As a namesake nephew of one of Carlson's Marine Raiders that was killed in action during the historical Makin Island Raid this has always been one of my favorite movies. This patriotic film served as valuable and much needed recruitment tool for the United States Marine Corps for it's time. The film for the most part is jingoistic in nature and filled with a lot Hollywood make-believe i.e. scenes of the Marine Raiders over running the Japanese Headquarters then painting an American flag over the building then withdrawing the troops as Japanese troops approach. This Hollywood make-believe scene worked wonders on the movie audience at the time as they cheered while the Japanese pilots seeing the American flag mistakenly bombed their own troops. This type of scene caused many of the real Marine Raiders that participated in the Makin Island Raid to shake their heads in sheer disbelief. Having said that, it is true that Japanese pilots did accidentally bomb some of their own land force during the fighting. One of the Marine Raiders once told me that he thought the scenes of the Marine Raiders being formed and trained were quite accurate. The scene that he thought was the most historically accurate scene was when the Marine Raiders first landed on the island by rubber rafts, and when they approached the Japanese snipers hiding in the palm trees. The movie tries to convince the audience that the Japanese outnumbered the Marine Raiders 3 to 1. The Marine Raiders involved in the raid did in fact believe that, but the Marine Raiders easily outnumbered the Japanese force of 80 or so soldiers. The film ends with Randolph Scott giving a patriotic speech on the submarine as it makes it's way back to Pearl Harbor. From a personal perspective, I think what is not said in this movie is much more important than what is said. The Marine Raiders had one devil of a time getting off the island as they lost weapons, medical supplies, etc. due to the huge waves that impaired their journey back to the two submarines (USS Argonaut, USS Nautilus). In fact, an effort was made to surrender to what turned out to be an almost extinct remaining Japanese force. Fortunately, for the Marine Raiders contact was made to the submarines and they were able to rendezvous at another part of the island. Unfortunately, 9 Marine Raiders were inadvertently left on the island as a result of the inability to have a final roster reading and a blackout of radio contact between the two submarines.. The 9 marines were later captured by the Japanese and beheaded on Kwajalein. Oscar Peatross who participated in the Makin Island Raid later mentioned the valor displayed by FM1st Class Vernon Castle as he gave his life as he took out a Japanese Machine Gun nest. Petross later regretted the fact that had he known more about putting personnel in for medals that he would have put Castle in for the Congressional Medal of Honor as it was the bravest act that he had witnessed in WWII. Consequently, Petross even dedicated his book "Bless Em All" to Castle. To this day, the only medal Castle family has ever received has been the Purple Heart. After talking with some Marine Raiders at a Marine Raider Reunion I got the impression that medals are given sometimes for "political purposes" rather than the fact that were earned or deserved. In fact, it is my understanding that one member of the Makin Raid realizing he didn't truly deserve the medal tried to give his Navy Cross back to the Marine Corps but was told that "Once given the Marine Corps doesn't take back it's medals." The story of the 19 K.I.A.s that remained on Makin Island (Butaritari) is a fascinating one....much more interesting that any Hollywood version could ever be. After the war families such as my Grandparents were notified that the remains were "not recoverable". Carlson in his biography "The Big Yankee" by Michael Blankfort indicated that his second in command Col. James Roosevelt, F.D.R's son, visited the island and said that the 19 Marine Raiders were buried in individual plots, and that he said a prayer over each grave. This later turned out to be another historical falsehood. The remains of the nineteen Marine Raiders (including my late uncle) were later recovered in 1999 by the Central Identification Laboratory of Hawaii (CILHI). They had been buried in a mass grave. One of the natives, Buremoia Tokarei, that had buried these men as a teenager later led members of the CILHI to the lost grave site. According to some accounts he was 80 years old at the time, and began singing the Marine Corps Hymn as they began transporting the remains back to Hickham Field. Thirteen members of that group were buried at Arlington Cemetery on August 17, 2001 (59 years to the exact date of their untimely demise). My uncle PFC William A. Gallagher was one of them and Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the first enlisted Marine to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor in WWII was another. If your readers have any interest in reading more about this historic raid I refer you to Major General Oscar Peatross book "Bless Em All" and George Smith's book "Carlson's Raid". The Peatross book is difficult to find but you can read excepts of it at the Dan Marsh Marine Raider Web Site. http://www.usmcraiders.com/2ndann/bless_em_all.htm The main lesson to be learned from the film "Gung Ho" is that it is a typical cinema rendition of history.... a lot of glitter with little substance...and yet remains dated but enjoyable entertainment. Patriotism can be a wonderful thing but truth must always be the thread that guides it. As a Makin Island Marine Raider once told me..... "War is a terrible....terrible thing... and terrible things happen in war!"
