America's Rangers
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America’s Rangers: The Story of America’s First Warriors and their Journey from Tradition to Institution by James Sandy, B.A. A Thesis In HISTORY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Dr. John R. Milam Chair of Committee Dr. Laura Calkins Dr. Barton Myers Peggy Gordon Miller Dean of the Graduate School August, 2011 Copyright 2011, James Sandy Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 Acknowledgments This work would not have been possible without the constant encouragement and tutelage of my committee. They provided the inspiration for me to start this project, and guided me along the way as I slowly molded a very raw idea into the finished product here. Dr. Laura Calkins witnessed the birth of this project in my very first graduate class and has assisted me along every step of the way as a fantastic proofreader and a wonderful sounding board where many an idea was first verbalized. Dr. Calkins has been and will continue to be invaluable mentor and friend throughout my graduate education. Dr. Barton Myers was the latest addition to my committee, but he pushed me to expand my project further back into American History. The vast scope that this work encompasses proved to be my biggest challenge, but has come out as this works’ greatest strength. I cannot thank Dr. Myers enough for pushing me out of my comfort zone. Dr. Ron Milam has been a part of my academic career from the beginning and has long served as my inspiration in pursuing a life in academia. His constant guidance and support throughout my graduate career has been one of the impactful relationships in my life to date. I cannot thank my committee enough for assisting in the creation and completion of this work; I can truly say it would not have been possible without them. To all my family and friends who have offered unrelenting encouragement and support I offer my deepest thanks and gratitude. ii Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 Table of Contents Acknowledgments................................................................................................... ii I. Introduction – Leading The Way ..........................................................................1 II. Don't Forget Your Hatchet! : The Origin of an American Ranger Tradition ………………………………..............................................................……………7 Benjamin Church and America’s First Rangers .......................................................... 9 Maj. Rogers Rules the Rangers .................................................................................. 16 19th Century Rangers .................................................................................................. 29 The 20th Century and ‘Ranger Amnesia’ ................................................................... 35 III. Born in Burma : Merrill's Marauders and the Goldilocks Moment in the American Ranger Tradition……….. ................................................................................ 49 The Marauders are Born ............................................................................................ 54 The Ledo Road ........................................................................................................... 60 Mission #2 - On to Shaduzup…………..……………………………………….…..66 Mykityina: The End of Merrill and his Marauders…………………………..……...75 IV. Back to School : The Rangers Become an Institution......…………………………………………………………...…………..……83 Korea…………………………………………………………………...…………….90 The Rangers Become Official……………………………………………..………..102 The Rangers go to War……………………………………………………....……...106 The Ranger School Remains…………………………………………………...…. .111 V. Conclusion - Of Their Own Accord………………………………………..…113 iii Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 Bibliography ........................................................................................................119 iv Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 Chapter I Introduction – Leading the Way A bloodied, grisly looking group of men had just returned from a night raid and were cleaning and checking their weapons and supplies. Walking among these men one could overhear a few of them joking about how it had been “a good night for a mass murder.”1 It was February, 1943 and these men had just executed a flawless nighttime raid of a nearby Italian outpost at Sened Station. They were the men of the 1st Ranger Battalion. Their intrepid commander, Col. William “Bill” Darby, had led them across 12 miles of desert during the night and had them within 200 yards of their target. Before they launched their attack, Darby’s company commanders told their men the nature of their mission: “We’ve got to leave our mark on these people….Every man uses his bayonet as much as he can—those are our orders. And remember this: We’re only bringing back ten prisoners—no more no less.”2 They left the camp ablaze with eleven in tow, apparently someone miscounted, they showed up with ten. These are the missions that the U.S. Army Rangers were designed to execute during World War II; quick raids in which they hit their enemies hard and fast, and Darby’s men excelled at their job. During this raid they suffered one KIA and twenty casualties while killing over seventy-five Italians. The enemy that did survive the 1 Atkinson, Rick. An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 2002. p. 331. 2 Ibid. 1 Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 Rangers’ ruthless efficiency referred to them as the “Black Death”.3 These men were both physically and mentally prepared for missions like these; as James Altieri recalls, “It was sickening, it was brutal, it was inhumane, but that was our job, and we were stuck with it.”4 These soldiers represented the ultimate in military training and preparation; they were the definitive example of what an American soldier should be. Darby’s Rangers were just one unit in the long history of specialized units that have been utilized in American warfare. The term Ranger first shows up in 1610, the very beginning of Colonial America. The first full incarnation of the Ranger concept dates back to the 1670’s when Captain Benjamin Church formed the “Church’s Rangers” during King Philip’s War. These aggressive volunteers were raised to defend the colonists and take the war to the Native Americans. Church learned much from his enemy and adopted a form of irregular warfare to match the fluid, deceptive methods of the Natives.5 Church and his men fought a brutal kind of war against their Native enemies, deemed atrocious by their British overseers. These men were followed by the infamous Roger’s Rangers of the Seven Years War and their intrepid commander Major Robert Rogers. These early manifestations of Rangers adopted the tactics of the Native Americans that they were fighting against, and Roger’s “Rules of Ranging” are still 6 taught at the Ranger School today. These men were followed by the skirmishers, 3 Jeffers, H. Paul. Onward We Charge: The Heroic Story of Darby's Rangers in World War II. New York: NAL Caliber, 2007 p. 117. 4 Ibid., p. 115. Altieri wrote his memoir in the 1960’s: The Spearheaders. 5 Lock, John D., and Harold G. Moore. To Fight with Intrepidity--: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers, 1622 to Present. New York: Pocket Books, 1998. p.3. 6 United States. Ranger Unit Operations. Washington, DC: Headquarters, Dept. of the Army, 1991. p. F-1. The rules have little bearing on the Ranger training itself, but serve as a reminder of the American Ranger Tradition. 2 Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 sharpshooters and Partisan Rangers of the Civil War. Colonel John Mosby and his band of Partisan Rangers fought an irregular war on horseback, and proved to be a true benefit to the Confederate effort.7 Not all these units were called Rangers but they fit the mold. Units like Col. Hiram Berdan’s Sharpshooters received special training and fought with distinction against their Southern brothers. Following the Civil War, the Ranger concept went somewhat dormant; there were no recognized Ranger units until World War II. The specially trained light infantry concept was once again brought up as the United States was hurled into the Second World War. The Rangers of World War II were originally modeled on the British Commandos and their training regime. This led to units like Darby’s Rangers, the 5th Ranger Battalion and the 6th Ranger Battalion. Despite these famous units and their legendary acts, the unit in World War II that came to define the Ranger name and concept fought in the mountains of Burma. The 5307th Composite Unit was better known as Merrill’s Marauders, and it existed for less than a year, but this unit is where all future Ranger units trace their heritage. The Rangers of World War II were followed closely in the Korean War as more Ranger units were trained. Most importantly, the Korean War saw the creation of the Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, which today still serves as one of the highest examples of training in the United States military. The Rangers have been a near constant throughout American Military history. 7 Lee, Robert E., and Clifford Dowdey. The Wartime Papers of R.E. Lee. Boston: Little, Brown, 1961. p.688. 3 Texas Tech University, James Sandy, Summer 2011 This work places American Rangers and other specially trained light infantry units in their rightful place in U.S. military history. Russell Weigley argues in his seminal