Benjamin Carson was born in February 1923 on a farm in Ottawa Township, Minnesota. Shortly afterward, his family moved to a farm in Henderson, Minnesota. His mother took the lead in managing the farm and the family for the first years of Carson's life because his father spent most of that time in a veteran's hospital. His father was recovering from hand and back wounds received in the First World War. Carson's mother continually expanded the farm property through the purchase of additional land when she had money available to buy it. The family raised their own meat, including chickens and pigs, plus vegetable crops for their use. It was a good life in the country as they were away from city life. Carson enjoyed swimming and fishing in the lake on their property. He graduated from Henderson High School in 1941. He heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio while on the farm. Soon afterward, he began evaluating the various branches of the armed forces as he knew he would be called to serve. His brother was in the Navy so Carson did not want to join that branch. He decided instead to join the Marines in February 1942. His brother castigated him but as it turned out, his brother died in the Navy and though wounded, Carson survived service in the Marines. When Carson was sent to boot camp in San Diego, California, the facilities and equipment were poor for training. Bunks were not always available in the barracks so Carson sometimes slept on the barracks floor. Not every soldier had a rifle available so some trained with sticks. The numbers of recruits had overwhelmed the training capacity at that time. The training process was also altered at the time. Less emphasis was placed on marching and more focus was placed on shooting. Carson became a sharpshooter using a Springfield 1903 rifle. He became very tired of boot camp guard duty. He could not figure out how he could contribute to the winning of the war when all he was doing was guarding empty garbage cans. When the opportunity came to join the Marine Raiders, he took it. He had no idea what the Raiders did militarily, but he knew it would be better than guarding garbage cans. The recruiter for the Raiders asked about Carson's background and when he found out that Carson had grown up on a farm and knew how to swim, he selected him to be a Raider. Carson did not know what to expect, but he was just glad he was getting three meals a day. He became a member of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, which was also known as Carlson's Raiders.

Benjamin Carson volunteered to become a Marine Raider without even knowing what that duty entailed. He was soon introduced to the details by the man in charge of the Raiders. Evans Carlson [Annotator's Note: U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General Evans Fordyce Carlson] would brief the men every week on the nature of their mission. Carlson had been an enlisted man in World War 1 but was later commissioned and served in China. He was quiet a leader who believed in leading from the front. Carlson would tell the men to expect missed meals and nights of sleeping in wet clothes. He warned the men not to complain because they had volunteered and too much griping could mean ejection from the Raiders. Carlson dealt straight with the men and they respected him. Carlson was an enigma. Carlson reminded the men that they were volunteers and as a result should never complain unless they wanted out of the Raiders. At the same time, Carlson took care of his men. The training and marching were rigorous in preparation for the upcoming missions. Water bags were added to backpacks to simulate heavy loads the men would have to carry in combat. When it became apparent that the boots the men were issued harmed their feet, Carlson took it upon himself to find boots from a nonmilitary commercial source that were better for his men. Foot sores were reduced, and the men recognized their commander's efforts. The majority of the Raiders were former farm boys. Because Carson had enjoyed swimming in the lake on the farm as his entertainment, he became a swim instructor to two other recruits. During that time, little in the way of caution was given before this instruction. As a result, one of Carson's two charges nearly drown when Carson was distracted by his other trainee. Carson was more educated than many of the recruits so he also became a reading and writing instructor for some of the recruits. When the training turned to amphibious landings, Carson trained in two different styles of Higgins boats. The first Higgins boat had no ramp so the men had to jump over the bow. The later version of the Higgins boat had a ramp and that greatly facilitated getting the men off the beach. Before the ramp, up to 40 percent casualties were experienced by the Marines. The rate of loss dropped after the introduction of the ramp. Getting off the beach quickly helped reduce casualties. [Annotator's Note: the first landing craft Carson and the Raiders trained with were Landing Craft Personnel (Large), or LCP(L)s, and the latter was the Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel, or LCVP.]

Benjamin Carson and the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion left San Diego and headed to Pearl Harbor aboard the USS J. Franklin Bell (AP-34) in May 1942. The men were surprised that there was no military escort for their ship. When the Bell arrived at Pearl Harbor, the men viewed the damage from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the damaged ships from Midway. Soon after arrival at Pearl Harbor, the Raiders were quickly shipped to Level Island in the Midway Island group. They had responsibility for defense of that island. They trained by digging foxholes. The effort was difficult because when digging in the sand, the best that results is a wallow as opposed to a distinct foxhole dug in harder ground. Preparing for the battle, Carson and his fellow Marines knew that there were no defenses on their island except for their shallow foxholes. The battle action did not include Level Island. Carson did not experience any bombing or Japanese assaults. After three weeks at Midway, the Raiders returned to Pearl Harbor. They later loaded into APDs [Annotator's Note: APDs were destroyers or destroyer escorts that had been converted into high speed troop transports] and began assault training using Higgins boats and rubber boats with outboard motors. They did not know it, but they were training for the raid on Makin Island. With all the mix ups and mess ups, they were not ready to go to war.

Benjamin Carson had trained at Pearl Harbor in preparation for the raid on Makin Island. They boarded the submarines Argonaut [Annotator's Note: USS Argonaut (SS-166)] and the Nautilus [Annotator's Note: USS Nautilus (SS-168)] to voyage to Makin Island. The rubber boats used to carry the Raiders to shore were greased and stuffed inside the torpedo tubes on the submarine's deck that were used to carry spare torpedoes. When removed in preparation for inflation, the boats were difficult to handle with the grease on them. It was similar to wrestling with a greased pig. To make matters worse, when inflating the boats, a whining and squealing noise caused concern that the Japanese would be alerted. The Japanese were not alerted. The raid was marked by confusion on both sides. The Raiders were all armed with automatic weapons; while the Japanese had only bolt action Arisaka rifles. The Marines fired many rounds with their automatic weapons set to full automatic. Carson estimates that it took 1,500 rounds to bring down each enemy soldier. Carson carried a BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] even though he was a small man. The BAR saved his life multiple times. Often, he would empty the 20 round magazine on full automatic. When the Marines came ashore on Makin, they could see Colonel Carlson [Annotator's Note: then US Marine Corps Colonel Evans Fordyce Carlson] standing up. Carson thought that was foolhardy with the extent of shooting that was occurring. Nevertheless, the Marines had command of one beach while the Japanese had the adjacent beach. The Colonel had his men go inland and surround the enemy. By daylight, most of the enemy had been killed. Some of the dead were obviously cooks and bakers by the way they were dressed. They had grabbed their rifles and gone on the defense, but the Marines had surprised and overwhelmed them. The rest of the day, the Raiders spent souvenir hunting. By nightfall, the submarines had returned and evacuated the Marines. Carson's mission in the raid had been to help capture a white structure that was thought to be either a communication center or possibly the quarters for the enemy commanding officer. During the attack on the building, the enemy defensive fire was so strong that the Marines were told to stand down and let the mortars do the work. After the building was mortared, it was finally taken. During the course of the combat, Japanese ships unsuccessfully attempted to reinforce the enemy. The ships were sunk and bodies could be seen drifting to the beach. Enemy observation planes flew overhead and, at one point, the Marines managed to down one of those aircraft. It was seen crashing offshore. The Raiders withdrew after the enemy was reinforced. The intelligence on the enemy strength was not very precise. The Americans knew that the Japanese had machine guns, but they knew that they could handle that. It was the mortars that provided the most concern, but they were soon silenced. Eventually, Carlson told his men to cease fire. If the Japanese fired on the Marines, the Raiders would return fire. There was not very much firing at that point. Virtually all of the enemy troops had been eliminated. Marine snipers would eliminate any of the enemy automatic weapons. The Marines had very effective sharpshooters. Natives aided the Marine machine gunners. They would carry ammunition for the guns and even point out enemy positions. A few of the wounded natives were given aid on the submarines. When the natives returned to the island, they were treated as heroes. Makin Island was the last of the raider type operations. Prior to Midway it was a rifleman's war but after Midway all kinds of advanced equipment showed up.

Benjamin Carson found that evacuating Makin Island was far more difficult that arriving there. The tide worked against them and made it very hard to link up with the submarines that were intended to be their exit vessels. The rubber boat that Carson was in had six Marines who were low on ammunition and operating largely without orders. They could not fight the tide so they jumped out of the boat and swam alongside to help the effort. They had a problem sighting the submarines because they had not surfaced. The submarines would not surface until near dark. When they finally boarded the submarine, Carson tumbled into it. While doing so, he heard the sound of the rubber boat being stabbed and air escaping it. The rubber boat with its outboard motor was sunk so that the Japanese could not capture it. Carson successfully evacuated the island on his second attempt. The first attempt had not been successful because the tidal surge pushed them back to shore. The men learned that they had to inflate their boat until it was as hard as wood. This would help them transit the surf. After Carson left the island, some Marines were left behind and surrendered [Annotator's Note: nine Marines were left behind, captured, and later executed by the Japanese]. The situation on Makin became very confused. No one was giving orders and the men did not know what to do until a gunnery sergeant took command and got the men organized to evacuate. Carson had arrived at Makin aboard the Nautilus [Annotator's Note: USS Nautilus (SS-168)] but evacuated on the Argonaut [Annotator's Note: USS Argonaut (SS-166)]. Carson knew some of the men who were casualties on Makin. The evolution of the whole action at Makin just seemed to tumble down on the Raiders. Not too many officers or men knew what was happening from moment to moment. Some men obviously suffered from stress resulting from firefights. More of those type reactions increased as the war wore on. Carson was hit during the raid. He went to the hospital after being hit and when he returned, he did not recognize his unit because of so many replacements [Annotator's Note: Carson will correct this to indicate that he was wounded on Iwo Jima not Makin Island]. At Makin, the whole action took about 24 hours. It was a mixed up mess. Lessons would be learned from the action on how to handle operations behind enemy lines. One Marine was even struck with the butt of an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 rifle, also referred to as an M1 Garand] when he appeared to be giving away the Americans position because he was being too loud. After Makin Island, the Raiders returned to Pearl Harbor.

Benjamin Carson received ten days leave after the Makin Island raid. He was billeted at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. He located his brother after the eighth day and they spent two days together. His brother strongly advised him to quit the Raiders because it was dangerous duty. Ironically, his brother would die from accidental smoke inhalation aboard the USS Maryland (BB-46). In the early stages of the war, the Marine Corps would find itself with a deficiency of lower grade noncommissioned officers. As a result, some promotions were rushed and forced on individuals. Carson did not feel he was prepared to be promoted to the rank of corporal. He would have become a sergeant had he not been wounded. No large scale American assaults were made before Guadalcanal. The small scale actions could be referred to as dabbling with the enemy. The actions were limited to raids such as Makin Island where, in that case, only two Marine Raider companies were transported by submarine to attack a small Japanese outpost of unknown strength. On Guadalcanal, the Raiders were sent to Aola Bay to distract the Japanese from their constant attacks on Henderson Field. The advances on Guadalcanal had bogged down near the airstrip and the Marines were to take the pressure off the field. The Raiders landed safely on Aola Bay and initially had success. Problems arose when support units did not link up with them. When word came that a Japanese division was moving their way, the Marines made for higher ground and began the Long Patrol back to Henderson Field. During that time, Carson asked his commanding officer what their mission was. The officer was ambivalent in his response. When they finally reached the safety of the American lines, it was a relief. Henderson Field had changed dramatically with its antiaircraft protection and advanced stage of construction and development. [Annotator's Note: Carson reviews some evacuation details from the Makin Island Raid during the course of this discussion.] Even though Henderson Field was more secure than before, there were still constant mortar rounds fired by the Japanese at the airstrip. Troop strength on Guadalcanal diminished as the island hopping campaign progressed and troops were needed in other locations.

Benjamin Carson assessed the battle for Bougainville to be unique in the sense that the intent was not to capture the whole island but only a portion of it. The Marines initially had an easy time with the assault. There was very little Japanese resistance to the landings. It was a quiet walk from the landing craft. This was during a period where there was considerable consternation on the home front about the extent of American casualties being experienced in the war. As a result, the assaults usually required preliminary large scale naval bombardments and subsequent heavy land based artillery support. The Marines on Bougainville witnessed constant nightly shelling by the Japanese. After a period of this, aircraft were routed from aircraft carriers offshore to silence the firing on the Marines. It was during this attack on the Japanese that the whole island seemed to shake with the explosions. Carson became a member of Company E when the Raiders were disbanded [Annotator's Note: the Raiders disbanded in February 1944 after which Carson was reassigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division]. Carson was shocked when, after two years of fighting, the Raiders were disbanded. His assignment to Company E was a surprise. His new officer was just out of OCS [Annotator's Note: Officer Candidate School] and wanted him to stay close to him for advice because of Carson's extensive combat experience. Carson refused because the Japanese shot at officers and the radio men who were usually close to the officer. For a period of time, the action was quiet but then the enemy attempted a counterattack to recover territory. This was about the time that rocket launched artillery had been deployed by the Marines. Carson would lie on his back and watch the three inch rockets fired from launchers that were spread over a 75 to 100 yard area. That was the last frontal assault by the Japanese that Carson saw. After Bougainville, the Japanese were on the run. Carson questioned Iwo Jima as a strategic goal, but he mentions that damaged American aircraft could make emergency landings on the island. After Bougainville, Carson went to Agana, Guam where he was reassigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 26th Regiment, 5th Marine Division. Carson served overseas for 39 months during the war. He did not return to the United States until after the war.

Benjamin Carson had never heard of Iwo Jima before he was told that the Marines would be invading that part of Japan. He learned that Iwo Jima was in fact a part of Japan. The enemy had spent extra effort to protect the island. The defensive positions were three levels deep. The enemy had situated their weapons to provide enfilading fire. The bunkers and emplacements were well armored to provide the defenders good protection. These preparations resulted in a bloody mess for the Marines who had to take the island. When Carson was hit, there was a shortage of blood at the front. He had to walk a long distance to reach an aid station in the rear. By the time he reached the station, he was covered in his own blood. He had bled profusely from the large shrapnel wound in his left arm. He was in the aid station for two days, partially to recover from the loss of blood, then he was evacuated to the USS Woodrow Wilson which was part of the President Line shipping company. The chow on the ship was good. Carson had a chance to sleep in a real bunk since the ship had only recently changed from civilian service. He saw an ice maker for the first time and he was fascinated by it. The blood that Carson had lost had to be replaced over time because of the quantity lost. USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] people came by to help the wounded. They gave him a candy bar, but he had a bad time with the wrapper. A nurse saw his difficulty and helped him with the wrapper. The ship took Carson to Guam where he had to wait onboard for a day to allow for other wounded to be removed from the dock. Carson was transported to the first aid station on a jeep. He was asked if he could walk. He tried but fell immediately. His arm hurt tremendously. He was taken to a ward in the aid station. When he looked around he saw a lot of men laying there. A nurse came to get him after awhile. He was informed that he had been placed in a morgue and temporarily forgotten. After a week in Guam, he was sent to Pohnpei where there was a hospital unit. It was not a recreational stop but only a stop away from the front. He spent ten days there. Afterward, Carson was flown to Suva in the Fiji Islands where his wound was treated and sutured. After that he was sent to a recreational spot in Viti Levu for recovery.

Benjamin Carson was on Guam when the war in the Pacific came to an end. All of the ship whistles and horns were blowing. Carson knew something important had happened. He asked a nurse to explain what was happening. She told him that the war had ended. She brought him the best piece of pie. She went on to relate her feelings about seeing over 200 men die. She soon was taken off the duty in the ward. A human can only take so much before it affects them. Carson returned to the United States in April. He arrived in San Diego, California but the paperwork was filed for him to go on permanent leave to recover. He returned home where all he wanted to do was go fishing. He went to the river and clubbed carp as they gathered in groups near the surface. He and his brother caught and smoked the fish. Before returning home, he had heard of the GI Bill. As a Marine, he knew he wanted to collect the benefits. He was aggravated by the confusion of the system to acquire the benefits. Local officials knew neither the law nor the requirements to get the college benefits. No one had the details of how to make the system paperwork flow. No one had adequately anticipated how to handle the multitude of veterans wanting to use the GI Bill benefits. He had to fight his way through the difficulty without much in the way of help. He did manage to enter Iowa State College on the GI Bill where he earned a degree in Forestry. Carson went on to have a good career in the Forest Service. His work dealt with selling National Forest timber. While he was in college, much of the class was composed on war veterans. It made the transition to civilian life easier. One of the professors would have three veterans tell their war experiences each Friday to the class. Carson spoke several times. The class room got very crowded as the word spread of the veterans telling of their personal experiences. Americans knew little about Japan at that time. The atomic bombs were the turning point in bringing a very difficult war with the Japanese to an end.

Benjamin Carson served with James Roosevelt who was President Roosevelt's [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] son. Carson first met James Roosevelt while the latter was a captain. Carson stayed in service with him until Roosevelt was promoted to major. Roosevelt became the commanding officer of the 4th Marine Raider Battalion. Although a likeable guy, he would try to worm his way into the groups of combat veterans. Roosevelt had no real combat experience at the time and his gung ho, go for broke, character worried Carlson [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Brigadier Evans Fordyce Carlson] that it was risky to have him under his command. President Roosevelt had requested Carlson to take on James with the Raiders and watch over him. Feeling the pressure of that request and the incumbent risk, Carlson suggested a transfer of James Roosevelt to the intelligence service because of his training background. That was the last the Raiders saw of James Roosevelt. To show the nature of James Roosevelt's character, Carson tells a story of Roosevelt sitting down with the men to a meal of what he thought was chicken cooked on an open fire. When Roosevelt was informed that it was a marmot that he was eating, he responded by saying that if it was good enough for the men, it was good enough for him. James Roosevelt was an all right guy.

Benjamin Carson returned to Kwajalein with other Raiders and with Louis Zamperini [Annotator's Note: Louis S. Zamperini was an Olympic athlete and Army Air Forces bombardier who was captured by the Japanese during World War 2. Zamperini's interview is also available on the Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum website]. On that trip, Carson met natives who were excited to meet Raiders once again. The natives remembered Carlson [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Brigadier General Evans Fordyce Carlson] and James Roosevelt. These natives had been cannibals only one generation in the past. One man related how there were skulls scattered around the village. The intent was to crush the skull of someone who had been eaten so that the spirit of the dead person would not return. That same individual had been transported to Los Angles by three Raiders in order to tell of his experiences and those of his cannibalistic ancestors. Carson had another former cannibal tell him of his conversion from cannibalism to Christianity by a missionary.