Posted on Apr 28, 2022
With death of 99-year-old Wisconsin veteran, four Merrill’s Marauders remain
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https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2022-04-26/merrills-marauders-obituary-raleigh-nayes-us-army-world-war-ii-5811964.html?utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=a14cfa4371-Newsletter+-+Veterans+news&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0ab8697a7f-a14cfa4 [login to see] 88
Raleigh Nayes, 99, died Thursday in Chippewa Falls, Wis., just one day after the Army veteran had received the Congressional Gold Medal for his role in fighting with the famed Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during World War II.
“It was almost as if the Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony was his final goal,” Jim Nayes, his eldest son, said Monday in a news release by Jonnie Melillo Clasen, who in recent years has served as an informal liaison for the aging group of Marauders.
With the death of Nayes, only four original members of Merrill’s Marauders are living, said Clasen, whose late father was a member of the unit.
Raleigh Nayes, 99, died Thursday in Chippewa Falls, Wis., just one day after the Army veteran had received the Congressional Gold Medal for his role in fighting with the famed Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during World War II.
“It was almost as if the Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony was his final goal,” Jim Nayes, his eldest son, said Monday in a news release by Jonnie Melillo Clasen, who in recent years has served as an informal liaison for the aging group of Marauders.
With the death of Nayes, only four original members of Merrill’s Marauders are living, said Clasen, whose late father was a member of the unit.
With death of 99-year-old Wisconsin veteran, four Merrill’s Marauders remain
Posted from stripes.com
WWII World War Two
Death
Awards
World History
American History
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Those guys were some tough SOBs that's for sure.
RIP Sir.
RIP Sir.
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I read the memoirs and watched the movie in high school. That trek through the Burmese jungle still brings me pride to know how they fought the enemy from unknown directions, the booby traps and the malaria infested waters. Merrill’s Marauders are a beacon of true grit and perseverance when the odds are stacked against you.
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