Edson Duncan Raff

Colonel Edson Duncan Kingman-Raff, age 95, of Garnett, Kansas, died Tuesday, March 11, 2003, at Anderson County Hospital Long Term Care Unit in Garnett. Colonel Raff was born November 15, 1907, in New York, New York. He was the son of Samuel 'Lemuel' and Mary Edna (Abell) Kingman-Raff. Edson lived intermittently in Garnett since 1969, traveling to Bora Bora, French Polynesia in South Pacific for the winter months. He was a Commanding Officer in the United States Army during WWII, seeing action in the European and African Theaters of war. His military career spanned from 1932 to 1958. Colonel Raff qualified as a Parachutist June 22, 1941, at Fort Benning, Georgia. He led the first and last U.S. combat parachute invasions of World War II. As a LTC, he commanded the 2nd Bn, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (later designated the 509 Parachute Infantry Battalion) when, on November 2, 1942, it made the first American combat jump after flying from Lands End, England to Lourmel, Algeria in North Africa, initiating the North African campaign against the French. A week later the unit made a second combat jump at Youks les Bains in eastern Algeria. June 6, 1944, in the invasion of Europe, Colonel Raff commanded the