Herbert ClofineClofineHerbertPAWorld War, 1939-1945ArmyIntelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon, 2nd Battalion, Blue Combat Team, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill's Marauders)Second LieutenantTrinidad; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Fort Knox, KentuckyUnknownVeteran"And when General Merrill told General Tanaka how many men he had in the field, he [Tanaka] was absolutely dumbstruck. (Audio Interview, Part 1, 21:42)Determined to serve his country during World War II, Herbert Clofine wouldn't let a 4-F
deferment stop him. He asked to be a voluntary draftee. But after he trained to be a radio
operator, he found himself stuck in the States monitoring the coastline for submarines. He
answered a call for an unspecified dangerous mission and wound up in Bombay, India,
training for what would be know as Merrill's Marauders, the legendary fighting unit that
bedeviled the Japanese with guerrilla tactics, despite being vastly outnumbered. Clofine
was radioman with the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon that worked ahead of the
Mauraders; a member of his team, Robert Landis, was the first American World War II
casualty in Asia.Herbert Clofine in uniformChina-Burma-India: Merrill’s MaraudersHerbert Clofine in uniformundatedAssignment to be out ahead of the rest of the unit doing intelligence and recon work;
battles to take an airstrip; breaking up on the Marauders.Traversing the difficult terrain; General Merrill surprising a Japanese general in a 1952
conversation just how few men the Marauders had; Japanese soldiers putting flowers on
Marauders' graves in the field.Washington expected MM to have 80 percent casualties; they did lose a lot of men to
diseases; determination helped them to survive.Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congresshttps://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.29945/DLC-AFC2022-11-04loc.natlib.afc2001001.29945