May 1944 -- Interview with Dr. Ray Mitchell

 

 

By Gina Burgess
Lifestyles Editor
It is early 1944. The 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), better known as Merrill’s Marauders need replacements. A young volunteer named Ray Mitchell wants to volunteer to the Army. His father drives him and his cousin from Picayune to Camp Shelby just outside of Hattiesburg and drops them off at the gate. Only now, after being a father does Mitchell understand what must have been occurring in the chest of his father that day.

“Wanted: Volunteers for a Dangerous, Hazardous Mission in Jungle Warfare” stated the sign that young Mitchell saw.
“Pretty music was playing in my head,” he says in his memoirs, “as I signed. Take a long sea voyage to a beautiful, lush, green island in a far away land and forget those that are overburdened in the 65th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby. The salt air will do wonders for your health and attitude. Not only did I sign the paper, I took one back to my company and got thirteen more nice soldiers to agree to that beautiful trip with me. None of them speak to me any more, but I think I am the only survivor.” (May, 2007)

That began Cpl. Mitchell’s trip around the world with a stop off in Burma and China chock full of horrors that we cannot imagine. Many on the ship that zig-zagged across the Atlantic Ocean had not volunteered for jungle warfare, which left those who had, the butt of many jokes during the 31 days it took to get to Bombay, India. That is where squads were formed and Cpl. Ray Mitchell was given 12 men to “look after”, some of them were cooks and bakers, military police and green (untrained) recruits.

Six days of train travel, took them to a beautiful meadow, smooth enough for aircraft to land. C-47 and C-46 transport planes landed and the troops quickly boarded. After a lengthy flight, they landed to load guns, ammunition and other supplies needed to fight a war. Guns were passed out to each man.

“Keep the gun that lands in your lap. We’ll match you with your weapon later,” they were told.

On the seventh day from landing in Bombay, all noncoms (non-commissioned officers) were ordered to a meeting, and Cpl. Mitchell went.

“You will be flown into combat this morning,” Those words still cause the muscles in his chest to constrict today.

“Your mind races,” he said. “‘Combat!’ We are just a bunch of men that were put together on a ship, we had not trained together for a single day. Some of my guys didn’t even know what a combat pack was. Others looked at the weapon they held like it was a snake. Some knew nothing about the M-1 rifle, they were not infantry, but could use the carbine. Trades were made. We had several -03 rifles that the fellow in military police took. One fellow that was in cook/bakery school took a .45 pistol as I did. I could use any of them, but it was necessary to have each man with a gun he could use.”

This motley group’s first mission was to protect the Battalion Commander and Headquarters on the flight to combat. Mitchell didn’t even have time to tell his 1st Sergeant they were flying out.

The Battalion Commander wanted to know what was taking so long to land the plane, and sent Mitchell to the front of the plane to find out.

Mitchell was told, “You tell the old so and so there are a bunch of Jap Zeros over the landing site and we ain’t going in till they are gone. Now, if he’s in such an all fired hurry, he can jump out and walk.” Mitchell may have been young, but he was wise enough just to mention the Zeros to the Commander. After the “Jap Zeros” cleared the area below, they landed.

“We were told that the only men to stay on the plane were those flying it or those that got shot while we were in the process of landing,” Mitchell said. “We are digging in along the edge of the runway at Myitkyina, Burma. It is the end of May, 1944 and we have no idea of what we are suppose to do now that we are here." “During the last part of the campaign for Myitkyina, we were pushed to move forward and take the city. We were tired, hungry, sick, but with the promise of a flight back to India, clean clothes, bath, back pay, the promotion that we had been put in for earlier, and a leave to rest, we fought on just a little harder During the period of our heaviest fighting we received word from the rear supply that we were using too much ammunition. That hurt our feelings. I have no idea what the supply was using as a comparison to gauge the amount used,” Mitchell said.

“We had some very bad days,” he added. “We were bombed twice by B-25s bombing from 5,000 feet. Why? The enemy had no anti-aircraft guns where we were. It was very devastating to be bombed at all, but by your own force with never any explanation, or a ‘sorry it happened.’ To dig out the bodies and pick up the body parts of your friends, stays with you the rest of your life.”

Mitchell was called to Battalion Headquarters the same day more than 200 men were ambushed and killed. Seventeen of the company made it back behind friendly lines.

“I remember it so well,” says Mitchell. “It was the day I became acting Sgt. Major of 2nd Battalion. I had then more than two hundred men missing in action. This number continued to climb until the battle ended in August of 1944, and the 5307th CUP was deactivated. “The “second Team” paid its dues although no one seems to read or hear about these men and what they experienced in those jungles.”

Several Battalion Commanders came and went, some so quickly it seemed to Mitchell they were there a week or less.“There was one major,” he said, “whose first order was for all officers and non-coms to wear their insignia of rank, you know how that went over.

“Fortunately, he tried to show one of the old Sargeant [sic] veterans that had served in Panama how to shoot an old beat up 37 mm antitank gun, but he forgot the recoil...he failed to listen to warnings. He got the full impact of that recoil in the face. He was evacuated with heavy lacerations to the face and eye area. I hope he’s still alive, and I hope his experiences mellowed his ways. He paid a heavy price.”

Mitchell and the rest of the 2nd Battalion pressed on, finally taking the city. When the city fell, Mitchell was given duty finding MIAs. He had to scour through lots of bodies that had lain in the jungle heat for days.

Merrill’s Marauders, named for their commander Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, was a behind enemy lines fighting unit. They were sometimes 300 miles behind enemy lines in jungle so dense it was dark on the ground. Their mission took them on foot 1,000 miles, hacking through foliage, trudging over mountains and through valleys filled with mud, and through such furious rain it was more like a swift waterfall than rain.

By October of 1944 only 200 fighting-trim men were left of the 3,000-man force. Most had been struck down with insect-born disease, others had been killed in the five major battles this force won and the 30 skirmishes won despite being far outnumbered.

In November 1945, Mitchell landed in Tacoma, Wash., and saw the sign, “Welcome Home! Job Well Done!” Mitchell said it was great to walk down that plank and set foot on the soil of a free nation. Can you put a price of freedom? “No way,” he says.

Part 2 of 6 parts The Burma Campaign is here. 

Merrill's Marauders are featured
here on YouTube.

The Old Burma Road

Far left is Ray Mitchell, cranking the radio "juicer". Shaving is Jim Harps. The radio man is Jim Junkins.

From Ray Mitchell's memoirs...

We now had commanding view on the Old Burma Road that ran from Kunming, China into Burma. From our position we were able to direct artillery and mortar fire on the Road. This was done day and night to make it difficult for the enemy to supply troops fighting the Chinese further up the Burma Road leading into China. Patrols were sent to the road, land mines were planted, and truck convoys were ambushed as they attempted to run the blockade. In cutting the supply linne to the enemy, they were forced to withdraw from the engagement with the Chinese.

The Japanese tried to dislodge us from our positions using heavy artillery, 105mm and 155mm, trying to overrun our positions, almost succeeding at times.

Third Battalion was on a lower hill several miles from us with artillery because we did not have a place for artillery on the ridge. Our losses were beginning to incrfease due to the 155 artillery shells--we were too crowded.

In the battle for the Burma Road, our air support wsa by the P-47, called 'the Jug'. A very powerful effective fighter bomber equipped with eight 50 caliber machine guns, plus carrying many 250 pound bombs. The P-47 planes were so close to us we could see the expressions on thhe faces of the pilots. One of the planes came in very low to strafe the ridge in front of us, but he still had a 250 pound bomb that had hung up without his knowledge. When he hit the trigger for the machine guns, the bomb was released just above six of us standing and watching the power show by the fly boys.

It all happened so fast we could not hit the ground. The bomb landed in the middle of our group. As the bomb hit the ground, probably traveling between 250 and 300 miles per hour, the sound emitted was similar to a speeding car putting on brakes and tires burning rubber on a paved road. The bomb did not explode, which is obvious because I'm here, but ricocheted off the hard ground, going another 75 to 100 yards and exploded on conntact on the enemy position!

We took a deep breath, let it out very slowly and went about our business. Later in life, I was told by a pilot of the same type bomber plane that the bomb did not explode because a small propeller in the nose of the bomb had a pin on it and was pulled from the propeler, allowing it to rotate. After turning about six times, the bomb was activated and would detonate on impact.

The Mars Task Force for this battle had brought the entire Brigade into action. I understand that this was the only Brigade in the Army. Our make up was the 475th Infantry Regiment which had 3 Battalions of about 1,000 men in each Unit with a portable surgical unit attached -- Not a MASH unit like on TV.

One night I was in the bunker with the Commanding Officer, Colonel Thrailkil. I was the Sgt. Major and he wanted to go to the observation post that overlooked the road. It was a very bright moon that night and you could see anything that moved. He and I moved along the ridge in a trench to the observation post. When we reached the opening, I told the Colonel that I needed to go to my foxhole for some cigarettes. I was a heavy smoker, and I had been out for several hours not being able to smoke. The Colonel did not smoke. I left the observation post and went to my foxhole for a pack of cigarettes.

I lit one before heading back to the observation post which was only about 10, maybe 15 yards away. The artillery started up before I made it back, the 155mm were coming in. I started to try to make it back between shells, but decided to wait until it was over. The observation post received a direct hit. I was the first to arrive and began moving logs and then the wounded. There were six menm in the post, thheree killed, including the Colonel who was blown in half, the other three were wounded.

Sgt. Milton Kornfeld of Brooklyn, NY had a leg blown off, all but a small ligament. The medic just pulled a trench knife and cut the ligament to free him from the logs that pinned him down. Kornfeld did not lose consciousness, and on the stretcher he kept talking. I went to him and told him not to talk so loudly because he was drawing small arms fire.

He called me by name and said, "Mitch, you have always heard that the fastest thing in the world was a Jew passing Hitler's house on a bicycle. I heard that big shell coming and I moved out of the way faster...all but one leg!" Kornfeld survived to go home.

At this point I would be remiss if I did not give praise to our medical people. From the aide in the foxhole who never hesitate when the cry "Medic!" was heard to those in the aid station. It took courage to crawl out to a wounded man during the battle. They did! And the aide station with the tow surgeons working under the poorest of conditions did an outstanding job.

I understand tht if a wounded man could be reached by the aide man, his chances on surviving was about 60 percent. If the wounded man could reach the Battalion aide station, his chances increased to about 75 percent. If his luck held and he could make it to the protable surgical unit, usually about five miles behind combat zone, the chances go up in to 80 percent. Next came the evacuation byy small plannes to a field hospital, there his luck goes into the 90 percent range. The last would be a general hospital, then his chances could be as high as 98 percent. The medical personnel did more with less than any group could.

I was told to take Colonel Thrailkil's effects to the Regimental Commanders and tell him what had happened. The Regimental Commanding Officer was Colonel Easterbrook, the finest of men, an officer and a gentleman. In fact, he was General Stilwell's son-in-law. After talking with Colonel Easterbrook, I explained that I needed to hurry and leave in order to get back to the 2nd Battalion before dark. It was about five miles and I was walking. The Colonel, in his gentle way, told mem to stay in the night in the portable surgical unit, have a good meal and a night's sleep and to see him the next morning before returning to my unit. The next morning, I returned to the Colonel's headquarters and he met me with a towel, a bar of soap and a razon. Smiling he told me to go to the nearby stream and clean up. I protested, telling him I need to hurry back to my unit. With that smile he said, "Sgt., that war will be there when you get back." I took the bath and shaved, I surely felt guilty when I returned to my unit all clean.

Part 7 Mars Task Force is here.

Myitkyina Campaign, Sgt. Major Ray Mitchell, 1944

From Sgt. Major Mitchell's memoirs

The japanese invasion of Burma in 1942 cut the supply routs to China. Myitkyina, Burma was a hugely important base for Japan. It had two airports or air fields, a rail and highway as well as river for boat traffic.

From the air fields, they were able to greatly curtail the flow of supplies by air between India and China. All land traffic was halted with the fall of Burma into Japanese hands.

The air supply route was much more dangerous because of weather conditions and it was a longer route, too. Because of these difficulties, ground troops were needed in Burma to cause confusion among the Japanese troops, and to capture the coveted Myitkyina.

Merrill's Marauders overran Myitkyina in mid-May, 1944. However, the strength of the unit was in sad disarray. They were weak from marching many miles through the jungles and over the mountains, from having lost many men to the enemy but more to the disease-carrying insects... fevers, malaria, typhus, dysentery and the like which debilitated the unit. The long march, the jungle and combat had taken a heavy toll on the men.

The airstrip was taken, but the city was not. The Unit did not have the strength to take the town. Two Chinese units were moved in to take the town, but ended up mistaking each other for the enemy and therefore battled each other, not taking the town. The enemy took advantage of the conditions and brought reinforcements into the battle, causing much concern.

Reinforcements were desparately needed, or lose the Myitkyina. Everything had to come in by air, because Myitkyina was hundreds of miles behind Japanese lines. This battle became the largest scale battle to be fought in Burma by the American troops, lasting three months during the monsoon weather. Losses were high on both sides of the line.

The first responsibility was to defend Myitkyina air strip and secondly to take the city. In Mitchell's Battalion, the losses were great. Company G, 2nd Battalion was caught in an ambush and more than 200 men were killed and only 17 escaped the ambush to report back what happened. One of the survivors had been shot through the face and left for dead. He managed to crawl back through the enemy to friendly territory, but he didn't look human. His face was covered in maggots. The medical officer said the maggots had saved his life by eating all the infection which would have killed him. The man did survive, and in fact was returned to the unit months later with his jaw wired with instructions to be fed soft diet. He was evacuated on the next transport to the rear area.

One of the worst things, other than the Company G ambush, was when some of the brass in the rear felt that the stalemat we were involved in could be broken by sending in B-25 bomber planes and bomb at high altitude, 5,000 feet, which they did. The bombs were dropped short and as many hit us as hit the enemy! We lost lots of men, over a hundred. It was a horrible experience trying to dig out men covered in their fox holes, blue from suffocation, body parts everywhere, wounded and dying everywhere. Several weeks later, the same planes came back again, gave us warning ahead of time, therefore, we could move our lines back 100 yards. The B-25 bombers came in again and hit our lines causing may more casualties. No one ever admitted responsibility or offered any reason or any "sorry about that". We never again had bombing by B-25s, thank goodness.

Our air support was by fighter bomber planes. The old P-r0s did an outstanding support job. They would fly in ver low dropping 250 pound bombs or the napome bombs, belly tanks which were filled with a liquid mixture that would ignite, covering a large area with flaming liquid, going into bunkers, fox holes and trenche, very frightening even to us. The P-40s also came in low, strafe the enemy positions with 50 caliber machine guns. We never lost any men from this type of air support.

Part 4 The Battle Rages is here.

Burma Campaign, 1944

Editor's note: This is taken directly from Ray Mitchell's memoirs...

Why were we there?

The war in China, Burma, and India was the result of the Japanese cutting all supply lines into China. There had been fighting in China since 1937 with several million troops there. The Japanese had taken every port that could be used to import supplies except Burma.

Supplies that came into Burma through Rangoon and other ports were moved by rail, trucks and river boats up to where the Japanese invaded in 1942, running the British and Chinese troops back into India. Burma, as well as India, was British territory and had been British controlled for many years. The loss of Burma left only one source of supplies to China from the USA, which was to fly supplies from India into China over the Himalayan mountains, better known as The Hump. The flight over the Hump was treacherous, very high, snow covered, and the mountain peaks were often covered by clouds. Add to that the frequent bad weather and Japanese planes and you've got a hugely dangerous mix.

The Japanese had fighter planes based in Myitkyina, Burma that could intercept the transports going over the lower, safer part of the Hump. Thia forced pilots to fly further north into higher, and more dangerous mountains. These conditions caused so much loss of life, supplies and planes the route was often called The Aluminum Trail because of all the crashes along the trail. There were a few that had made the trip numerous times, but they had a rough time of it.

The USA needed to supply the Chinese in order to keep them fighting the Japanese. That would keep millions of Japanese occupied with China and out of the Pacific War, plus it would keep the Japanese using up valuable supplies in the China campaign.

Presient Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met and decided to try and retake Burma. The Birtish wanted this because it was their colony and the USA wanted it to make it easier to get more supplies to China. The British wanted more American supplies for their forces in India so that they could retake Burma.

So, the call for volunteers went out to all the Army camps and posts throughout the States and out laying bases in Central America.

"Wanted: Volunteers for a dangerous, hazardous mission in jungle warfare"

There was no mention of where the volunteers would be sent, only that it was for jungle warfare and that it was dangerous. The call was answered by men from many backgrounds, as well as many places.

[Ray told me on the day of our conversation that he saw that sign and knew it was where he needed to be. No cold, snow, and frozen puddles for him. Jungles were warm. Visions of sea breezes and waving palms danced in his head. So he convinced his cousin to volunteer with him to go to Burma.

He shook his head then said, "I was just a dumb teenager. Dumb and stupid to volunteer for anything!"]

This was ground work for the Units that later became the 5307th Composite Unit Provisional, better known as Merrill's Marauders. Pages have now been written in history books about this unit and their exploits in their march through Burma.

The battle for Burma involved many different Army units such as the Air Corp, Quartermaster, Medical Units, Transportation and the like. All were needed to complete this daunting task. The US Army Engineers did an almost impossible task of building roads across Burma to reach the Burma Road; and in building an oil pipeline from India to China across Burma. They worked through the dry season and through the monsoon seasons to make a road a reality.

When the Infantry was able to clear the Burma Road, their job in Burma was over. Those that were left, either went to China or to India. The group that I was with ended up in China.
Sgt/Maj Ray F. Mitchell
5307th CUP
475th Infantry


Part 3 Myitkyina Campaign Sgt. Major Ray. Mitchell is here

A most interesting conversation

I had one of the most interesting conversations the other day... well, about 2 weeks ago--with a gentleman who is a WWII veteran. Click on the link below to read the first part.

He grew up in Picayune and volunteered to the Army.

There was a bit of confusion at the gates of Camp Shelby, just outside of Hattiesburge, Mississippi. The Army was used to handling draftees, not volunteers. After they sorted all that out they trained two new recruits: Ray F. Mitchell and his cousin Sonny.

I'm going to take the next few days and tell his story. The first part of the story is here. I'm running his story on the front page of the paper, but there just isn't enough room to tell the whole story and I think this is a story that needs to be told. It is quite a nail-biter, on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.