THE RAIDER

Unlikely story of a senior U.S. Marine officer who turned far to the left over a lifetime of service.

Like fellow Marine General Smedley Butler, who declared, “War is a racket,” Evans Carlson strayed far from military protocol over his decades as a warfighter. Among other contributions to Marine and military culture, he introduced the slogan “gung ho,” borrowed from his years in China; he was also, notes biographer Platt, beloved of his enlisted charges, having come up through the ranks. For all that, Platt notes, and for all his heroism, especially during the island-hopping years of World War II, Carlson was “all but disowned by his service.” No Marine structure, from a mess hall to a training facility, let alone a whole base, bears his name. There’s a reason: Carlson embedded in China, having convinced Franklin D. Roosevelt that it was in the U.S. interest to know more about the rising civil war between the Communists and Nationalists, as well as warning that Japan was striving to become the dominant Pacific power. The admonition was overlooked, but from his time in other theaters such as Nicaragua, Carlson was convinced that the Marines would have to learn guerrilla warfare, and, against much resistance higher up, he formed a commando unit that he dubbed “Raiders,” forerunners of today’s Special Forces. Among his innovations was the decentralized three-man “fire team” that Marines still use today. Among others were regular talks with his men on social and political issues—a practice learned from spending time with Mao Zedong’s army. For this and his growing alignment with the political left, despite leading “the [Pacific] war’s first victorious ground mission,” the heavily decorated Carlson was essentially forced out of the Corps, dubbed by the Baltimore Sun as its “black sheep,” and is forgotten today.

Students of World War II in the Pacific, as well as Marine Corps history in general, will find this engaging.