Q:Facts: - battles: world war ii - allegiance: united states of america - death date: 11 march 2003 - commands: 2nd infantry regiment , 77th special forces group battalion 509th parachute infantry regiment , 507th parachute - nickname: '' little caesar '' - birth date: 15 november 1907 - unit: 2nd battalion 509th parachute infantry regiment - name: edson duncan raff - branch: united states army Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of edson raff .
A:
edson duncan raff -lrb- november 15 , 1907 in new york city -- march 11 , 2003 in garnett , kansas -rrb- was an officer in the us army and author of a book on paratroopers .he served as commanding officer of the first american paratroop unit to jump into combat , the 2nd battalion 509th parachute infantry regiment , near oran as part of operation torch .his book , '' we jumped to fight '' , was based on his experience in that operation and was published in 1944 .raff had served as first captain of cadets at a small prep school in winchester , virginia called the shenandoah valley academy before serving in the army .due to the tough training course he gave the paratroopers in the 509th -lrb- and his stocky physique -rrb- , raff was nicknamed '' little caesar '' by them .he first saw combat during operation torch as the commander of the 509th : he spent time as an airborne planner on general omar bradley 's staff and was assigned by general matthew ridgway to lead task force raff , a composite unit of m-4 sherman tanks and scout cars landed at utah beach on d-day to support the 82nd .when the commander of the 507th parachute infantry regiment was captured in normandy , raff was assigned on june 15 , 1944 , to command the regiment .raff led that unit , nicknamed '' raff 's ruffians '' , through the rest of the war , including its participation in operation varsity .as the plane neared the dz , raff recalls : after the war in 1954 , raff would command the 77th special forces group , based at fort bragg and is credited by lieutenant general william yarborough as the '' father '' of the then-controversial green beret now routinely worn by us army special forces .