United States Marine Raiders honored

During the Aug. 5 meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the county issued a proclamation honoring the United States Marine Raiders.

Supervisor Bill Horn presented the proclamation, which also declared Aug. 5 to be United States Marine Raiders Day throughout San Diego County. U.S. Marine Raider Foundation president Charles Meacham and 32-year Marine veteran Jesse Pacheco accepted the proclamation on behalf of the Marine Raiders. The United States Marine Raiders received a standing ovation from those present in the Board of Supervisors chamber after the proclamation was read.

“These guys are very special,” Horn said.

Meacham currently lives in Gig Harbor, Wash. Pacheco, who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War before retiring in 1979 with the rank of Sergeant Major, now lives in Lawrence, Kans. They were in San Diego for the 63rd annual United States Marine Raiders reunion which took place Aug. 6-10.

“A real surprise, a real honor for the Marine Raiders,” Meacham said of the proclamation. “For the Marine Raiders to be honored in this way is a very pleasant surprise.”

Four battalions of the United States Marine Raiders were formed. The first battalion was formed in February 1942 at Quantico, Va. The other three battalions all trained at Camp Pendleton; the Fourth Raider Battalion was formed at Camp Pendleton by one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s sons and Lt. Col. Jimmy Roosevelt also commanded that unit. (The Second Raider Battalion was formed in San Diego and the Third Raider Battalion was formed in Samoa.) The original Marine Raiders training center was opened at Camp Pendleton on Feb. 5, 1943.

“The United States Marine Corps Raiders were an elite special forces unit,” Horn said.

The Marine Raiders activity during World War II included combat at Guadalcanal, Midway, the Russell Islands, New Georgia, and Bougainville. Each of the United States Marine Raiders was hand-selected from available volunteers. The Marine Raiders cycled through 8,000 troops in two years with 4,000 troops being considered a full force. They earned seven medals of honor, 136 Navy crosses, 21 distinguished service crosses, 330 silver stars, 18 legions of merit, six Navy and Marine Corps medals, three soldier medals, 223 bronze stars, and 37 letters of commendation.

Approximately 350 former United States Marine Raiders are still living. The 2013 reunion drew 13 former Marine Raiders, and 19 veterans were registered for the 2014 reunion. “There’s not too many of us left now,” Pacheco said.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Raider Foundation is to preserve the history of the United States Marine Raiders and to advance education, including scholarships for native-born children in the South Pacific.

“It’s our duty to take our legacy and bring it forward to these folks,” Meacham said.

The reunion included the presence of Jimmy Roosevelt’s widow and also the widow of “The Guadalcanal Diary” author Richard Tregaskis. The reunion also featured the unveiling of the sculpture “Soul of the Forward and Faithful,” which was funded by the U.S. Marine Raider Foundation and will be installed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico.

Some of the former Marine Raiders followed the reunion by traveling to Guadalcanal and to the Solomon Islands to dedicate a schoolhouse in the Solomon Islands which was funded by the U.S. Marine Raider Foundation. “This is our way of saying thank you to those grandchildren for what their grandfathers did in assisting us,” Meacham said.

Meacham is married to June Meacham. Pacheco’s wife is Kitty Pacheco. “A great deal of our success has been the support we’ve had from our wives,” Meacham said.