Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Mt. Lebanon native
Courtesy of Carole Ortenzo
Russell “Huck” Hamler received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in Baldwin in April. Hamler was presented the award, the highest civilian award in the United States, for his service as a member of an elite World War II jungle warfare unit that played a pivotal role in the war.
Courtesy of Carole Ortenzo
Russell “Huck” Hamler in 1945 at age 20 while serving as an MP in Pittsburgh
It has taken nearly 78 years, but a band of soldiers from an Army unit nicknamed “Merrill’s Marauders,” who undertook one of the most dangerous and pivotal missions of World War II, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.
It is the highest civilian award given in the United States.
In a virtual ceremony, Congress honored the Marauders, who fought their way deep behind enemy lines through the jungles of Burma to capture a Japanese-held airfield and open an Allied supply route between India and China.
Russell “Huck” Hamler, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon and now lives in Baldwin Township, and the late Edward “Bud” Ammon of Washington were among the 3,000 men who fought in the campaign.
The nearly 1,000-mile journey – on foot, with pack mules to carry armaments and other equipment – was treacherous, and when the soldiers weren’t fighting Japanese forces, they battled monsoons, heat, starvation, malaria, and dysentery.
When the Marauders seized the airfield five months later on May 17, 1944, only 200 men were left.
Hamler, 97, is one of two surviving Marauders. He received his individual medal in a ceremony at Baldwin on April 24.
At that ceremony, Hamler said he wished for the end of all wars and wants peace, and expressed sadness over the war in Ukraine.
“I would like to see them outlaw wars,” said Hamler. “I would like if they have a group of people who would get together and iron it out in words instead of bullets. People who haven’t been around killing don’t realize how awful it is. I would like to see a peaceful world.”
Hamler was 19 when he volunteered for the top-secret mission. The Marauders were told only that it was “a dangerous and hazardous mission,” and few, if any, were expected to survive.
While presenting the individual Congressional Gold Medal to Hamler, U.S. Army Ranger Nathan Springs recounted how Hamler told him the Marauders, who faced starvation, would throw grenades into a river and when the dead fish rose to the surface, they would scoop them up and cook them in their helmets.
“Sir, you are the definition of an Army Ranger, and you have set the example for all Army Rangers, for the military, on how we should portray ourselves,” said Springs.
Gabriel Kinney, 101, of Alabama, is the only other remaining member of the unit. Three Marauders – Gilbert Howland, Raleigh Nayes, and Robert E. Passanisi – all have died since April at the age of 99.
Every Marauder also has been awarded a Bronze Star.
Hamler was awarded a Purple Heart after he was shot in the hip in April 1944 and was trapped in a foxhole for 10 days until he was rescued.
Ed Ammon’s grandson, Chuck Ammon of Washington, was thrilled that his grandfather and the men who served with Merrill’s Marauders – named for the 5307th Composite Unit’s commander, Gen. Frank Merrill – were recognized.
“It’s about time that this unit has gotten the formal recognition that it deserves. It was a completely selfless act by 3,000 men, who all volunteered and put their lives on the line for a mission without knowing where they were going or what their assignment was,” said Chuck Ammon. “The conditions they endured were just tremendously brutal. I can’t even fathom what type of bravery and grit and pure determination it took to complete the mission.”
Ammon received a Silver Star for gallantry in action, after returning on March 28, 1944, to an area that was under intense artillery, mortar and machine gun fire to help a soldier who had been wounded.
In the campaign, the badly outnumbered Marauders survived 35 battles, including five major engagements.
Said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during the ceremony, “Merrill’s Marauders stand among the great heroes of our history. Nearly 80 years later, Americans remain in awe of their courage, valor and patriotism – willing to go where no others would dare.”
The legacy of the Marauders lives on. The Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment descended from Merrill’s Marauders, and the colors used to identify the unit’s six combat teams can be found on every tan beret worn by a Ranger, said J.D. Keirsey, commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
“We Rangers of today salute the Marauders of World War II,” Keirsey said. “Your legacy is impossible to forget. You inspire us, and the memory of your fellow Marauders will not go forgotten.”