Frank Merrill Frank Dow Merrill ( December 4 , 1903 in New Hampshire – December 11 , 1955 in Fernandina Beach , Florida ) is best remembered for his command of Merrill ' s Marauders , officially the 5307th Composite Unit ( provisional ) , in the Burma Campaign of World War II . Merrill ' s Marauders came under General Joseph Stilwell ' s Northern Combat Area Command . It was a special forces unit modelled on the Chindits ' long range penetration groups trained to operate from bases deep behind Japanese lines . Background and early career . Merrill lived with his family in Amesbury , Massachusetts and graduated from Amesbury High School . He enlisted in the U . S . Army in 1922 and earned the rank of sergeant before attending West Point where he graduated in 1929 . Merrill also earned a B . S . in military engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1932 . In 1938 , Merrill became the Military Attaché in Tokyo where he studied the Japanese language . He joined General Douglas MacArthur ' s staff in the Philippines in 1941 as a military intelligence officer . Merrill was on a mission in Rangoon , Burma at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and remained in Burma after the Japanese invasion . In 1942 , Col . Merrill was promoted to Brigadier General . Merrill ' s Marauders . In 1943 , General Merrill was appointed to command a new volunteer U . S . Army special forces unit patterned after the Long Range Jungle Penetration groups formed by the British to harass Japanese forces in Burma ( the Chindits ) . The U . S . Army ' s official name for the unit was the 5307th Composite Unit ( provisional ) . ( The title provisional means the unit is formed for a special mission or operation and will be disbanded afterwards ) . Visiting war correspondents , after viewing the 5307th ' s performance on the firing ranges , promptly dubbed the unit " Merrill ' s Marauders " . General Merrill oversaw the training and deployment of the three battalions of the 5307th into Burma in February 1944 . In slightly more than five months of combat behind Japanese lines in Burma , the Marauders , who supported the X Force , advanced 750 miles through some of the harshest jungle terrain in the world , fought in 5 major engagements ( Walawbum , Shaduzup , Inkangahtawng , Nhpum Ga , and Myitkyina ) and engaged in combat with the Japanese Army on thirty - two separate occasions . Battling Japanese soldiers , hunger , and disease , they had traversed more jungle on their long - range patrols than any other U . S . Army unit of the war . On March 29 , Merrill suffered his first heart attack and command returned to then executive officer , Colonel Charles N . Hunter . In their final mission against the Japanese base at Myitkyina , the Marauders suffered 272 killed , 955 wounded , and 980 evacuated for illness and disease . By the time the town of Myitkyina was taken , only about 200 surviving members of the original Marauders were present . On August 10 , 1944 , a week after the town ' s fall to U . S . and Chinese forces , the 5307th was disbanded with a final total of only 130 combat - effective officers and men ( out of the original 2 , 997 ) . Awards and decorations . General Merrill ' s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal , Purple Heart , Bronze Star , Legion of Merit , and Combat Infantryman Badge . After World War II and service in the post war Philippines , Merrill became the New Hampshire Commissioner of Highways . He was elected President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials but died two days later . The Everett Turnpike bridge over New Hampshire ' s Souhegan River was a favorite of Merrill ' s , and is dedicated to Merrill ' s Marauders . Camp Frank D . Merrill , near Dahlonega , Georgia , is home to the three - week mountain training phase of the United States Army Ranger School . Merrill was played by Jeff Chandler in the 1962 " film " .