Merrit A. Edson — Wikipedia
The Division General Merritt Austin Edson , born the in Rutland, in Vermont, and died the In Washington, D.C., nicknamed “Red Mike”, was a general in the body of the United States. He has received several decorations, including the honor medal, two Navy Cross, the Silver Star and two Legion of Merit. He is better known among the Marines for the defense of the Lunga ridge during the Battle of Guadalcanal during the Second World War.
He is appointed second lieutenant in the navies in And served in France and Germany during the First World War. After the war, he occupied different positions until he entered the aviation school in 1922. After graduating from the aviation school, he carried out various missions in Central America and China. It was in Central America that he received his first Navy Cross as well as a merit medal awarded by Nicaragua.
When the Second World War was launched, Edson was then commander of a Marine Raiders battalion and won his second Navy Cross in Tulagi. His unit is sent to the combat to Guadalcanal, Edson directs his men in the battle which will later earn him the Medal of Honor.
After the Second World War, Edson held several command posts until his retirement from the Marine Corps . He then occupies several jobs including that of director of the National Rifle Association. He commits suicide the And is buried in the National Cemetery of Arlington.
Edson was born in Rutland in Vermont but he grew up in the city of Chester also in Vermont. After his secondary studies he studied at the University of Vermont for two years. THE , he left university as a member of the first regiment of the Vermont National Guard and he was sent to Eagle Pass in Texas in order to serve on the Mexican border. He returns to university in , but he joined the following year, the , in the reserve body of the navies.
He is appointed second lieutenant in the body of the navies the and in September of the following year he took sea towards France with the 11 It is Marine regiment. This regiment does not participate in any combat, but during the last six months of its European tour, Edson commands the company D of 15 It is Marine Battalion, which was set up exclusively to attend the holding of a plebiscite in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. However, this mission never took place, the United States not having ratified the Versailles Treaty.
After the First World War, Edson was appointed to different positions which will give him the qualities required to occupy high -command posts which he will obtain later in his career. He is promoted lieutenant the And spent two years in Marine Barracks, quantico in Virginia as a degree in the service of inscriptions of the Institut du Corps des Marines, after which he was briefly sent to Louisiana to monitor La Poste. His interest in military aviation leads him to apply for a flight training at the naval naval base in Florida, he won his gold wings and became a naval aviator in 1922. Shortly after it is ordained to surrender At the Air Station of the Navy in Guam, where he got to know the Mariannes Islands with which his name will be intimately linked later.
He returned to the United States in 1925, he took an in-depth course on advanced air tactics in Kelly Fields in Texas, then he studied at Company Officers’ Race in Quantico in Virginia. He ran with the highest grade ever reached by a student hitherto. However, he had to abandon his status as a aviator in 1927 for physical reasons, he continued his career as a land officer. He is assigned officer of the equipment service at the Philadelphia shipyard.
He had to take the sea in 1927 as a commander of the detachment of the navy on the USS Denver and he is promoted to the rank of captain the . During its service in the territorial waters of Central America, its detachment was on the ground in Nicaragua from February 1928 to 1929. At the controls of 160 sodities handphered and specially trained, it is involved in twelve fights against the bandits led by Sandino and prevents them from using the Poteca and Coco River valleys. He receives his first Navy Cross medal for his actions in which ” His composure, his fearlessness and his momentum inspired his men so much that the criminal bandits were driven out of their positions and have undergone heavy losses. “He also received from a Nicaraguan government recognizing the Nicaraguan merit medal.
In , he returned to the United States and was assigned as a tactical instructor for the novices naval lieutenants in The Basic School in Philadelphia. Its service completed, it is assigned to the service of the War Plan Officer at the deposit of equipment in Philadelphia for the next four years.
This type of service is not new for Edson since it was closely associated with the development of light weapons with the body of the Marines. In 1921, he was a member of the winning shooter of the naval corps during the national competitions at Camp Perry in Ohio. In 1927, 1930 and 1931, he served in the rifle and pistol teams as assistant-coach. During the regional competitions of 1932 and 1933 he acts as team coach and captain respectively. During the resumption of national competitions in 1935, he was captain of the rifle and pistol teams of the Marine Corps in 1935 and 1936 and he won the national trophies on the two years.
After a few stays at the warehouse of the recruits of the Marine Corps in Parris Island and at the headquarters of the Marine Corps in Washington D.C. He was enrolled in 1936 in the senior Officers’ Race at the Marine Corps Schools in Quantico in Virginia. He is promoted to the rank of battalion chief the . He was in service abroad from 1937 to 1939 as an operations officer for the 4 It is Marine regiment in Shanghai in China, which allows it to closely observe Japanese military operations.
His second stay in the headquarters of the Marine Corps begins in , he is an inspector of shooting training, he is in a position to insist on the need for each navy that he becomes extremely skillful with his weapon. He is promoted to lieutenant-colonel the .
Marine Raiders Regiment [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
In , he is transferred again to Quantico to order the first is battalion of 5 It is Marine regiment which is renamed first is Independent battalion in . The training exercises he directs in the months following with the rapid transport of the US Navy lead to the creation of the first is Marine Raiders battalion at the beginning of 1942. This unit will become a model for each of the other 3 Raiders navy battalions which will be created during the war, and which will form in The 1st Raider Regiment. He is promoted to the rank of Colonel the .
Colonel Edson entered the theater of Pacific operations with the overseas training of his Raider battalion in the American Samoa. THE , his Raider battalion as well as the 2 It is battalion of 5 It is Marine Regiment land in Tulagi in the British Solomon Islands. Two days of hard battles allow you to take control of this strategic island during the Battle of Tulagi. His battalion is relocated to Guadalcanal from where he performs raids on the Savo and Tasimboko Islands of Guadalcanal. Edson receives the Gold Star in place of a second Navy Cross medal for its victorious operations on Tulagi.
Guadalcanal [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
It is the defense of Lunga Ridge on Guadalcanal from 13 to which will make Edson later known. His Raider battalion and two companies first is Parachutist battalion is sent along a crest just south of Henderson Field. They were supposed to rest a little at this place, but Japanese troops suddenly attacked the position the first evening, penetrating the left side of its line of defense and forcing a withdrawal to a reserve position.
About 800 navies resist repeated assaults of more than 2,500 Japanese on the “bloody ridge”, this is how it is now called. For men of first is Raiders battalion, which undergoes 256 losses, it is called “the ridge of Edson”, in honor of the officer ” who was encouraging everywhere, cajoling and correcting the situation by continuously exposing the enemy fire “. His nickname,” Red Mike “, origin of his red beard which he wore at the time of Nicaragua, it was also his code name during this battle. Since that day he is known by all under the name of “Red Mike”. It was on the occasion of these actions, later called the Battle of the Crête d’Edson, that he received the Medal of Honor.
After the Battle of Edson, he became commander of 5 It is Marine regiment. This function makes it one of the first combat commanders at the Matanikau river in At . He also commands the 5 It is regiment during the battle of Henderson Field and until the regiment leaves Guadalcanal with the rest of the 1st Division of Marines in . Shortly after an officer declares ” that officers and men would follow him anywhere, the only problem is to be able to maintain himself with him “. A war correspondent testifies” That he is not a fierce navy, in reality he is even a little shy. But Colonel Edson is probably among the 5 best combat commanders of all the armed forces in the United States. “It is also said of him that he does not easily show his emotions, but when his personal messenger was killed at the Matanikau river in Guadalcanal, witnesses saw him” cry like a baby “And he said later that the man was irreplaceable.
High command and other battles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
In , he is appointed chief of staff of the 2 It is Marine division, which is preparing for the battle of Tarawa. He prepares an assessment of the situation for this operation which will prove to be a precise astonishment, it has since become a classic of military literature of the Marine Corps. For this action, he receives the Legion of Merit and is promoted to the rank of brigadier general . Later, he was appointed assistant to the division commander of the 2 It is Marine division and participates in the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Tinian. We award him the Silver Star medal for these battles.
Brigadier General Edson becomes chief of staff of the Pacific naval force and he receives, in , the Gold Star medal in place of a second Legion of Merit. He spent 44 months in service in combat areas. When a young officer asks him when he hopes to be back in the United States, Edson answers him ” When the war is over, when the work is finished “.
In , he is appointed to the office of the chief of naval operations and in , at the headquarters of the Marine Corps. He retired from the active service at the age of 50, after more than 30 years of military service for his country. He is promoted to the rank of general of division at the time of his retirement, the .
Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, he became the first divisional commissioner of the Vermont State police. He organized the part of the police in part by following the model of an old association of motorized officers. It makes it a semi-military organization which has since been adopted by other states.
On his return from Washington D.C. in , he became executive director of the National Rifle Association, his most important efforts in this position are to stimulate the interests of the Americans for the address to the shooting. At the same time, he militates vigorously for a adequate size and force body for his multiple commitments.
He died the In Washington D.C., he committed suicide by poisoning with carbon monoxide in the garage annexed to his house in Washington, while he is stationed at the National Rifle Association. At the time of his death, in addition to his tasks at the NRA, he was a naval representative to the advisory committee on the problems of the prisoner of war. This group recommends the code of conduct of the American war prisoner who will later be adopted and published as a code of conduct for all American soldiers.
He is buried in the National Cemetery of Arlington and his grave is in section 2, Lot 4960-2.
According to the end of his career and history of the navies [ first ] :
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