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Edson's Raiders: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion in World War II. By Joseph H. Alexander. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1-- 55750-020-7. Maps. Illustrations. Photographs. Appendixes. Notes. Sources. Index. Pp. xiii, 345. $32.95.
The concept of a U.S. "commando"-type unit had its origins in conversations between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Stimulated by Churchill, Roosevelt wanted to create a U.S. equivalent of the British Commandos, and, for reasons of his own, chose the Marine Corps for this "honor." The decision gave Marine Commandant Thomas Holcomb heartburn and stirred little enthusiasm in the Corps as a whole. Marines did not like the concept of a special unit within the Corps, believing that any Marine infantry unit could do anything an "elite" subunit could do. They especially resented the Raiders because they drained off badly needed manpower and supplies.
In 1941, the man who would become the father of the Marine Raiders was well known in the Corps as an innovative "jungle fighter." Merritt A. Edson's reputation derived from his unsuccessful hunt back in the 1920s for the Nicaraguan guerrilla leader, Augusto Sandino, and his band. Although "Red Mike" never actually caught Sandino, he was considered the Corps' expert on small unit operations. Consequently, he brought...