Customer Reviews

American Commando: Evans Carlson, His WW II Marine Raiders, and America's First Special Forces Mission

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

American Commando
By John Wukovitz
The "Big Yankee" Evans Fordyce Carlson lives again,
he converts a battalion of marines volunteers to Marine
Raiders, by training, equipping and indoctrinating them
with the philosophy of Nicaraguan jungle fighting and
the Japanese terrorizing Chinese 8th Route Army.
Follow Carlson from a high school dropout, enlisting
in the Army, the Marines, a guerrilla fighter in Nicaragua,
to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's personal
intelligence officer in China. A predictor of the Jap-
anese war he resigns his commission to warn the nation.
Comes the war, finding a crippled navy and Japan
occupying twenty million square miles of the Pacific.
FDR demands commandos and a reluctant Marine
Corps succumbs. The Marine Raiders are born,
the first special force in the United States military.
The 2nd Raiders led by Carlson and Jimmy Roosevelt
are trained to a well honed killing machine. The infantry
squad is reorganizes into massive fire power by three
fire groups each equipped with an M1 rifle a Browning
automatic rifle and a Thompson sub machine gun,
eventually adapted by the entire Marine Corps. They
participated in the defense of Midway; a raid by sub-
marines to Makin Island, where the Raiders can not
leave the island as their rubber boats are toppled
by the raging surf. Carlson is confronted with 120
men ashore, the wounded, 20 armed raiders all other
arms lost in the surf and the Presidents son on the
island. Spearheading a failed airfield site on Guadal-
canal2nd Raiders are ordered to plunge into the back-
waters of the Island. They decimated an enemy
force of superior size. After thirty days in a jungle
hell they emerge victorious from behind enemy lines
having killed 488 Japanese and losing 16 killed in
action. Not the darling of the Marine Corps, Carlson
looses his command, he die at 51 following wars end.
The Raiders participated in every assault in the Solo-
mon Islands as Raiders and as 4th Marines and indi-
viduals in all island hopping events in the Pacific. The
Raiders were disbanded in February 1944 after two
years of existence. They were the forerunner of the
Special Forces now found in every branch of the U.
S. military.

I can verify the accuracy of this book as I served as
a 2nd Marine Raider for the duration of the battalion
and of the 266 who made the original landing was one
of the 57 who completed the long patrol. This book is
incredible well documented. Many surviving Raiders
were interviewed and their 65year old memories stim-
ulated. the actions of dead raiders was culled from
numerous sources. Perhaps this is the best books
of many about the Raiders.

Ervin Kaplan MD

"American Commando" delivers what it promises: a thorough telling of the story of Carlson's Raiders. In fact, it delivers more than I expected, with a complete narrative starting prior to the inception of the Raiders, their training, then with their first mission to Makin Island, and through their extraordinary ordeal on Guadalcanal. For one who had only the Hollywood movie "Gung Ho" to go by, this book was truly an eye-opener; the film has a long way to go to match the reality. The story is obviously expertly researched and has a good collection of photos.

This book is extremely well written and thorough. It covers Evan Carlson's life, the genesis, birth and history of Carlson's Raiders including their two most famous actions: The Makin Raid and the Long Patrol. It details Carlson's history with the Chinese Communists studying their tactics against the Japanese and his long, close relationship with President Roosevelt as well as the critical reception his unorthodox methods received from many of his contemporaries in the Marine Corps.

I have read a lot of military books and this one is just outstanding. The author has done a remarkable job documenting a group of WW II Marines who were the forerunner of todays popular Spec Ops. Only when you read about their leader, Evans Carlson, and his commitment and leadership style in spite of directions to the contrary, it is one remarkable story. And it isnt just a story, it is a true story of some remarkable men who laid it all on the line for this country and then some. And I learned the origin of the Marine phrase line Gung Ho; and I learned where Marine organization at the squad level into Fire Teams came from ... and did the maverick Carlson get credit, you'll learn after his group nearly single handedly saved the airstrip on Guadalcanal, he was drummed from the Corps in a wave of politics. A unique man, a unique group of men and an unbelievable story of real leadership and human triumph and real war.

John Wukovits has done an outstanding job in bringing the story of the 2nd Raider Battalion to his readers. The book is very well researched and contains a fantastic collection of photos, both of the Makin Island Raid and of the Long Patrol on Guadalcanal.

It is not a biography of Evans Carlson. The reader does not learn that Carlson's wife's name was Peggy until page 270. This is more the story of the unit than of the man. But, this high school dropout who lied about his age and joined the army at 16 completely dominates the pages with his will and his almost unbelieveable qualities of personal leadership.

The book is well balanced, neither idolizing Carlson, nor cutting him down. It objectively reports his failures as well as his successes. The reader does come away with the impression that Carlson was a truly great American who did his duty as he saw it, loved the men who served in his battalion, but who did have flaws.

"American Commando" clearly addresses the controversy of the nine raiders who did not get off Makin Island and were later captured and executed by the Japanese. Wukovits cites Raiders McCullough and Quirk to solve the mystery as to how the nine men never got to the waiting submarines.

I recommend that "American Commando" be read first and then followed by reading Tripp Wiles 2007 book, "Forgotten Raiders of 42," which focuses strictly on what happened to the nine men who were left behind.

The DEFINITIVE BOOK on Evans Carlson and his Raiders!

I have been searching for detailed information on Evans Carlson for quite some time. I have found other books on the Marine Corps Raiders, but they focused much more on the battles than the Marines who made history in this esteemed group of fighting men. Mr. Wukowitz has finally clarified a significant number of questions regarding Carlson, his "controversies", and his philosophies.

Carlson inspired intense loyalty from his Marines, there can be no doubt he was a man of unique charisma, a "maverick", a truly unique officer and war-leader. Carlson was not loved by many of his fellow officers, however.

Carlson had limited formal education, but he was a profound intellectual, and very well-read. He began his military career in the army before World War I as an enlisted man, but left service in the army as a captain. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, and was later commisioned as an officer, seeing much action in the "Banana wars" in Central America between the World Wars. Like his counterpart and rival "Red Mike" Edson (who hunted the Nicaraguan guerilla Sandino), Carlson was inspired to form a raiding unit of selected men.

The "controversy" that Carlson generated involved his frequently out-spoken political beliefs, and his brief adventure associating with the Chinese communists in the 1930s, as an observer.

Carlson ...a "communist"?:
Understandably, there was some suspicion that Carlson was a "communist", but in light of the facts, this suspicion was absurd. Carlson was certainly an idealist, and did in fact openly endorse some thoroughly leftist ideology (nobody's perfect). He did speak favorably about the concepts of leadership and cameraderie which the Chinese-communist guerillas employed (Gung Ho!). The "gung ho" concept is not new, it has been utilized by other closely-knit groups of warriors under other names in other times (think of El Cid and Robin Hood, or Vikings). This is the concept that despite rank, ...EVERY MAN IS EQUAL. Some are leaders and some are followers, but all men work harmoniously together. "Gung ho" is NOT specifically or originally a "communist idea". Carlson was no communist, he merely lauded what practices he belived were admirable. He was also a devout Christian (his father was a New England preacher).It would probably be more accurate to define Evans Carlson as a "Christian socialist" of some sort. Despite his naiive leftward idealisms, no one can deny that Carlson was an American patriot.

The Makin Island Raid:
This was America's first offensive action in a time when the Americans and the rest of the Western world were convinced of their impending doom. The Axis Powers had just over-run much of Europe and Asia, and many believed an ultimate Axis victory was inevitable. The Japanese outpost on Makin Island was a minor target, but a good target to test the Commando-raiding concept.

It was a successful raid, in that the Raiders did destroy the Japanese forces and facilities on Makin, ...yet it was a tragedy in the loss of many good Marines, especially when those losses were due to non-combat circumstances. Grave lessons were learned. There was the "surrender scandal" after the disasterous attempt to withdraw from the island in rubber boats against massive surf. Maybe it WAS considered and debated, ...but Carlson DID NOT surrender! This raid had a profound effect on boosting American morale, ...but Carlson was his own harshest critic in the after-action assessment (there was more than enough criticism from those who were never there, and in fact never even saw combat).

James Roosevelt, the president's own son , served as Carlson's XO on this mission. How many sons of politicians do you see serving in the armed forces, in OUR time? How many do you see volunteering for an highly-selected group of elite fighting men?


Influence of Carlson's Raiders:
The Raiders were among America's first experimentation with the Special Operations concept. The Marine Corps had sent several personnel to Scotland to observe and train with the British Commandos in 1941. As usual, intelligent men of junior rank see the potential of a new concept, ...while the jaded generals who run everything were "damned against it". Much of the concepts of selection and training that were developed 70 years ago are generally the same today. The Raiders CHANGED the Marine Corps:

-The Gung Ho spirit is a unique characteristic of the Marine Corps. In fact, in many ways, ...it always was. Carlson just gave it a name and defined it. The newest Marine can speak man to man with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, ...we are ALL Marines together!
-The Fire-Team concept: Carlson divided a squad into 3 fire-teams of 3 men. Two semi-auto rifles and one light-machinegun. In this way, a squad was able to inflict vicious casualties on larger groups of enemy combatants. The fire-team is STILL the most basic combat unit of the Marine Corps, but now it consists of 4 men.
-The concept of launching a commando-raid or reconaissance mission from a submarine is well established in modern special-operations. The Marine Raiders were the FIRST to do this!
-Much of Mr. Wukowitz' book covers the Long Patrol on Guadalcanal. If Carlson was displeased with his raid on Makin Island, the Long Patrol was certainly his crowning achievement. Modern day Marine Corps Force Reconaissance was inspired in part from the potentiallities realized by this legendary action.

Sadly, the Raiders were disbanded after a short but spectacular run. Many Raiders would continue on in service and make a great influence on the U.S.M.C. in the years following World War II. Cpl. John Yancey, who was decorated for valorous action on Guadalcanal, saw action in Korea at the battle of the Chosin Reservoir as a lieutenant, ...where he again led his Marines in an out-standing manner. Much must be said of Edson's Raiders defending Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal, but that action is well-documented in other books.

After reading this book, one ponders the possibilities: Edson and Carlson commanded the two Raider Battalions, but were rarely on speaking terms. What if it this rivalry had not existed? After all, they were two men who actually had more in common than either would like to admit, and both of them were amongst those rare individauls who had a profound and positive effect on their branch of service.

I found this book to be very informative about the origin of the Raiders. I have always heard that they were one tough S.O.B.'s when I was growing up, and they may have been part of the reason I later joined the Corps. I worked around present day "Raiders" some, now called "Force Recon" and if Recon Marines are anything at all like the Raiders were, then all of you Seals, Green Berets, etc... can kiss old "Chesty's" a**! (Wherever he is).
All in all, A good read by an author who does some really good research and doesn't "sugar-coat" some of the things that may have tarnished Carlson's image just a tad. Noticed that I said, "may have". Carlson had been targeted by alot of Marine officers with many unkind rumors, so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt, and I'm pretty sure if you read this book, you'll be siding with him also.

A very good book on the war in pacific and the life of col. Evans Carlson and his Marine raiders, good photo section, good narrative of battles and tactics used by the Raiders, every Military History enthusiast must have this book. First Sergeant MARCOS PINTO DE OLIVEIRA - BRAZILIAN ARMY - BRAZIL - COMBAT ENGINEERS.

Lt Col Carlson was so far ahead of his peers in the stogy Marine Corps it is hard to imagine. From my own experience in the Army and reading about all American wars, politics still rules the day...Anyone who thinks "out of the box" even when it saves American Soldiers lives is not appreciated by the "Top Brass".
Lt Col Carlson is "every fighting mans dream leader"....not a boss, he LED BY EXAMPLE!!! Among others like General Frederick who trained and led the FSSF (First Special Service Force in Italy). Japanese-American soldiers also proved themselves in Italy to be another of the Best soldiers.

WW-II had so many heroes but few had the "out of box thinking of Lt Col Frederick and Lt Col Carlson..both are must read books. There is much to learn and REMEMBER from our heroes from WW-II both books mentioned above are MUST READ for a serious History buff.

This book is the quintessential book on Col. Carlson's raiders. One of my favorite subjects by one of my favorite authors.