” grassroots campaign in 2005.  Those women, Fusa Takahashi, 93, Aiko O. King, 93, and the late Chiz Ohira, are widows of “Go for Broke” WW II veterans. They and other Japanese American families lost everything when they were placed in U.S. internment camps during WW II. The Japanese American interpreters or Nisei fighting with the Marauders who are honored by the stamp are Howard H. Furumoto, Henry Gosho, Grant J. Hirabayashi, Robert Y. Honda, Calvin T. Kobata, Russell K. Kono, Roy H. Matsumoto, Edward Mitsukado, Herbert Y. Miyasaki, Roy K. Nakada, Ben S. Sugata, Thomas K. Tsubota, Jimmie Yamaguchi and Akiji Yoshimura. 1^st Lt. William A. Laffin, whose mother was Japanese, was the Nisei’s leader. Laffin was KIA in Burma.

NOTE:  Nisei Terry Shima, 98, in Hawaii (seen above) was a life-long friend of Marauder Nisei Edward Mitsukado. He shared a 2013 Japanese American Veterans Association press release that is the “story of Nisei linguist Edward Mitsukado, who served with the Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during WW II. His letter to the Commander of MIS Language School was circulated to the high levels of the War Department. Mitsukado’s remarks attest to Nisei dedication and loyalty to their nation and confirm the valuable intelligence contributions made by Nisei linguists to the war effort.”

Please click  images below for more information

1LT Vince Paikowski and 1LT Alastair Keys were the winners out of  52 two-man teams competing in the 37th annual David E. Grange JR, three-day, Best Ranger Competition April 16-18 at Ft. Benning, GA. Recent Medal of Honor recipient Ralph Puckett fired the shot that set the 52 teams on their grueling night and day obstacle course to determine the “best of the best.” LTG Michael E. Kurilla was the guest speaker at the April 19 awards ceremony. “The Best Ranger Competition was started in 1982 after Dick Leandri found a way to honor his personal friend, Lieutenant General David E. Grange JR.”

This was the first year that planning for the event was done by Ranger Travis Pheanis, who took over after Candyss Bryant retired after many years at the end of 2019 BRC. Pheanis said the 2021 event was “unique” since it was his first in “making the magic” that Candyss created every April continue to be a reality. Pheanis said “clear and concise communication is the only way to make the private and public partnership come to fruition.” Funded by donors, the annual competition was not held in 2020 because of Covid 19.  Pheanis added that the “bringing together” of old and new Rangers is what makes Best Ranger Competition a wonderful family gathering.

All donors to the annual Best Ranger Competition have a history of “giving back.”  Best Ranger Competition planners also give back by hosting an annual supper when each donor is recognized. I had the good fortune to learn about a unique program by sitting at the same table as retired LTC Carl Churchill and his wife Lori, founders of Alpha Coffee, which they started Sept. 11, 2010, in their basement. “We started as an online business shipping coffee to people’s homes with the mission to give back by sending coffee to troops deployed downrange,” explained Carl. Their first coffee shop in Utah opened in 2017, and each veteran customer receives a 10 percent discount. Under the premise that the “Army runs on coffee,” their business started a “Coffee for Troops” program that has sent more than 20,000 complimentary bags of coffee to deployed American troops throughout the world. The online segment of their business also supplies coffee to a dozen veteran-owned businesses. Among their many choices of specialty coffees is one called “Rosie’s Rocket Fuel” dedicated to WW II Rosie the Riveters. 

In 2004 when the WW II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC, designer Tom Walker unveiled his inaugural “Faith and Courage” display on military chaplains at the National Cathedral where it remained throughout the celebrations and for several months following the event.  During the most recent Ranger Rendezvous, Walker, from Sevierville, TN, was one of the exhibitors for all “Ranger Expos” held in Ft. Benning’s McGinnis Wickam Hall. Even though “Ranger Expo” will not be part of 2021 Ranger Rendezvous, you can still see a scaled-down “Faith and Courage” display in the hospitality rooms of both the U.S. Army Ranger Association and 75th Ranger Regiment host hotels. His exhibit will feature a large panel on Marauder Logan Weston, known to his men as the “Fightin’ Preacher,” along with honor plaques on other Marauders. Walker’s University of Tennessee degree in design, illustration and museum studies led to a professional career at several museums, including the American Museum of Science & Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy’s flagship museum in Oak Ridge, TN. Since 2002, he has been an independent graphic and exhibit designer with clients including museums, municipalities, historic sites, special events, entertainment venues and advertising/marketing agencies. He also serves as exhibit designer for the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville, the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame, and special advisor and exhibit designer for the Oak Ridge History Museum in Oak Ridge, TN. Walker is a long-time Merrill’s Marauder supporter, and has created many complimentary honor plaques for them and their families.

NOTE:  A larger version of the “Faith and Courage” exhibit is to be exhibited for July 4, 2021, at FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA.

A raffle will be held during July 19-23 Ranger Rendezvous for a gurkha knife engraved with names of the two Merrill’s Marauders attending the 2021 week-long, annual event – Robert “Bob” Passanisi, 97 in July, NY and Gilbert “Gil” Howland, 98, NJ.  The Gurkha knife will be mounted on a black, acrylic background enclosed in clear material on five sides. The design will include a Marauder patch, a Merrill’s Marauder challenge coin, a photo of the two Marauders attending Ranger Rendezvous and the unit’s mission information. Although not one of the gurkha knives carried by the Marauders during the 1944 campaign, the knife was donated by Marauder Howland who purchased it from a WW II vendor. When he saw the knife, Howland told the vendor, “I had one of those in Burma,” and promptly purchased it. All monies from the Gurkha knife raffle sales will go to the non-profit WW II Foundation to help fund its PBS documentary about Merrill’s Marauders.  Despite award-winning filmmaker Tim Gray dipping into the foundation’s operating budget, he doesn’t have sufficient funding to complete the documentary by its 2021 fall projected deadline. 

Even after the Marauder mission was successfully achieved in the China Burma India Theater, known today as the “forgotten theater” of WW II, the “expendable” guerilla volunteers continue being “forgotten” to this day. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns completely left out the China Burma India Theater and Merrill’s Marauders from his riveting, week-long series about WW II. At the WW II Museum in New Orleans, actor and honorary 2006 Ranger Hall of Fame inductee Tom Hanks completely left out the China Burma India Theater and Merrill’s Marauders from his dynamic, special effects, multimedia WW II movie, shown several times daily at the museum. While several WW II Foundation documentaries have been produced about WW II Rangers, this will be the first on the Merrill’s Marauder mission.

SO … PLEASE …  If you regularly donate to non-profit 501 C3 organizations, consider the WW II Foundation.  If you know of possible corporate sponsors, please contact them for donations to the WW II Foundation … and specify the contribution is for the Merrill’s Marauder documentary.

PLEASE CLICK the following link to read the WW II Foundation’s latest newsletter:  https://conta.cc/2RDbXkg

One of two Merrill’s Marauder movies produced by Warner Brothers was shown on several TV stations during the Memorial Day weekend.  That 1962 movie, “The Marauders,” featured actor Jeff Chandler in his last starring role. LTG Sam Wilson, who was a young lieutenant with the Marauder campaign, was an advisor to “The Marauders” movie.  A copy of his contract (above) showing how much he was paid as an advisor was provided by historian Orlando Pacheco, with the Defense Intelligence Agency.  Wilson, the highest ranking and longest-serving Marauder when he retired, was the 5^th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.  Wilson described “The Marauders” movie as a comedy and said the 1945 “Objective Burma” movie starring Errol Flynn “was a farce.”  There are mixed opinions – depending on which Marauder you talk to – about the Jeff Chandler movie.  Some Nisei, Japanese American interpreters, weren’t pleased that their roles were played by Filipinos. When “Objective Burma” was released in 1945, it was banned in Britain for failing to acknowledge contributions of British Chindits who fought in Burma before Merrill’s Marauders.  Originally the Marauders were a British unit assigned in 1943 to Lord Louis Mountbatten’s Southeast Asia Command.  When “Objective Burma” was removed from British theaters after only one week of showings, it was re-released in 1952 with footage of BG Orde Wingate, whose Chindits trained the Marauders in jungle warfare in India.  Other nationalities from India, China and South Africa also objected to the movie’s portrayal of war in Burma.  American movie audiences praised the movie for its realistic combat scenes. When native Burmese watched the movie in Burma after VJ Day, they cheered the victorious Americans.

NOTE: When my Dad, Vincent Melillo, and I first watched “Objective Burma,” he said, “Those guys sure look like us fighting in Burma, but they parachuted in.  I don’t know who they are.” The “Objective Burma” movie was about an American unit that parachuted into Burma to blow up a radar station – probably why LTG Wilson called it a “farce.”

Merrill’s Marauders (L–R) Grant Hirabayashi, Vincent Melillo and Roy Matsumoto at the 2009 Merrill’s Marauder reunion in Minneapolis, MN, planned by Jerrie Daly, who manages the Marauder facebook site.

So much confusing and inaccurate information about the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) campaign has lately been written that Bob Howland — my teammate since Fall 2017 in the non-stop “behind-the-scenes” effort required to push the Marauder CGM through Congress — and I decided it was time for an explanation about how the Marauder CGM journey began.  Bob is the son of triple CIB Marauder Gilbert Howland, 98, NJ.  A timeline recognizing overlooked, long-time players in the Congressional Gold Medal journey will appear in a future Marauder UPDATE.

 The idea for the TWO national campaigns to obtain recognition and honor for the 5307^th Composite Unit Provisional came from my Merrill’s Marauder and Korean War veteran Dad, Vincent Melillo, who was orphaned at three months old when his Mother died from the 1918 flu epidemic, raised by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist at the Villa O’Connor Orphanage in Gladstone, New Jersey, reclaimed around age 11 at the Boy’s Home in Arlington, NJ by the father he didn’t know existed, and quit school after the seventh grade to work as a mason’s helper for his Italian immigrant father. My Dad, who turned down a battlefield commission during the Korean War because he didn’t think he had the education for it, had no idea his two little ideas would lead to such massive recognition for Merrill’s Marauders. Those two national campaigns are:

1. The 10-year Congressional Gold Medal campaign
2. The 2014 National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day campaign

Merrill’s Marauder Congressional Gold Medal campaign

The Merrill’s Marauder Congressional Gold Medal journey did NOT begin in 2016 when the first bill was finally introduced in the 114^th Congressional Session thanks to years of effort by Marauder Bob Passanisi from New York, who turns 97 in July.  The idea to pursue a Marauder Congressional Gold Medal began more than 10 years ago when my Italian American Dad, Vincent Melillo, saw the name of his Japanese American buddy, Roy Matsumoto, in a National Ranger Memorial Foundation newsletter I had written for MG “Ken” Leuer about the 14 Marauder Nisei, Japanese American interpreters, being honored by the 2010 Military Intelligence Service Congressional Gold Medal.  Melillo said, “Why can’t we get this for the rest of the men?” I proposed the idea to the then-active Merrill’s Marauders Proud Descendants, who unanimously approved it.  That’s when the long, difficult Marauder CGM journey began. In 2017, I received an email from David Gunther, then legislative assistant to the 35^th Vice Chief of Staff – Army, offering their support and providing a legislative contact for Georgia SEN Johnny Isakson. I pursued that contact and Isakson introduced the first Senate bill in 2017 during the 115^th Congressional Session.

2014 National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day

On D-Day June 6, 2014, there was a frenzy of TV, radio and newspaper coverage heralding the 70^th anniversary of what has been called “one of the most momentous days of the 20^th century.” My Dad and I were driving home to Georgia on D-Day, after a trip to New Jersey where he visited in person for the first time since 1945 with his only remaining sibling, the late Theresa D’Aconti. Dad was swept up in the enthusiasm for the D-Day observances. At every restaurant or rest area where we stopped, he’d walk up to strangers, ask them if they knew what day it was and hand out his Marauder-Korean War card while giving them a quick summary of who Merrill’s Marauders were.  After one of those stops, he looked at me and asked, “Why don’t Merrill’s Marauders have a national day?” I think I may have said something like, “Daddy, hardly anyone – except maybe Army Rangers — knows who Merrill’s Marauders are and people haven’t ever heard of your battles like Walabum, Nphum ga and Myitkyina. And what’s more they couldn’t even pronounce them if they did know about them.”  Since 2014 was also the 70^th anniversary of the Marauder mission, I muddled over Dad’s question on the drive home and thought, “Why can’t Merrill’s Marauders have a national day?”  So … I checked Marauder milestone dates for the remainder of 2014, and there was one day left – Aug. 10, 2014 – the 70^th anniversary of Merrill’s Marauders disbanding in Burma “without a whimper,” as Marauder and retired LTG Sam Wilson described that momentous day. I quickly proposed the idea for Marauder national recognition to the still-active Merrill’s Marauders Proud Descendants board of directors.  They excitedly embraced it.  I put a plan in motion and in little more than a month we (we being thousands of people) were successful in having Aug. 10, 2014, recognized as National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day.

Summary

While my Dad came up with the ideas for both those campaigns, it took 10 years of effort by thousands of supporters for the Marauder Congressional Gold Medal legislation to be passed by Congress Sept. 22, 2020, and signed into law by then-president Donald Trump Oct 17, 2020. The National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day campaign that I spearheaded in 2014, while lasting little more than one month, was the result of an intense, national, grassroots effort involving thousands of supporters that culminated with governors from every state (except California), issuing proclamations declaring Aug. 10, 2014, as National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day — when 70 years earlier the 5307^th CUP disbanded in Burma. Efforts by all those supporters lead to massive media stories from the local to national level, a frenzy on social media, and some-type recognition for almost all living Marauders at that time. That recognition created a heightened awareness of Merrill’s Marauders with the American public, which added fuel to the on-going Congressional Gold Medal campaign. On Aug. 10, 2014, Melillo was in the hospital where he was interviewed by a reporter for the Columbus, GA “Ledger Enquirer.”  Melillo did not live to see the results of his idea for a Congressional Gold Medal become a reality. He died Christmas Eve 2015 during a time I was having conversations with Marauder and retired LTG Sam Wilson, who said the bullets being considered for the proposed text of a Congressional Gold Medal bill were too weak, even after they had been rewritten – something that came back to haunt us as the years went by.

As editor of “Idaho Magazine,” Kitty Fleischmann has “an eye for detail.” When she saw the “Marauders marching” photo in the March -April” Update, she correctly identified one of the men wearing light-brown trousers in the second-to-last row as her father, Donald Delorey. She said it appeared that “his right shoe was much thicker than a regular shoe. Dad’s right leg was six inches shorter than his left leg because of his third injury in Burma. They wanted to amputate, but Dad refused to let them take his leg. He was ramrod straight, even with his bad leg.”  Fleischman said that leg injury, which sent him home, was the third time he had been shot. “The first time was a flesh wound that went through his thigh. The second time they hit the base of his thumb and shattered the bone. The Doc came up with some creative kind of thing like a ‘banjo splint’ that held his thumb in place.” Fleischman said her Dad, who died in 1997, “was always described as a ‘natty’ dresser.” The evacuation photo above was provided by Fleischman, whose mother was a nurse in Burma. 

Please click  on image above for a shortened version of a story Fleishman wrote about how her parents met each other, “Merrill’s Marauder’s wife did ‘wear combat boots’ in Burma.”

Below are excerpts from British author Gavin Mortimer’s informative article, “Special Forces came of age during World War II,” published in the March 2021 issue of “Aviation History” magazine. You can read the complete story, which quotes Marauder Bob Passanisi, by clicking on the following link:   https://www.scribd.com/issue/495629223/March-2021

• “From Merrill’s Marauders in the U.S. Army to the British Special Air Service (SAS) and Germany’s Fallschirmjdger, all the major combatants exploited the great technological innovations of the interwar years in communications, weapons and transport to develop specialized units – “private armies” in WW II parlance – capable of fighting deep inside enemy territory.  Some senior Allied commanders regarded special forces as renegades, fighting an irregular warfare unbecoming of their nation’s proud military history, but in fact these private armies were pioneers, not just in waging a new form of warfare, but also in the treatment of their wounded.” 
• “As challenging as the desert was for air evacuation, the jungle presented an even more formidable foe, one that Merrill’s Marauders conquered in 1944.”
• “In late 1943 in India, the Marauders had been schooled in jungle warfare by their British counterparts, the Chindits, who were commanded by Brigadier General Orde Wingate.  Earlier in the year the Chindits had trekked into Burma to launch a series of guerilla attacks against the Japanese and on Wingate’s orders they had been compelled to leave several of their number behind.”

• “ ‘Sick and wounded had been left to their own resources, and some mortally wounded had been killed by their own men,’ said Captain James Hopkins, one of the Marauders’ medical officers.  ‘We knew of no better plan for 1944 … all available information indicated that our wounded and sick would be left with natives or would have to accept the vague promise that they would get whatever help was available.’ “

• “Hunter (COL Charles N. Hunter – longest serving Marauder commander) was a career soldier, with a rough exterior concealing a sharp and sensitive mind. He had heard about the LRDG’s (the British Long Range Desert Group’s) pioneering efforts in North Africa, and so arranged for aerial support from the 7^th Liaison Squadron based in Ledo in northeast India.  The military aircraft assigned to the Marauders was the Piper L-4 Grasshopper, the military version of the 1930s J-3 Cub.”

•  “The knowledge that our sick and wounded could be taken out by plane from improvised airstrips was a big boost to the morale of the men,” said “Doc” Hopkins.

Marauder Kermit Busher, who had about “15 or 20 bullets” from a light machine gun shot into his leg at the siege of Nphum ga, was evacuated in an L-4 to the 20^th General Hospital in Ledo, where his leg was saved. To read an extensive account about the medical history of Merrill’s Marauders, please click this link:

 Office of Medical History

NOTE:   This item is illustrated with three slides from a 12-minute, looped presentation I created for the WW II Museum in New Orleans to show at a public reception it hosted during the 2018 Merrill’s Marauder reunion, planned by Bob Howland, son of Marauder Gilbert Howland, 98, NJ.

Click on slides for further information.

Please click  on image above for a shortened version of a story Fleishman wrote about how her parents met each other, “Merrill’s Marauder’s wife did ‘wear combat boots’ in Burma.”

Writer Matt Saintsing’s May 4, 2021, “DAV Magazine” cover story, “Nation honors Merrill’s Marauders,” was visually captivating and a tribute to Russell Hamler, one of the seven Merrill’s Marauders who greeted the new year Jan. 1, 2021. The powerful, non-profit Disabled American Veterans’ organization reaches a readership of one-million-plus individuals. The first call I received about the article was a complaint of omission from an individual who thought I was the source for information used in the Merrill’s Marauder story. Since that call was followed by multiple comments from individuals about omissions and inaccuracies, I would like to clarify that I was not the source for providing background for the article. Whoever the source was provided some information that was out-of-date by the time the 10-year effort to obtain a Marauder Congressional Gold Medal became a reality Sept. 22, 2020, when the legislation was passed by Congress. Everyone makes mistakes, which is why one I made in my last Marauder update gave me the opportunity to write a story about Hamler in this update.

Easter Sunday 1944 is a day most Merrill’s Marauders probably remembered for the rest of their lives. It was one of the few times all three battalions, which operated independently, were together.  It was the day 77 years ago that the 2^nd Battalion, which had been surrounded almost two weeks by the Japanese at the horrific battle of Nphum ga, nicknamed “Maggot Hill,” was rescued by the 3^rd and 1^st battalions.  The overpowering stench that enveloped Nphum ga caused some 3^rd and 1^st Battalion men to vomit as they fought their way up the hill to rescue 2^nd Battalion.  Water holes had been polluted by dead mules, supplies had fallen outside the perimeter and the smell of death was pervasive. Heavily outnumbered, the Marauders had no heavy artillery to respond to the persistent barrage of enemy fire.  For Russell Hamler from Pennsylvania, one of seven still living Marauders, the memories remain vivid. Hamler remembers that when 2^nd BN received initial enemy shelling, he and his buddy dove into their foxhole. Hamler’s life was spared by his landing on the side of their foxhole. His buddy, who landed at the bottom, was killed when an artillery shell nearly cut him in half. A large piece of that shell cut across Hamler’s left hip. That foxhole became Hamler’s “hospital bed” until the Easter Sunday rescue. He was cared for by 2^nd Battalion surgeon, CPT Henry G. Stelling, nicknamed “Jungle Jim,” and his medics. He vividly remembers “Jungle Jim’s” large pack, shown on Stelling’s back in the photo above.  A mule was used to transport Hamler to an airstrip where he was placed in a small stripped-down Piper Cub L-5 plane capable of carrying only one wounded man. He was flown to a larger airstrip where a C-47 flew him to India for treatment in a British hospital.

NOTE: Stelling’s “legendary backpack contained more than 100 pounds of medical supplies” to treat the wounded. Despite 2nd Battalion’s men looking like dazed, walking skeletons when rescued, they had fought valiantly and suffered 52 deaths and 163 light casualties compared to the Japanese, who had around 400 bodies scattered throughout the area, some “stacked like cordwood between trees.”

Years ago when Merrill’s Marauder “Bob” Passanisi created a logo for the now inactive Merrill’s Marauders Proud Descendants, he used a design of double eagles that had been printed for years on material used by the now-inactive Merrill’s Marauders Association started by Phil Piazza after WW II ended. Not many people know that those double eagles are from a painting by artist and 1997 Ranger Hall of Fame inductee Cyrille J. “Duke” Dushane, who presented it as a gift to Piazza years ago. The MMPD logo has since been printed on banners used at reunions, T-shirts, jackets, buttons, cups and other items. Dushane’s RHOF citation says, “His artistic ability and design work can be seen anywhere you find Rangers.” He was involved in designing the National Ranger Monument, painted the design used on the RHOF medallion and painted portraits of Ranger Medal of Honor recipients for display at 75^th Ranger Regiment headquarters. Dushane’s three tours in Vietnam led to his being called the “Godfather of the Long Range Surveillance Leader Course.”  The 75^th Infantry Regiment unit he served with in Vietnam was called “Merrill’s Marauders.”

Members of the Merrill’s Marauder advisory committee reviewed 18 proposed designs by various U.S. Mint artists, which they critiqued and narrowed into three designs that were resubmitted for review.  A final set of front and back designs will be reviewed June 16, 2021, by the Citizens Advisory Coinage Committee alongwith the Marauder  advisory committee. Russell Evans, U.S. Mint, is chairing the Marauder advisory committee comprised of Merrill’s Marauder Bob Passanisi, 97 in July, and his son, John; Merrill’s Marauder Gilbert Howland, 98, and his son, Bob; and Travis West, president of the U.S. Army Ranger Association. Following review by the Citizens Advisory Coinage Committee, there will be a review between the Commission on Fine Arts with the advisory group. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will make a final approval. The approved  Marauder Congressional Gold Medal design then goes to engravers, and is projected to be finished in late 2021.

Six Merrill’s Marauders have lived to the age of 100, including the most recent centenarian, Gabriel “Gabe” Kinney, who turned 100 Feb. 2, 2021. They and today’s surviving Marauders, even those in long-term care facilities, are a testament to the Army’s stipulation that all the “expendable” 1943 volunteers “will be of a high state of physical ruggedness.”  Kinney, who lives in a Daphne, AL senior apartment facility with his wife, Elena, who turns 95 in June, walks one mile two to three times a week. Marauder historian “Bob” Passanisi, who turns 97 in July, belongs to a health club, cooks tasty Italian meals and will be driving from his home in Lindenhurst, NY to Ft. Benning, GA for 2021 Ranger Rendezvous. Triple Combat Infantryman Badge Marauder Gilbert “Gil” Howland, 98, is an avid golfer as seen in the above photo from about two weeks ago.

Greg Collins, son of Marauder James “Jim” T. Collins in Tampa, FL, shared that his Dad had been recently hospitalized and is now home, where he is receiving Hospice care several times a week..  His address for sending cards is:

James “Jim” Timothy Collins
7813 N. Jamaica St.
Tampa, FL     33614