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World War Two Special Operations

USMC Marine Raiders

2nd Marine Raider Battalion comes ashore.

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Dan Marsh's Marine Raider Page

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Photo: Marine Raiders and the USS Argonaut

Photo: Marines of the 2nd Raider Battalion

Photo: Raider Ridge

Photo: Marine Raiders with  K9 partners on Bougainville

Photo: Marine Raiders, in front of a Japanese dugout they took on Cape Totkina on Bougainville, Solomon Islands. January,1944

Unit Profile and Overview

USMC Raiders
Edsons Raiders

Then-Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson and almost 5,000 Marine Corps Raiders of World War II were legend in the South
Pacific.

Organized in January 1942 and disbanded just two years later, the Raider battalions were developed as a Marine Corps
special mission force, based on the success of the British commandos and Chinese guerrillas operating in northern China.

From Guadalcanal and the Makin Atoll to Bougainville and New Georgia, lightly armed and intensely trained Raiders had a
three-fold mission: spearhead larger amphibious landings on beaches thought to be inaccessible, conduct raids requiring
surprise and high speed, and operate as guerrilla units for lengthy periods behind enemy lines.

Tested first during the Aug. 7, 1942, Guadalcanal landing, Edsons Raiders, the 1st Raider Battalion, struck at Tulagi, an island
across the channel from the main landing force.

Ten days later a force of 221 from the 2nd Raider Battalion, named Carlsons Raiders for its commanding officer, Lieutenant
Colonel Evans F. Carlson, landed from two submarines on Butaritari Island, Makin Atoll. The raid inflicted heavy damage and
forced the Japanese to divert troops from reinforcing Guadalcanal.

Edson and his Raiders, in conjunction with the Marines 1st Parachute Battalion, left their mark on the Guadalcanal campaign
during the night of Sept. 13|14. The intense and vicious close quarters fight is known as the Battle of Edsons Ridge or Bloody
Ridge. Among those decorated for heroism was Edson, who received the Medal of Honor.

Refitted, rested and rearmed, the 2nd Raiders, again led by Carlson, landed on a remote Guadalcanal beach and conducted
their famous Thirty Days Behind the Lines operation from Nov. 4 to Dec. 4.

Moving up the Solomon Island chain after the capture of Guadalcanal, the 4th Raider Battalion, led by Lieutenant Colonel
Michael S. Currin, slipped ashore on New Georgia in late June 1943. For two months the 4th Raiders and their colleagues
from the 1st Raider Battalion joined with other Marine and Army units to fight a series of actions in the dense jungle and deep
swamps. Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, in August 1943, was the final action for these men as members of the 1st and 4th
Raider battalions.

Bougainville, the largest of the Solomon Islands at nearly 30 miles wide and 125 miles long, was the assignment of the 2nd and
3rd Raider battalions as they led the way for the Nov. 1 invasion.
The units led by Lieutenant Colonels Joseph S. McCaffery and Fred S. Beans suffered heavy casualties during their more than
two months ashore on Bougainville as they fought beside Army and Marine Corps troops. By mid-January the Raiders were
withdrawn from Bougainville, and less than a month later the elite Raider battalions were disbanded.

The 1st, 3rd and 4th Raider battalions became the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions of 4th Marine Regiment when that regiment
was re-established on Feb. 1, 1944, bearing the name and honors of the original 4th regiment lost in the Philippines in 1942.
The 2nd Battalion became Weapons Company, 4th Marine Regiment.

The legacy of the short-lived Raider history lives on in the perpetual memorial of the former USS Edson (DD-946), the
destroyer bearing the name of the first Marine Raider. Twenty-two other U.S. Navy ships are named for men of the 1st Raider
Battalion who were killed in action.

Raider Facts

* 1st Raider Battalion (designated on Feb. 16, 1942) was commanded by Lt. Col. Merritt A. Edson.
Tulagi, Solomon Islands (Aug. 7|9, 1942)
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands (Aug. 10|Oct. 16, 1942)
New Georgia (July 5|Aug. 28, 1943)
* 2nd Raider Battalion (designated Feb. 19, 1942) was commanded by Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson.
Midway Island (June 4|6, 1942)
Butaritari Island, Makin Atoll (Aug. 17|18, 1942)
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands (Nov. 4|Dec. 17, 1942)
Bougainville, Solomon Islands (Nov. 1, 1943|Jan. 12, 1944)
* 3rd Raider Battalion (designated Sept. 20, 1942) wascommanded by Lt. Col. Harry B. Liversedge. Pavuvu, Russell Islands
(Feb. 20|March 20, 1943) Bougainville, Solomon Islands (Nov. 1, 1943|Jan. 12, 1944)
* 4th Raider Battalion (designated Oct. 23, 1942) was commanded by Major James Roosevelt for 7 months, then Lt. Col.
Michael S. Currin took over in May1943.Vangunu Island (June 21|July 11, 1943)New Georgia (July 18|Aug. 28, 1943)
* Battalion strengths varied from 700 to 950 Marines.
* The first of its kind, the Makin Atoll raid used two transport submarines:USS Nautilus (SS-168) and USS Argonaut
(APS-1).

UPDATE

The remains of 19 World War II Marine Raiders killed in action on Butaritari Island (Makin Atoll) and listed as missing in action since August 1942 were recently identified, and will be returned to their families for burial.

The remains are those of:

The Marines were members of the Marine Corps' 2nd Raider Battalion, killed during the August 17-18, 1942, raid on Japanese-held Butaritari Island, during which an estimated 83 Japanese soldiers were killed.

Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson commanded the Raiders during the operation, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Capt. James Roosevelt, was the operation's second-in-command. Ferried to the island by submarine and landing on and departing Butaritari by rubber boats, the Marines were unable to evacuate the bodies of their fallen comrades.

With the assistance of island inhabitants, including a man who assisted in the burial of the Marines in 1942, a recovery team from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI) uncovered a mass grave and excavated the remains in November and December 1999. That operation was preceded by an initial investigation in August 1998 and an unsuccessful recovery effort in May 1999. The U.S. Marine Raider Association provided invaluable assistance with firsthand information and documentation about their combat on Butaritari.

In late 1999, the CILHI began an exhaustive forensic identification process, including the use of mitochondrial DNA, to confirm the identities of the Marines. Marine Corps officials, using historical military records and more modern search techniques, located the next of kin of each of the Marines.

Arrangements for the transportation and burial of the Marines are underway, in consultation with the families. The first burial is expected to be that of Cpl. Yarbrough in Sikeston, Mo. in December. Among the remains recovered are those of Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the first enlisted Marine awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.

The identification of these Marines contributes to the ongoing effort by the Department of Defense to locate and identify more than 88,000 American service members who remain missing in action from World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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