Russell “Huck” Hamler has never lost sight of the fact that he’s lucky to be alive. During World War II, Hamler, a 98-year-old Mt. Lebanon native and Baldwin Township resident was part of a top-secret elite Army unit known as “Merrill’s Marauders,” named after its commander, Brigadier General Frank Merrill,
WWII soldier from NY to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery stripes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stripes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Twin brothers, Johnie and Louie Baima, were strapping young men when they enlisted together during World War II, and served side-by-side in the jungles of Burma as members of the 5307th Composite Unit, better known to history as “Merrill’s Marauders.”
It has taken nearly 78 years, but a band of soldiers from an Army unit nicknamed "Merrill s Marauders," who undertook one of the most dangerous and pivotal missions of World
Lawmakers on Wednesday awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Merrill’s Marauders, bestowing the nation’s highest civilian honor to the famed Army unit from World War II.