Spearhead

Merrill's Marauders was the name of first American infantry regiment to fight on the Asian continent since the Boxer Rebellion. Assembled in 1943 as the 5037th Composite Unit (Provisional), the 3000 infantrymen who answered FDR's call for volunteers for a secret, "dangerous and hazardous mission" found themselves in Indian training for jungle combat. Created to spearhead undertrained (and American-led) Chinese troops in Burma and re-open the land route to China, the 5037th was expected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to take 85 per cent casualties and be disbanded within three months. As it turned out, the Marauders existed for 11 months, operating successfully in hostile territory, pioneering long-range military activities in jungle and mountainous regions, and completing one of the most productive - and perilous military campaigns in American history. In this volume, James E.T. Hopkins - a field surgeon with the Marauders' Third Battalion - in collaboration with John M.
Jones, provides a detailed history of the highly decorated unit, from the circumstances under which the unit was formed and its arduous training to the many battles in which the Marauders distinguished themselves to the unit's deactivation in July 1945. Drawing on unpublished logs, personal diaries and histories kept by members of the regiment, Hopkins provides a personal story of combat in an environment that was nearly as deadly as the enemy. As a medical officer, he witnessed the horrors of jungle combat, the resolute heroism of the volunteers who fought and the genuine respect that men and officers had for one another. He also chronicles the efforts of the unit's rear echelon to keep the combatants supplied.