Charles N.

Hunter
Charles Newton Hunter (January 11, 1906 Oneida,
New York - June 14, 1978 Cheyenne, Wyoming) was the
author of the book Galahad (1963) a rst person account
of the Burma Campaign in World War II. Galahad was
the code-name for the U.S. Armys 5307th Composite
Unit (provisional), better known as Merrills Marauders.
Colonel Charles N. Hunter had been with Galahad from
the beginning as its ranking or second ranking ocer, had
commanded it during its times of greatest trial, and was
more responsible than any other individual for its record
of achievement. [1]

their pack animals for security. Hunter, however, refused

to debray Galahads animals, stating that braying was one
of the few pleasures a jackass enjoyed. He later claimed
that to his knowledge their brays never posed a noise problem. Apparently, the mules were just too tired to bray. [2]
As a nal training preparation before going into battle, Hunter hiked Galahad over 140 miles from their last
assembly area to their jump-o site beyond Ledo. He
claimed that this decision, despite its unpopularity, accomplished a number of goals. It completed the conditioning
of the men and animals (who had lately undergone a soft
three weeks of travel time by train). Next, it allowed the
muleteers and their animals to adjust to each other on the
trail. Furthermore, it 'sweat in' the pack saddles to the animals backs. And nally, it eliminated unt men from
the ranks. Hunter stated that, 'More than any other single part of Galahads training, the hike down the Ledo
Road, in my professional judgment, paid the highest dividends.' Having completed this arduous hike with full
loads, marching primarily at night over mountainous terrain, the men of Galahad lacked no condence in their
ability to meet the physical demands of the coming operation. [2]

West Point

Hunter began his Army career as a West Point graduate.

From page 169 of the West Point Howitzer Yearbook,
Class of 1929, we learn that he was known to his classmates as Newt from his middle name, Newton. He is
described as having a "...ruddy countenance, slightly tilted
nose, sandy hair, and twinkling blue eyes carry an appeal
that can pass unnoticed by no mortal lass.

WWII and Training for Burma

3 Merrills Marauders and Burma

Following the Quebec meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill a decision was made
to create long range penetration groups to get behind the
Japanese lines as a part of an overall Asian mainland offensive.

In February 1944, under command of Brigadier General

Frank Merrill, 2,503 men and 360 mules began a 1,000
mile march - out of India, over the Patkai region of the
Himalayas and deep into the Burmese jungle.
But on March 29, General Merrill suered his rst heart
attack and command returned to then executive ocer,
Colonel Hunter.

Lieutenant Colonel Hunter, with three years of experience in the Philippines, two years in the Canal Zone doing jungle warfare training, and most recently in charge
of the combat training course in the infantry school, Fort
Benning, Georgia, was put in charge of the shipment of
the new unit to India and their subsequent training.

Following months of forced marches through monsoon

season, weakened by hunger and malnutrition, suering
from amoebic dysentery, malaria, various fevers, snake
bite, scrub typhus, and fungal skin diseases they were
Colonel Hunter was able to obtain enough Galahad volreaching the end of their ability to continue. Captain Fred
unteers with previous experience with mules or horses to
O. Lyons said the last thing keeping him going had been
take care of the 700 pack animals in the 5307th. Each
not letting Colonel Hunter down:
Special Force brigade also utilized up to 1,000 mules. Special attention was given to the very dicult training of the
" By now my dysentery was so violent I was
animals and their handlers for river crossings. Problems
draining blood. Every one of the men was sick
in this area, if not solved promptly, could hold a jungle
from one cause or another. My shoulders were
column up for hours on a river bank. During the course of
worn raw from the pack straps, and I left the
the operation, the men grew to love many of their animals,
pack behind...The boys with me weren't in much
and they cared for and protected them just as if they were
better shape...A scout moving ahead suddenly
fellow soldiers. Incidentally, the Special Force debrayed
1

8 FOOTNOTES
held his rie high in the air. That meant Enemy sighted...Then at last we saw them, coming down the railroad four abreast...The gunner
crouched low over his tommy-gun and tightened
down. Then the gun spoke. Down opped a
half-dozen Japs, then another half dozen. The
[Japanese] column spewed from their marching
formation into the bush. We grabbed up the gun
and slid back into the jungle. Sometimes staggering, sometimes running, sometimes dragging,
I made it back to camp. I was so sick I didn't
care whether the Japs broke through or not; so
sick I didn't worry any more about letting the
colonel down. All I wanted was unconsciousness. [3]

August 3, 1944, following the last battle, Myitkyina was

declared secure and on that day Col. Hunter was sent
back to the United States.[4]
After ve major battles and seventeen minor engagements only two men survived without being hospitalized or killed. One was a Lieutenant Phil Weld,[5] who
later became famous for his single-handed ocean racing
of small sailboats. The other was Colonel Charles N.
Hunter.

After the war

After World War II, Colonel Hunter was Deputy Chief of

Sta of the 4th Army and Commanding Ocer of Fort
Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
He retired to Cheyenne, Wyoming, home of his wife, Don
Mae, who died February 27, 1970 of heart failure. Of
their three daughters, only his youngest, Sara is alive today. Anne died in 1959 and Sue in 1977.

Quotation
Sick men have no morale
After Myitkyina, Colonel Hunter referred
to the fact that at some point, even the most
heroic of men can go no further

Bibliography
Charles Newton Hunter, Galahad (San Antonio,
TX: Naylor Co., 1963)
Charlton Ogburn, The Marauders (New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1956)
Charles N. Hunter, AGF Report of Overseas Observations with Units in C.B.I. February 17, 1945.

7 See also
Merrills Marauders
China Burma India Theater of World War II
Frank Merrill
Joseph Stilwell
Long range penetration
United States Army Rangers
Former United States special operations units
Special forces
Roy Matsumoto
David Richardson
Charlton Ogburn

8 Footnotes
[1] Charlton Ogburn, The Marauders (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1956) pg 2
[2] U.S. Army Command and General Sta College, Combined Arms Research Library http://www-cgsc.army.mil/
carl/download/csipubs/historic/hist_c1_pt2.pdf
[3] Lyons, Fred O. (Capt), Merrills Marauders In Burma, Interview with Paul Wilder, 1945
[4] http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?
CISOROOT=/p4013coll2&CISOPTR=2272&
filename=2323.pdf Gaither, John B., Galahad Redux: An Assessment of the Disintegration of Merrills
Marauders June 6, 1975. U.S. Army Command and
General Sta College, Fort Leavensworth, Kansas
[5] Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race#The 1/OSTAR,
1980

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