Fitnessroadie

By, Beth Foster

Credit: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, Some Rights Reserved, Deed – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic – Creative Commons, No Changes Were Made, via Flickr Montford Point Platoon Book, Title Page, ca. 1943 | From the… | Flickr

Hello everyone! Today I will be honoring Montford Point Marines! Back in January of this year, I actually visited the Montford Point Marine Memorial in Jacksonville, North Carolina. I had no idea whatsoever what the memorial itself was about. Upon arriving, I saw other memorials, but I didn’t see the Montford Point Marine Memorial. I kept walking after a few minutes or so and I see this statue of this Marine charging forward with a service rifle.

Montford Point Marine Memorial, Jacksonville, North Carolina

I begin to read what it says on the statue and around it and that is when I first realized that the Montford Point Marines were the first African American/Black Marines! This made me feel overwhelmingly happy because this is definitely an important part of just not Marine Corps history but in the United States. So, let me take some time and give you some history on the Montford Point Marines.

On June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 that stated that “there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in the defense industries of government because of race, creed, color or national origin”. You have to remember before this executive order was signed African Americans and people of color were not allowed to apply for these jobs because of segregation. So, this made defense industry government jobs available not just for white people but for all people.

Credit: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, Some Rights Reserved, Deed – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic – Creative Commons, No Changes Were Made, via Flickr, Company A, Platoon 202, October 1943 | Company A, Platoon 20… | Flickr

Prior to President Roosevelt signing this executive order, only the Navy and Army allowed African Americans to join the segregated military. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps did not allow African Americans to join up until June 1, 1942, when the first black Marine, was sworn in, Alfred Masters.

Credit: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, Some Rights Reserved, Deed – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic – Creative Commons, No Changes Were Made, via Flickr, Life on Base, Montford Point Platoon Book, ca. 1943 | Flickr

On August 26, 1942, the first African American Marine recruits arrived for basic training. As I’ve mentioned before, this was still during a time when segregation was legal, and the black recruits had to be segregated from the white ones. Traditionally, East coast recruits are trained at Marine Corps Recruiting Depot Parris Island, South Carolina and the West coast recruits are trained at Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego, California. If you live west of the Mississippi river you go to San Diego and if you live east of the Mississippi river you go to Parris Island. With that being said, the black recruits were sent to a training facility called Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Credit: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, Some Rights Reserved, Deed – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic – Creative Commons. No Changes Were Made, via Flickr, Boot Camp, Montford Point Platoon Book, ca. 1943 | Candidate… | Flickr

By the end of World War II, approximately 13,000 Montford Point Marines were deployed overseas, in places such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. More than 20,000 black Marines were trained at Montford Point after the war. On September 9, 1949, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, that integrated all branches of the military. What is so ironic is that I was born September 9th. Montford Point was re-named Camp Johnson in 1974, which is where Marines have their training for logistics, personnel, finance and water survival.

Credit: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, Some Rights Reserved, Deed – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic – Creative Commons, No Changes Were Made, via Flickr, Battery Drill, ca. 1943 | Montford Point Marines participate… | Flickr

I hope that you learned something new today and you never know you may come across a Montford Point Marine!