Customer Reviews

The Do-or-Die Men: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion at Guadalcanal

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

 

 

Extremely well done tale of a superbly trained group of men who prevailed despite tremendous odds against their success. Much of their actions were as a result, as is usual in war, of trial and error. But their dedication to persevere were unheralded. All these guys were real heroes.

This history actually covers the initial formation of the 1st, it's training and initial deployments as well as it's final assignment to Bloody Ridge south of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The author fleshed out the book by adding in quite a lot of detail about the Guadalcanal campaign outside of the 1st Raider's scope of operations, so any readers familiar with the campaign will find a lot of redundant material. Only recommended for those with a real interest in learning more specifically about the battalion and don't mind the unrelated material.

I was very fascinated with Do-or-Die Men. Not only for the tale of the 1st Raider Battalion but also for the overall story of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Smith does an excellent job in showing the unit immortalized by the battle for the ridge that ultimately could have decided the outcome of the battle and certainly delayed the war effort in the Pacific.

We start off with a very weak account of the training that went in to selecting the 1st Raider Battalion, other than showing Edson and his already well trained marines. From here we move through the overall picture of how the war started and how it eventually focused on Guadalcanal, focusing on the generals and higher ups who struggled for control of the troops in the Pacific. Ultimately we are shown very clearly how the 1st Raider Battalion was formed and because of how well trained they were they were to be the spearhead to lead in the Guadalcanal Campaign, beginning with the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo. The Raiders quickly conquered the Japanese and secured the island. Smith spent very little time on this battle for the Raiders and ultimately began focusing the narrative on the struggle taking place on Guadalcanal where the marines gained a beachhead.

The Raiders eventually were shuttled over to the island amidst the dangerous Japanese controlled sea and landed, moving in to position on the ridge. Edson correctly assessed the situation and knew that that would be the focus of a much larger Japanese force and struggled to convince Vandergrift to give him more support. This was where Smith does an excellent job because he was able to write about the battle just as easily as the logistical struggle going on with his forces not to mention the struggle going on within the Navy. Smith, although it seems a little biased, doesn't pull punches in identifying the problems that led to the Guadalcanal as well as the support that was not given during the beginning of the campaign.

In the end we are given a detailed account of the Battle of Edson's Ridge amidst the greater picture of the Battle of Guadalcanal. This isn't strictly a unit history as it is a truncated history of the Battle of Guadalcanal with a focus on a specific unit. I really enjoyed reading about the 1st Raider Battalion because of how Smith inserted the unit in to the overall campaign and detailing the positives and negatives of a rushed campaign against the Japanese. I would definitely recommend.

4.5 stars.

I am a big fan of unit histories, so when i saw the title on Smith's book I instantly bought it.
But my deception was really big after reading it, the content of the book does not match the title at all!
It does talk about the 1st Raiders, but not much, does not specifies on training or gives any account of interviewed veterans, he just took some books and cut-pasted some parts to do his.
If you see this book as a general account on the battle of Guadalcanal it is kind of good, but with some mistakes. For example he talks about the Goetge patrol on a chapter called "Time Out"!
He just talks and talks about Guadalcanal (While the Riders where at Tulagi) and Vandergift, giving irrelevant details for someone who wants to know about Edson and his Raiders.
At the middle of the book he starts centralizing on the riders, giving an interesting account of the battles of Edson Ridge.
The maps are nonexistent, and the pictures are not so good either.
All in all its not a book worth buying.