Merritt A. Edson

Common card · No. 253312

Merritt Austin Edson, Sr. (April 25, 1897 – August 14, 1955), known as "Red Mike", was a major general in the United States Marine Corps, First President of the Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation and First Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety & Vermont State Police. Among the decorations he received were the Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses, the Silver Star, and two Legions of Merit. He is best known by Marines for the defense of Lunga Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marines in October 1917, and served in France and Germany in World War I. After the war he held several positions until going to flight school in 1922. After graduating flight school and being designated a Naval Aviator, he performed several assignments in Central America and China. It was in Central America where he received his first Navy Cross and the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit with Silver Star. When World War II started, Edson...

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