Often outnumbered, they successfully fought Japanese troops in five major engagements, plus 30 minor ones, between February and August 1944.
Marauders spent most days cutting their way through dense jungle, with only mules to help carry equipment and provisions. They slept on the ground, and rarely changed clothes. Supplies dropped from planes were their only means of replenishing rations and ammunition. Malnutrition and the wet climates left the soldiers vulnerable to malaria, dysentery and other diseases.
"These guys were subsisting on one K-ration per man, per day," said Christopher Goodrow, arms curator for the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia. "You're talking about a can of tuna, some crackers, a chocolate bar and cigarettes."
At neighboring Fort Benning, the elite fighters of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment consider themselves proud descendants of Merrill's Marauders, who are revered for their overall toughness.
--GreGen
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