Join us in May 2027 for a Legacy Lecture by Dr. Stephen R. Platt about his book The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. on a date to be announced. A book signing and reception will follow the presentation.
How did one unconventional Marine change the way America fought?
Long before Pearl Harbor, Evans Carlson had already fought in Nicaragua, served repeated tours in China, and embedded with Mao Zedong’s Communist forces during the war against Japan. Impressed by their guerrilla tactics, discipline, and shared sense of purpose, he brought those ideas home to the Marine Corps. After the United States entered World War II, Carlson organized the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, introduced “gung ho” into the American vocabulary, and led daring operations on Makin Island and Guadalcanal that helped shape the future of U.S. special operations.
In The Raider, Dr. Stephen R. Platt separates Carlson’s extraordinary life from the legend that grew around it. Drawing on newly available family papers, diaries, and correspondence in English and Chinese, he follows an idealistic, innovative, and deeply controversial officer across revolutions, battlefields, and political upheaval. Carlson’s story also intersects with George C. Marshall’s long engagement with China. Both men confronted the military value of Chinese Communist forces, the political power of Chiang Kai-shek, and the difficulty of separating battlefield necessity from the larger struggle over China’s future. Platt shows how Carlson’s admiration for Mao’s movement inspired his greatest achievements and later helped destroy his reputation.
How can I attend?
The event is free to the public, but reservations are required. Reservations will open when the event date is announced. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 540.463.7103, ext. 138.
How can I watch from home?
The presentation will also be livestreamed on the Marshall Foundation YouTube channel (https://bit.ly/2Or0E8D) simultaneously. Viewers of the stream are encouraged to write questions using the live video chat (to the lower right of the video) or via email at [email protected]. Chat will be monitored for abusive comments.
Who is Dr. Stephen R. Platt?
Dr. Stephen R. Platt is an award-winning historian of China and the West and a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His books include Imperial Twilight, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, and Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, winner of the Cundill History Prize. The Raider was named one of the best books of 2025 by Library Journal and History Today and received the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s Col. Joseph Alexander Award. He holds a PhD in Chinese history from Yale University.
Related content
Read Marshall’s own recollections of Evans Carlson and Joseph Stilwell; examine the wartime military and political tensions behind Marshall’s recall of Stilwell from China; and follow Marshall’s later attempt to mediate between Chinese Nationalists and Communists in “The Old Professor” in China.
The George C. Marshall Foundation Legacy Series is sponsored by:
Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation; Edward Jones; CornerStone Bank; Lexington Sunrise Rotary Club; Raymond James; and Mr. Ted Judt