Galahad Redux

<p>The China-Burma-India Theater was the least decisive major arena of World War II. General Joseph Stilwell was tasked to perform concurrent diplomatic and military miracles in pursuit of Allied victory. His mission of keeping a reluctant China in the war depended upon opening a ground line of supply and communication to augment the Hump air routes that linked India and China. To do this the Japanese had to be driven from North Burma. Training and equipping Chinese troops to accomplish this mission required several months. On the eve of the Chinese attacks in October 1943 a lone American infantry regiment debarked in Bombay India. By August 1944 this ill-starred force had won accolade and suffered disbandment. During its brief frenetic history this first U.S. ground combat unit to fight on the Asian land mass in World War II was known variously as Shipment 1688 Force Galahad the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) and Merrill's Marauders. This organization's participation in the North Burma Campaign lasted five and a half months and culminated in the capture of Myitkyina. The seizure of Myitkyina and its airfield permitted Allied transports to fly around the Himalayas instead of over them and contributed greatly to the success of subsequent offensives to break the blockade of China. Although it was an achievement of high Galahad paid a price. The battles in Burma involved many enemies: the Japanese the environment and the morale of the Marauders themselves Galahad Redux is an attempt to analyze the disintegration of Merrill's Marauders by emphasizing the intangible subjective factors present in the leadership environment. The focus is on the disbandment of the 5307th in August 1944. The causes of the unit's less of integrity are related through the perceptions of five men who were there.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>