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I took my Grandson to the sunrise flag raising on "Flag Butte", a tradition in this part of the prairie. To impress my Grandson I wore my old jungle fatigue jacket, from back in the day. While there I met a 92 year old veteran he introduced himself as an old mule skinner in Burma. We had a great visit, I felt honored to meet him.
God bless us EVERYONE !


Unconventional forces in Burma (now Myanmar), including Merrill's Marauders, used mules quite effectively. During the operations against Myitkyina (pronounced Mish-i-naw), the key objective in Northern Burma, the 475th Infantry Regiment, 124th Cavalry, two battalions of pack artillery and QM Pack Troops became the Mars Task Force. A Liberty ship brought about 275 mules of the 35th Pack Troop to India, then to Ledo by train. An overland march 300 miles down the Ledo Road brought them to Camp Landis, Burma. The mules were divided among the units of the force and served to carry machine guns, mortars, ammunition and other supplies in terrain where no other method was feasible. On 17 May 1944, Merrill's Marauders took their pack mules on a 65 mile march traversing the Kumon Mountain range to attack and capture the airfield at Myitkyina, the only all-weather airfield in the country, and the gateway to the road to China.