{"id":42775,"date":"2019-05-24T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/24\/wwii-era-merrills-marauders-veterans-reflect-on-burma-campaigns-75th-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:41:53","slug":"wwii-era-merrills-marauders-veterans-reflect-on-burma-campaigns-75th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2019\/05\/24\/wwii-era-merrills-marauders-veterans-reflect-on-burma-campaigns-75th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"WWII-era \u2018Merrill\u2019s Marauders\u2019 veterans reflect on Burma campaign\u2019s 75th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then there were 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s how many members of the 5307th Composite Unit Provisional \u2014 better known as \u201cMerrill\u2019s Marauders\u201d\u2014 are still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two of the men who helped fight the Japanese in Burma \u2014 Bob Passanisi, 94, and Gilbert Howland, 96 \u2014 were recently in Washington, D.C., for a wreath-laying ceremony at the WWII Memorial to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Burma mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They were also in D.C. to champion legislation that would award the Congressional Gold Medal to <a href=\"http:\/\/marauder.org\/marauder.htm\" target=_blank>Merrill\u2019s Marauders<\/a> for their heroism and sacrifices that resulted in the U.S. seizing control of the Burmese capital of Myitkyina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am proud of our unit and the mission we accomplished in Burma,\u201d Howland told the Military Times via email. \u201cWe did not see ourselves as heroes. We had volunteered for a mission and we handled every situation that came our way. The end result tells how we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marauders \u2014 which was named after their commander, Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soc.mil\/ARSOF_History\/articles\/v2n1_ledo_to_leeches_page_1.html\" target=_blank>traversed more than<\/a> 800 miles of Burmese jungle and engaged in multiple battles with enemy troops. By the time they were deactivated on Aug. 10, 1944, the unit had lost more than 1,000 soldiers to both combat injuries and disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor some unexplained reason, these men from all walks of life fused together as a single determined fighting force,\u201d said Passanisi, also via email. \u201cEveryone seemed to know just what to do without needing to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Passanisi was inspired to join the Army in 1942 following the attack on the U.S. Navy base in Pearl Harbor. He currently serves as the Marauders\u2019 spokesperson and historian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI always felt proud that I was a Merrill\u2019s Marauder, and even prouder today that people seem to recognize what an impossible mission the Marauder campaign was,\u201d said Passanisi, who lives in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Howland was attending Boston Trade School when news of unrest in Europe and Asia began reaching the U.S. He happened to come across a military-recruitment poster outside the South Boston Post Office in 1941 on his 18th birthday. After talking to his mother, he decided to enlist in the Army and help the war effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the Marauders dissolved, he continued to serve his country during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He earned a triple Combat Infantryman Badge for his continued service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe military was my life,\u201d Howland, who now lives in New Jersey, said. \u201cThe military taught me to have pride in the job you are doing and that carried over into my civilian life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1209\" height=\"803\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Merrill2.PNG.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79913\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Merrill2.PNG.png 1209w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Merrill2.PNG.png?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Merrill2.PNG.png?resize=768,510 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Merrill2.PNG.png?resize=1024,680 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1209px) 100vw, 1209px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Merrill&#8217;s Marauders Gilbert Howland, left, and Bob Passanisi, right, place a wreath at the WW II Memorial May 8, 2019,\nto commemorate 2019 as the 75th anniversary of their 1944 Burma mission. (Photo provided by Jonnie Clasen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both still vividly remember some of the more harrowing moments of the Burmese campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Passanisi distinctly remembered narrowly dodging an artillery shell attack on his command post. He said that he \u201cmade an unbelievable dive for my fox hole\u201d and traveled 20 feet in one motion while dirt from the blast grazed his jungle boots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Howland is still haunted by the Battle of Nphum Ga where the Japanese surrounded his battalion for 10 days. He was wounded on the fifth day and had to be moved away from his post. That night, Japanese troops got into his machine-gun position and killed the four-man crew on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was not there to protect them and that has stayed with me all these years,\u201d Howland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite all they went through, Passanisi and Howland are both still humbled by the Marauders\u2019 place in WWII history, including that the 75th Army Regiment still wears their colors on their crest and \u201cconsiders us their legacy unit,\u201d according to Howland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat others continue to recognize what we did in Burma and they honor us for it, [which] makes me proud,\u201d Howland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Passanisi, Merrill\u2019s Marauders is proof that \u201chumans can endure much more than was thought to be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both men had advice for active-duty service members and their fellow veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAlways be ready and train well,\u201d Howland said. \u201cTake it seriously. You never know when your country will need you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a similar note, Passanisi advised troops and veterans that determination and grit will allow them to \u201cfind the inner strength to be stronger and more durable than you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spoken like a true Merrill\u2019s Marauder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe did not see ourselves as heroes. We had volunteered for a mission and we handled every situation that came our way. The end result tells how we did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,19,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3148],"class_list":["post-42775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XLYFUA4XDZHMZFKHTKORFVC35U","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/transition\/2019\/05\/24\/wwii-era-merrills-marauders-veterans-reflect-on-burma-campaigns-75th-anniversary\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>WWII-era \u2018Merrill\u2019s Marauders\u2019 veterans reflect on Burma campaign\u2019s 75th anniversary - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWe did not see ourselves as heroes. 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