Talk:Edson Raff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.	Biography Portal
Stub	This article has been rated as stub-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ]

	This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.
Additional information and associated task forces: This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call: <!-- B-Class-1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points have appropriate inline citations. --> |B-Class-1=yes/no <!-- B-Class-2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. --> |B-Class-2=yes/no <!-- B-Class-3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. --> |B-Class-3=yes/no <!-- B-Class-4. It is free from major grammatical errors. --> |B-Class-4=yes/no <!-- B-Class-5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. --> |B-Class-5=yes/no Associated task forces (nations and regions): United States military history task force Associated task forces (periods and conflicts): World War II task force

[edit] Where was Edson?

He led the 509th into Africa in late 1942. He shows up again landing at Utah via LCT in 1944.

• Where was he from '42 to '44?
• Why didn't he jump into Normandy?

His book was published in 1944, so perhaps he was back in the states, or in England, training more paratroopers? Anybody read his book? It may say in there. Beanbatch 20:29, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

Apparently, he commanded the 509th until at least Christmas of 1942, as he selected the group that set out to destroy the railroad bridge at El Djem, Tunisia. Still leaves 18 months. According to one veteran interview, Raff may have gotten in some trouble over his book, as he may not have requested permission to publish it. --Habap 13:56, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

OK, I found out more by re-reading some of Clay Blair's Ridgway's Paratroopers, in particular, what I have posted on the User:Habap/Raff user sub-page. So, he was on Bradley's staff, then was 'forced' upon Ridgway who assigned him to lead the 325's armored sea-landing force (21 tanks and 90 gliderists) on D-Day. No exact dates for his assignment to Bradley's staff or to the 82nd. --Habap 15:38, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Little Flower

Interestingly, Raff's sister the nun, didn't tell him that the Little Flower wasn't Jesus. In fact, the Little Flower of Jesus was from Calvados, Basse-Normandie, near where Raff would fight with the 325th. --Habap 06:14, 14 March 2006 (UTC)