Evans Carson and the Marine Raiders

Stephen Platt’s book about Evans Carlson is appropriately called The Raider because – in addition to being what he was most famous for – a raider was Carlson’s essence all his life. From the time he ran away from home at age sixteen until his death in 1947 at age fifty-one Carlson bucked convention, never afraid to follow his own instincts rather than bow to tradition or the expectations of those around him. The subtitle clarifies the main themes of the book: Carlson’s early New England background, the influence on his life of the Chinese Communists, and his role as inspiration for the creation of the Raiders, the US Marine Special Forces in World War II. During the course of the book Platt skillfully draws on each of these themes to demonstrate the development of Carlson’s essential nature and how it guided him throughout his very eventful life.

Platt frequently refers to Carlson’s deeply felt religious sense – clearly a product of his early upbringing and of his father, who was a Congregational minister. But he also emphasizes that Carlson was never conventionally observant and was essentially nonsectarian. Carlson’s restlessness and tireless energy may also have been due, at least in part, to his family’s constant moves from parish to parish in New England when he was a child. And from a young age Carlson was deeply influenced by the writing of Ralph Waldo Emerson, particularly his essay on self-reliance, a characteristic Carlson demonstrated in abundance. Indeed, he carried a well-worn edition of Emersons’ works with him wherever his travels took him.

China was without doubt a major influence on Carlson’s life, particularly the role played by the Chinese Communists which informs much of this book. Platt very convincingly explains how Carlson went from a conventional view of the turmoil in China when he first went there in 1927 with the US Marine Corps, when he favored Chiang Kai-Shek and the nationalists, to a deeply felt regard and respect for the embattled Communists. In his later tours in the vast nation, he got to know Mao and the Communists well and became particularly close to Zhu De whose leadership of the Eighth Route Army became the model for Carlson’s ideas of how a successful military should be structured. He accompanied the Chinese Communist forces for many months on several long and harsh marches, living as they did and enduring all that they endured. What Carlson experienced convinced him that he saw a deeply democratic system in which officers and men shared all the same hardships and in which it was essential for all to understand what they were fighting for, motivating them to pursue the common good for everyone. This was far from the hierarchical US Marine Corps, in which Carlson served for much of his life, and was at odds with the widely perceived pernicious influence of Russian Communism on the Chinese.

Once Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Carlson’s closeness with President Franklin Roosevelt and his family enabled him to put into practice what he had learned from Zhu De and the Chinese guerrillas. He and James Roosevelt, the president’s son and a serving Marine, put together a battalion which became one of only two experimental American Marine special forces units. Carlson and James Roosevelt together infused their raider battalion with the guiding philosophy Carlson had learned from Zhu De and his Communists which he called “gung ho”. As Carlson said in a radio interview, “Gung ho is tolerance, cooperation and equality. It is democracy at work.”

Platt details the story of Carlson’s unit’s daring and dangerous raid on Makin Island, and its subsequent even more dangerous and highly successful operation on Guadalcanal. He also explains the resentment felt by many of his fellow officers in the Marine Corps at the fame of Carlson’s exploits as well as the suspicion aroused by his enthusiasm for Communism. Eventually this led to such a backlash that he was removed from command of what had become widely known as Carlson’s Raiders. From then on Carlson was reduced to participating in the war against Japan as an observer, although even in that role he put himself in danger trying to rescue his wounded radioman on the island of Saipan. As a result, Carlson managed to get severely shot in the arm and leg. That was the end of the war for Carlson, and essentially his own end too. Platt explains how Carlson’s last years were spent – in part recovering from his wounds and contemplating a political career. This, however, was cut short by a final heart attack in 1947.

In The Raider Stephen Platt does an admirable job of building up a very convincing picture of the highly complex man that was Evans Carlson and describing in great detail the environment and the people in which he operated. Carlson was scrupulous in his pursuit of honor and duty and, despite what many said of him at the time and since, he clung tightly to his belief in democracy. He always strove to make the world a better place. His men adored him and were unstinting in praise of his leadership. His enduring friendships with the likes of Edgar Snow and Agnes Smedley and his profound respect for Zhe De illustrate his willingness to always search for the right things to believe and the right way to behave. In this deeply researched book, based on many first-hand sources. Platt is not shy about pointing out Carlson’s weaknesses as his three marriages demonstrate. Nor does he gloss over the profound criticisms of Carlson voiced by many of his fellow officers in the Marine Corps. Indeed, Carlson was widely believed, erroneously, to be a Communist. Fortunately for Carlson, he died before Mao became the autocratic ruler of China and he never had to give up the faith he had built up while accompanying the Chinese guerillas in their long fight for what he saw as essential democracy.

---///---

---///---

Note: The Raider is also available in audio and e-editions.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

www.nymas.org