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[Title Undetermined]

Evans Carlson, His WWII Marine Raiders, and America's First Special Forces Mission
LRS1969
Nov 30, 2015LRS1969 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book about an exceptional, very advanced Marine officer who pioneered a lot of what became modern day Special Operations. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Raiders I must say, however, that I believe that "cobragunship" is mistaken in his review. Then Lt. Col. Carlson and his 2nd Marine Raider Battalion (organized and operated in a VERY unorthodox manner) seems to have been confused by this Reviewer with Col. Merritt Edson and his 1st Raider Battalion. The 1st Raider Battalion (with attached elements of the 1st Paramarine Bn.) were THE key component in the Battle of Edson's Ridge (12–14 September 1942) which was the second of three attempts (and first of two major attempts) by the Imperial Japanese Army against Henderson Field (and was a definite conventional military defensive operation). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Edson%27s_Ridge The first attempt, the Battle of Tenaru (August 21, 1942) involved the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru The third attempt, just over a month later (the Battle for Henderson Field, 23—26 October 1942), involved neither Marine Raider Battalion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Henderson_Field The 7th Marines (especially the 1st Battalion under Lt. Col. Christy Puller) bore the primary brunt of this attack, along with elements of the 2nd Marines and 5th Marines - and the 3rd Battalion, 164th Infantry (a North Dakota National Guard unit). The 2nd Marine Raider Battalion under Colson (THIS book) was noted for its amphibious raid operation on Makin Island in August of 1942 in the Gilbert Islands group (with Guadalcanal being a part of the Solomon Islands group, some distance away). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makin_Raid The 2nd Raider Battalion was dispatched to Guadalcanal after the Battle for Henderson Field - and was thereafter famed for its conduct in "Carlson's Patrol" (aka "The Long Patrol") conducted from 6 November to 4 December 1942. "In the operation, the 2nd Raiders attacked forces under the command of Toshinari Shōji, which were escaping from an attempted encirclement in the Koli Point area on Guadalcanal and attempting to rejoin other Japanese army units on the opposite side of the U.S. Lunga perimeter. In a series of small unit engagements over 29 days, the 2nd Raiders killed almost 500 Japanese soldiers while suffering only 16 killed.." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlson%27s_patrol Both of these actions truly SpecOps. Merritt Edson and his battalion were much more conventional (though elite) in nature, while both Colson and his battalion were very unorthodox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_A._Edson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans_Carlson The history of the Guadalcanal Campaign, especially being the first American offensive of WW2, is pretty much basic Marine History 101. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign