James Richardson, WWII Soldier in Merrill's Marauders, dies at 99

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Fri Jan 1, 2021, 07:52 PM - Edit history (2)

AP News, Dec. 30, 2020.

JACKSBORO, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man who was among the last surviving members of the World War II jungle fighting unit known as Merrill’s Marauders has died at age 99.

James Eubaun Richardson of Jacksboro was among nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers deployed in 1944 on a secret mission behind enemy lines in Japanese-occupied Burma. They battled hunger, disease and enemy troops while trekking roughly 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) to capture a Japanese-held airfield.

Barely 200 of the soldiers remained in the fight at the mission’s end, including Richardson — who kept going despite malaria and a bullet wound to his shoulder.

“I felt like dad never thought he was quite going to die,” Richardson’s daughter, Judy Robinson, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He had a grit that just seemed to stay with him.”

Richardson was one of just nine surviving Merrill’s Marauders earlier this year when Congress voted to award the unit its highest honor: the Congressional Gold Medal. “He said the ones that really deserved it were the ones who never came home,” Robinson said.

She said her father died Sunday after being hospitalized with complications from a progressive respiratory illness.

In Burma, Richardson was often dispatched alone into the jungle to deliver messages between officers, his daughter said. He earned a dozen medals including a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star...

More, https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-world-war-ii-9a739626bec229357b5665847cf13c51



- Photo provided by Larry Robinson: father-in-law James Eubaun Richardson rides a tractor at his home in Jacksboro, Tenn., July 30, 2014.

Documentary on Merrill's Marauders by the son of a veteran in the group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrill%27s_Marauders

[Irish_Dem]

1. The WWII China-Burma theater was notoriously brutal with high death rate.

This fellow was dispatched alone in the jungle to dispatch messages.
It is a miracle he survived. He must have been quite clever and quick.
And lucky.

[appalachiablue]

2. All of that, he possessed strength & grit as his daughter said.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Yes indeed. He had unique traits of intellectual and character to have survived.

I would love to have heard his stories.
Most of these guys who were heroes didn't talk much about any of it when they got back home.