yellowwing
09-14-04, 02:50 PM
Courtesy from the Vermont State Police (http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vtsp/edson.html) website.
Major General Edson was born in Rutland, Vermont, on April 25, 1897. He received his early education in the Vermont towns of Rutland and Chester.
Physically he was not a big man, but underneath he was as rugged as Vermont granite, as tough and straight as the trees of the Green Mountains, as forthright and demanding as Vermont's cold and icy winters and as kind and generous as her sunny, pleasant summers.
He started his college career at the University of Vermont in the Fall of 1915, and soon thereafter began his military career by joining a company of the First Vermont Infantry. During the Summer of 1916 he was ordered to Eagle Pass, Texas, for service on the Mexican border. At the end of September his company was relieved, enabling him to continue his college studies.
With the United States' entry into World War I in 1917 near the end of his sophomore year, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. Early in July, along with nine hundred other aspirants, he took and passed a competitive examination for a permanent commission in the Corps and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on October 9, 1917. Though unable to finish college, the University of Vermont later recognized his achievements and awarded him an honorary LL.D. Degree in 1944.
During the remainder of World War I General Edson served with the Eleventh Marines in France, and then with the Fifteenth Separate Battalion during the occupation of Germany.
He returned to the states in late 1919 and in August, 1920, he was married in Burlington, Vermont, to Ethel Winifred Robbins, to whom must go recognition for the important role she played in his life. Shortly after his marriage General Edson was transferred to Pensacola, Florida, and in 1922 he was qualified as a Naval Aviator. Serving in Marine Corps Aviation he saw duty on Guam from 1923 until late 1925, and then at Quantico, Virginia, from 1925 until early 1927.
General Edson was then ordered to sea duty, serving for a brief period on the USS Denver and then on the USS Rochester as Commanding Officer of the embarked Marine detachment. Shortly after reporting aboard the USS Rochester his Detachment of sixty men was ordered ashore in Nicaragua, where it became famous as the Coco River Patrol. This superbly trained and led unit slogged through the unbearably hot and musty jungles developing the tactics enabling it to relentlessly track down insurrectionists. Many of these same tactics became very familiar to Marines during the jungle warfare of World War II. It was for this action and his outstanding heroism under fire during this campaign that General Edson was awarded his first Navy Cross, as well as the Medal of Merit by Nicaragua.
For the next few years, 1929 through 1931, General Edson served as a tactics instructor of newly commissioned Second Lieutenants attending Basic School at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Remaining in Philadelphia he then served as Ordnance Officer at the Supply Depot from 1931 until 1935. He was transferred in 1935 to Quantico, Virginia, where he soon reached the height of his illustrious record in competitive rifle and pistol marksmanship, a record which began in 1921 when he became a firing member of the Marine Corps Rifle Team. Having become distinguished in both he was appointed to the distinctive position as Captain of the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Team in 1935 and again in 1936.
Then followed several years of duty with the Fourth Marines at Shanghai, China, where General Edson, then a Major, observed and studied firsthand the tactics of the Japanese forces.
Returning to the States in 1939, General Edson, then a Lieutenant Colonel, was assigned duty at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington D.C. During 1941 he was assigned to Quantico as Commanding Officer of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, which had been designated for special training in amphibious and "commando" type warfare. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II, this battalion was redesignated the First Raider Battalion which soon was familiarly known as "Edson's Raiders." It was an all-volunteer outfit and General Edson, known more familiarly as "Red Mike" (his code name during World War II) personally supervised all phases of its training. Twenty-mile speed marches were routine and the last mile or two was always "on the double" with "Red Mike" leading. The training of the Raiders included closely coordinated exercises with a division of World War I destroyers which had been converted to fast transports, the Manley, Gregory, Little, Calhoun, McKean and Stringham. Later, in the Solomons campaign, the Raiders and nearly all of these destroyer transports were teamed together in successful combat missions.
Before the Raiders left for Samoa in March, 1942, "Red Mike" called his officers and men together in the mess hall at Quantico. In the men's presence, he told his officers just what was expected of them as leaders. His thoughts were for the welfare of his men first. The officers were expected to conduct themselves in the same manner. He himself was the best example. A commanding officer in the field could demand and get what comforts there were available in the way of shelter, food and clothing. The only things "Red Mike" demanded were fighting hearts and rigid discipline.
On August 7, 1942, he directed the assault of the Raiders on Tulagi, the first offensive assault against the Japanese in World War II. For three days he led his men in battle against fanatical Japanese in caves and dugouts until the enemy was wiped out and this strategic island, where the Japanese had maintained their headquarters for the Solomon Islands, was secure. For his brilliant and courageous action on Tulagi, General Edson was awarded his second Navy Cross.
Three weeks later the Raiders were transferred to Guadalcanal to aid in its defense. Although his men were living at a bare subsistence level and ammunition was almost as scarce as food, "Red Mike" received permission to seek out and destroy the enemy. The Raiders proceeded to do this in a daring and well executed raid against an estimated one thousand well armed Japanese troops located at the Village of Tasimboko. The enemy forces were completely surprised and driven inland, abandoning their supplies, weapons, food and communications, all of which were destroyed, including a unit of artillery.
Defense of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at that time consisted of positions on the beaches and both flanks. There was no defense at the rear of the Field where the only clear ground in the tangled, forbidding jungle was a grassy ridge several hundred yards long.
"Red Mike" believed that the Japanese forces dispersed at Tasimboko would attempt to strike the defenseless rear and capture the airfield in a bold stroke. Under the guise of seeking "rest and rehabilitation" for his men, he got the First Marine Division's permission to occupy the ridge.
Immediately he prepared to defend this position amid much grumbling from his tired men who affectionately nicknamed him "Mad Merritt the Morgue Master" because of his apparent eagerness for action. General Edson's plan was masterfully conceived. Supplies were so short that there was only a single strand of barbed wire to string in front of the advance positions. General Edson knew his men could not stop the Japanese in overwhelming numbers in a knock-down, drag-out action. Instead, he placed his positions far out on the ridge and designated pre-arranged lines in the rear for their withdrawal. It was sort of a "cushion" defense.
Major General Edson was born in Rutland, Vermont, on April 25, 1897. He received his early education in the Vermont towns of Rutland and Chester.
Physically he was not a big man, but underneath he was as rugged as Vermont granite, as tough and straight as the trees of the Green Mountains, as forthright and demanding as Vermont's cold and icy winters and as kind and generous as her sunny, pleasant summers.
He started his college career at the University of Vermont in the Fall of 1915, and soon thereafter began his military career by joining a company of the First Vermont Infantry. During the Summer of 1916 he was ordered to Eagle Pass, Texas, for service on the Mexican border. At the end of September his company was relieved, enabling him to continue his college studies.
With the United States' entry into World War I in 1917 near the end of his sophomore year, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. Early in July, along with nine hundred other aspirants, he took and passed a competitive examination for a permanent commission in the Corps and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on October 9, 1917. Though unable to finish college, the University of Vermont later recognized his achievements and awarded him an honorary LL.D. Degree in 1944.
During the remainder of World War I General Edson served with the Eleventh Marines in France, and then with the Fifteenth Separate Battalion during the occupation of Germany.
He returned to the states in late 1919 and in August, 1920, he was married in Burlington, Vermont, to Ethel Winifred Robbins, to whom must go recognition for the important role she played in his life. Shortly after his marriage General Edson was transferred to Pensacola, Florida, and in 1922 he was qualified as a Naval Aviator. Serving in Marine Corps Aviation he saw duty on Guam from 1923 until late 1925, and then at Quantico, Virginia, from 1925 until early 1927.
General Edson was then ordered to sea duty, serving for a brief period on the USS Denver and then on the USS Rochester as Commanding Officer of the embarked Marine detachment. Shortly after reporting aboard the USS Rochester his Detachment of sixty men was ordered ashore in Nicaragua, where it became famous as the Coco River Patrol. This superbly trained and led unit slogged through the unbearably hot and musty jungles developing the tactics enabling it to relentlessly track down insurrectionists. Many of these same tactics became very familiar to Marines during the jungle warfare of World War II. It was for this action and his outstanding heroism under fire during this campaign that General Edson was awarded his first Navy Cross, as well as the Medal of Merit by Nicaragua.
For the next few years, 1929 through 1931, General Edson served as a tactics instructor of newly commissioned Second Lieutenants attending Basic School at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Remaining in Philadelphia he then served as Ordnance Officer at the Supply Depot from 1931 until 1935. He was transferred in 1935 to Quantico, Virginia, where he soon reached the height of his illustrious record in competitive rifle and pistol marksmanship, a record which began in 1921 when he became a firing member of the Marine Corps Rifle Team. Having become distinguished in both he was appointed to the distinctive position as Captain of the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Team in 1935 and again in 1936.
Then followed several years of duty with the Fourth Marines at Shanghai, China, where General Edson, then a Major, observed and studied firsthand the tactics of the Japanese forces.
Returning to the States in 1939, General Edson, then a Lieutenant Colonel, was assigned duty at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington D.C. During 1941 he was assigned to Quantico as Commanding Officer of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, which had been designated for special training in amphibious and "commando" type warfare. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II, this battalion was redesignated the First Raider Battalion which soon was familiarly known as "Edson's Raiders." It was an all-volunteer outfit and General Edson, known more familiarly as "Red Mike" (his code name during World War II) personally supervised all phases of its training. Twenty-mile speed marches were routine and the last mile or two was always "on the double" with "Red Mike" leading. The training of the Raiders included closely coordinated exercises with a division of World War I destroyers which had been converted to fast transports, the Manley, Gregory, Little, Calhoun, McKean and Stringham. Later, in the Solomons campaign, the Raiders and nearly all of these destroyer transports were teamed together in successful combat missions.
Before the Raiders left for Samoa in March, 1942, "Red Mike" called his officers and men together in the mess hall at Quantico. In the men's presence, he told his officers just what was expected of them as leaders. His thoughts were for the welfare of his men first. The officers were expected to conduct themselves in the same manner. He himself was the best example. A commanding officer in the field could demand and get what comforts there were available in the way of shelter, food and clothing. The only things "Red Mike" demanded were fighting hearts and rigid discipline.
On August 7, 1942, he directed the assault of the Raiders on Tulagi, the first offensive assault against the Japanese in World War II. For three days he led his men in battle against fanatical Japanese in caves and dugouts until the enemy was wiped out and this strategic island, where the Japanese had maintained their headquarters for the Solomon Islands, was secure. For his brilliant and courageous action on Tulagi, General Edson was awarded his second Navy Cross.
Three weeks later the Raiders were transferred to Guadalcanal to aid in its defense. Although his men were living at a bare subsistence level and ammunition was almost as scarce as food, "Red Mike" received permission to seek out and destroy the enemy. The Raiders proceeded to do this in a daring and well executed raid against an estimated one thousand well armed Japanese troops located at the Village of Tasimboko. The enemy forces were completely surprised and driven inland, abandoning their supplies, weapons, food and communications, all of which were destroyed, including a unit of artillery.
Defense of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at that time consisted of positions on the beaches and both flanks. There was no defense at the rear of the Field where the only clear ground in the tangled, forbidding jungle was a grassy ridge several hundred yards long.
"Red Mike" believed that the Japanese forces dispersed at Tasimboko would attempt to strike the defenseless rear and capture the airfield in a bold stroke. Under the guise of seeking "rest and rehabilitation" for his men, he got the First Marine Division's permission to occupy the ridge.
Immediately he prepared to defend this position amid much grumbling from his tired men who affectionately nicknamed him "Mad Merritt the Morgue Master" because of his apparent eagerness for action. General Edson's plan was masterfully conceived. Supplies were so short that there was only a single strand of barbed wire to string in front of the advance positions. General Edson knew his men could not stop the Japanese in overwhelming numbers in a knock-down, drag-out action. Instead, he placed his positions far out on the ridge and designated pre-arranged lines in the rear for their withdrawal. It was sort of a "cushion" defense.