The United States first Special Forces unit in World War II were known as Marine Raiders. As one Raider explained, Raiders learned a deadly proficiency with the bayonet, they learned to use knives in hand-to-hand combat, and they learned to throw them with the infallible accuracy of vaudeville experts. They were taught to maneuver as well at night as by day, as well in brush as in open country, as well on the flat as in the hills. They learned camouflage and how to climb up and hide in trees. Nothing that would make them superior to any possible foe was overlooked. They learned everything they had to know to defeat their enemies, and they learned it well. With original interviews and never-before-published letters, diaries, and notes, historian and bestselling author Carole Avriett brings the true stories of four WWII Marine Raiders to life: - Lee Minier, 1st Battalion, KIA - Kenneth “Mudhole” Merrill, 2nd Battalion, died Veterans Day, 12 Nov. 2018 - Col. Archibald Rackerby, 3rd Battalion, living - Edwin “The Swede” Blomberg, 4th Battalion, living Marine Raiders gives a gripping account of what it took to become a member of the elite battalions known as Raiders and how they survived their desperate fight in the South Pacific.
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Carole Engle Avriett is a former editor for Southern Living magazine. She is the author of Threads from Heaven and The House and has coauthored several books, including Under the Cover of Light: The Extraordinary Story of USAF Col. Thomas “Jerry” Curtis’ 7½-Year Captivity in North Vietnam.
Qarie Marshall is an Earphones Award–winning narrator. He has narrated more than thirty series for the Discovery Channel, TLC, and the BBC, as well as providing the in-flight programming for Virgin Atlantic Airlines and BBC radio plays. He has voiced over eighty video games for the PlayStation and Xbox and was a guest voice on Comedy Central’s Drawn Together. He was made an associate artist of the Purple Rose Theatre in 2007.