This presentation of In Their Own Words is dedicated to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

Early in World War II, Colonel Evans Carlson was already a seasoned and decorated Marine commander.

In the late 1930s, Carlson spent time in China observing commando tactics

and became convinced that the US Marines needed an elite corps within the Corps

to be known as the Marine Raiders.

Mike Edson would lead one band of men and Carlson the other.

Despite the Marine Corps' misgivings, the first units were recruited and trained in 1942.

These units served with distinction in Guadalcanal and the Macon Island raids among others.

William Lansford was among the first to join the Raiders, but his path to success was not an easy

one.

A Marine Raider was a necessity that came up shortly after Pearl Harbor when we were

more or less, as they say, in boxing parlance on our riding our bicycle around the ring,

you know, so that the other guys couldn't catch us.

But at that time, you know, everybody, the morale was very low. We'd gotten clovered at

Pearl Harbor and we didn't have the men or equipment ready to really counter-effectively. Yet there was a need

to build the morale of the country, of the people. And so the raiders were created

for that purpose. And we were patterned on the concept of the British Commando. And in the early

days, when they decided to do the Raiders, when President Roosevelt gave the OK, the men who were going to lead the raider battalions, that, you know, at that time,

chiefly Carlson, Evans F. Carlson, and Edson, who was forming the first raiders in the East Coast,

sent people to send some of their offices in... who was forming the first raiders in the East Coast,

sent people to, send some of their offices and NCOs to England to train under the commandos.

And it came back and taught us some of that stuff.

...