Gunny G: The First Gung Ho Marine ~ GUNG HO! ~ According To Evans F. Carlson

In short, they understood why the efforts of every single one of them was necessary to the whole Chinese people. That’s ethical indoctrination.

LtCol Evans Carlson, USMC, Carlson’s Raiders after the Makin Island Raid of World War II; photo from the Naval Historical Center (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He explained carefully how out of ethical indoctrination men grow to have confidence in themselves and their officers; how when every man knows his efforts count, whether officer or cook, general or quartermaster coolie, no one thinks of himself or his job as being more or less important than anyone else or any one else’s job; and each man has respect for himself and confidence in himself and in the others. Out of this mutual respect and confidence, comes the ability of men to work together wholeheartedly, without fear or favor or envy or contempt.

He trembled a little inside him as he spoke, for if ethical indoctrination was the key of the Raiders, it was also the star by which he had finally come to steer his own life. This battalion, these thousand men, was the test of himself.

The Chinese have two words for ‘working together,’ he said. ‘Gung, meaning ‘work’; Ho meaning ‘harmony.’ Gung Ho! Work Together! That is the end result of ethical indoctrination.”

“He went on to explain that Gung Ho was important to all of them, because they were Americans–for it gave them the chance to practice the democracy they believed, where no man should have priviliges over another man and where discipline comes from knowledge….a confidence that creates initiative and daring in battle…greater damage to the enemy…lower cost in lives to themselves…We will strive for ethical indoctrination…I propose that Gung Ho be the spirit and slogan of our Raider Battalion…Let’s hear you say it, He raised his voice and shouted, ‘Gung Ho!’

Gunny G: “SULLY,” RAY JACOBS, and “MAC” McCULLOUGH….

Gunny G: “SULLY,” RAY JACOBS, and “MAC” McCULLOUGH….Those of you on my e-mail list and who read my blogs will recognize the name of Ken “Mac” McCullough and his recent pic holding his old WW II Gung Ho knife from his Carlson Raider days.
Back about 1998/97, when I first got online, I pursued topics of Marine Corps history such as Carlson’s Raiders, the Flags of Suribachi, etc. At that time there was little such in-depth information online; so I did it the old fashioned-way–I did it myself.Since then the Marine Raiders organization and Dan Marsh came along and put up much more sophisticated sites on the raiders. And, then, a couple years or so later I got an e-mail from Marine Ray Jacobs who had been the radioman in the Lou Lowery photos of that first flag raising on Suribachi. And, during those years, Dr. R.E. Sullivan, Col USMC Ret, also contacted me regarding both of us having served at Camp Fuji, Japan back in the ’50s. “Sully” is a prolific writer of all things Old Corps, and we have shared many online discussions together these last many years. He is a WW II, China, Korea, and Vietnam Marine.

I have been very fortunate in my years online having interacted with such Marines as Mac, Ray, and “Sully,” all of whom greatly added to my knowledge of USMC historical topics. And there have been many others who I have neglected to mention here, but whose names and stories appear here and there throughout my webpages.