Black Female Unit Seeking Congressional Gold Medal-- Part 4: Minority Units Not Recognized or Appreciated

They cleared out a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail in three months -- twice as fast as projected.  The battalion would go on to serve in France before returning home.  And, like so many black units during he war, their exploits never got the attention afforded their white counterparts.

"It is sad to say.  They came back to Jim Crow America," Colonel Edna Cummings said.  "Not only the 6888th, but a lot of our minority soldiers who returned home from the war were not recognized or appreciated until years later.  The Tuskegee Airmen, Montford Point Marines. There are so many stories of units of color who were not recognized until  decades after the war.

--GreGen

OSS Veterans Get Congressional Gold Medal-- Part 2

In the past, the World War II groups Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo "Code Talkers" have also received the Gold Medal.

The OSS was formed in 1942 by William Donovan who called them the "Glorious Amateurs," responsible for cloak-and-dagger operations throughout the war, including ones behind enemy lines in Germany.

The OSS insignia, the spearhead, is synonymous with the Special Operations Command.

They were dissolved after the war when what was left of the organization became the foundation for the CIA.  Other branches of the OSS became the Green Berets and Navy SEALs.

Now, I'd like to see the Montford Points Marines receive one.

Well Deserved, Even This Late.  --GreGen

Montford Point Marines Honored With Memorial-- Part 2

Between 1942 and 1949, 20,000 black Marines received basic training at Montford Point in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

F.M. Hooper Junior said he remembered his father telling him about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and that's when he knew he wanted to serve his country as a Marine.

"Then, I saw the Battleship North Carolina, go up from scratch.  That's where I was raised in Brooklyn, NY.  I saw the Marines guarding the ship.  I said, OK.  I want to be a Marine."

President Truman gave the order to desegregate the military in 1948 and the Montford Marine Camp at Camp Lejeune was deactivated, ending seven years of segregated black training.

In 2012, the Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal for their role in integrating the military and nation and their service.  This is the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress.

--GreGen

Montford Point Marines Honored With Memorial-- Part 1

From the July 28, 2016, Fox Wilmington (NC) "Montford Point Marines to be honored with Memorial Friday" by Ashlea Kosikowski.

These Marines were the first blacks admitted to the United States Marine Corps and they were recognized Friday during the dedication of the National Montford Marine Point Memorial.

The ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. at the Lejeune Memorial on Montford Landing Road and NC Highway 24.

Several of the Marines who trained there will be in attendance, including F.M. Hooper Junior.

He recalled, "One of the happiest days of my life was when I graduated from basic training at Montford Point and I became a Marine.  My drill inspector said now you can wear the eagle, globe and anchors."

Long Overdue.  --GreGen

Montford Point Marine Dedication Today-- Part 2

Included in the first phase of the memorial will be a 9-foot statue made Robert Talbot and Stan Watts, as well as an M1A1 anti-aircraft gun.  Watts was the sculptor  of the 9/11 memorial "To Lift a Nation."

The M1A1 was used by the 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions, two of the Marine units that trained at Montford Point during World War II.  The gun--  one of fewer than ten M1A1s known to exist--  was located in Tennessee and purchased by the National Montford Point Marine Association for $15,000.

Funding for the memorial was raised by private donations and money from the city of Jacksonville, Onslow County and the state.  The architect for the project was O. Liam Wright, the grand-nephew of a Montford Point Marine.

--GreGen

Montford Point Marine Dedication on Today-- Part 1

From the July 28, 2016, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Montford Point Marine Dedication Fridayby Ben Steelman.

JACKSONVILLE.  The first phase of the National Montford Point memorial will be dedicated at 9 a.m. Friday at Lejeune Memorial Gardens, near the intersection on Montford Landing Road and N.C. 24 in Jacksonville.

The memorial, which stands near the Beirut and Vietnam Memorials, honors the memory of the first blacks to enter the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.  They trained at Montford Point, now Camp Johnson in the Camp Lejeune complex.

Because of the military's segregation policy of the time, they were not allowed to train with white Marines.

About Time They Were Honored.  --GreGen

Deaths: Trained Montford Marines

From July 22, 2014, TDN.com (Oregon) "Officer who trained black Marines laid to rest" by Christina George.

Major Joseph Giesel, 94, of Doreen died June 20.  He had served four years in 1942 when President FDR directed that blacks be given the opportunity to join the U.S. Marines.

White officers trained them at Montford Point, North Carolina, near present-day Camp Lejeune.  Because of this, Mr. Giesel received a Congressional Gold Medal.  He served in the Corps for 21 years and was in the Pacific theater, at Okinawa and the Korean War.

Born in 1920, he enlisted in the marines on August 24, 1938 and served on the USS Indianapolis for two years.  He was transferred to Washington, D.C. where he became a drill instructor.

Nearly 20,000 black Marines trained at Montford Point between 1942 and 1949 when the camp was deactivated by President Truman when he was integrating the military.

--GreGen

Black Marine Finally Gets His Due-- Part 2

Potts remembers heading off to war on a Pacific transport where he and his fellow black Marines were relegated to sleeping bags on the decks because they weren't allowed in the ship living quarters.

Montfird Point Marines fought at Okinawa and other battles.  Potts mainly served as a driver, hauling supplies to battle zones, a very dangerous job.  "It was only for the pure of heart to serve then," Potts said.  "You had to fight both the system and the Japanese."

Being home wasn't easy either.  When Potts was heading back to North Carolina to continue training after a short leave, he boarded a bus full of military personnel.  The driver wouldn't allow Potts to sit down and he had to stand for much of the long trip.  Potts did say that a white sailor offered him his seat.

Just hard to believe that brave men and women willing to risk their lives for their country like that would be treated in such a manner.  But, it was just part of the way things wree back then.  Glad that has changed.

A Long Overdue Honor.  A Salute for the Montford Point Marines!!  --GreGen

Black Marine Finally Gets His Due-- Part 1

From the July 16th Wilmington (NC) Star-News by AP.

David Potts Sr. and 400 other surviving Montford Point Marines, the nation's first group of black Marines have been honored at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Washington, DC.

All of the men are well into their 80s and served in the nation's segregated military during the war.  Potts, 88, told how he and the others had to deal with discrimination both at home and overseas.  The Montford Point Marines once numbered 20,000 and Potts believes he is the only surviving one from  Mississippi since John Hall Jr of Gulfport died in May.

Back in 1942, President Roosevelt gave the blacks the opportunity to train to be Marines, but they had to do it in a segregated camp.  It turned out to be Montford Point, NC, near Camp Lejeune and Jacksonvile.

Too bad these men do not have their own survivors organization like so many other groups do.

More to Come.  --GreGen

Blacks in World War II-- Part 3

With conditions such as these at Port Chicago, the inevitable happened July 17, 1944, a Liberty ship was virtually atomized and more than 300 sailors killed.  When the black sailors refused to return to work weeks later, the Navy put 50 of them on trial for mutiny.  The case would eventually involve many later connected to the Civil Rights Movement, including future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.

The author put his emphasis on people.  To tell the Montford Point story, he focuses on Edgar Huff, from Alabama who was in the first training class.  He excelled and his white officers made him a DI to train other blacks.  As Drill Instructor, he drove his men harder than a white sergeant would have to make sure they were more than proficient in all aspects of fighting, which paid off when they finally got into combat.

All the while, he had to overcome the constant racism constantly.  Once on leave to go home to see his mother, he was apprehended in Atlanta by a shore patrol for "impersonating a Marine."  White policemen stole his pay, forcing him to walk the rest of the way home.

Later, in Jacksonville, NC, six white Marines tried to rip his newly-earned sergeant's stripes off and he with his bare hands left all lying bloody on the ground.  For recreation, Huff and other black Marines had to ride to Wilmington to the nearest USO Club designated for blacks on Castle Street.

Ironically, Huff, who later became the Corps' first black sergeant-major, spent almost all of the war at home as he was just too good of a GI to spare.  He did not see combat until the Korean War and later Vietnam where he would earn a Bronze Star and Purple Heart saving American lives in the Tet Offensive.

Just One More Example of the Greatest Generation, One Who Also Had to Overcome Even More Obstacles.  --GreGen

Blacks in World War II-- Part 2

On Saipan, desperate fighting cost 3,500 American lives which led commanders to throw the first black Marines into combat.  These men had trained at the segregated Montford Point facility outside Jacksonville, NC, now part of the USMC's Camp Lejeune.  They were only supposed to be stevedores, supply handlers and rear-echelon guards.  They performed admirably.

There was no longer the question of how well they could fight.

The military needed huge amounts of ordnance to fight the Pacific war.  Shipping it to the front was largely the part of black sailors who were ordered to become ammunition handlers at the Port Chicago, California, depot.  It was a huge accident waiting to happen.  In the rush to supply the front and to set records, white Navy officers ignored safety precautions.  Coast Guard inspectors complained of the conditions, they were ordered off the base.

Black sailors got the job because Navy brass wanted to avoid problems and pay with unionized civilian stevedores.  Morale among the sailors was low.  As late as 1944, the Navy would only allow blacks to serve as cooks, busboys and stevedores.  It was in that year, however, that the first black officers were commissioned.

The Accident.  --GreGen

Blacks in World War II-- Part 1

From the July 15th Wilmington (NC) Star-News ""'The Color of War': Story of Giants" by Ben Steelman.

This is a review of James Campbell's book "The Color of War: How One Battle Broke Japan and Another Changed America.."

It took many years for the Tuskegee Airmen to be recognized.  I am glad that now the Montfort Point Marines and men serving at Port Chicago are being likewise given credit.  The obstacles these men had to overcome were remarkable and the fact that they stuck with it and persevered in the face of all the bigotry is a true credit to their race.  Just to show how deep this segregationist attitude went, Wilmington, NC, had over ten USOs and there was one exclusive for blacks.

"Wilmington plays a bit part in this history about a different side of World War II: The battle of black service memebers to achieve equality, respect and the right to fight for their country."

In the book, Campbell focuses on two incidents from mid-1944, the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific and the explosion at the ammunition-loading station at Port Chicago by San Francisco Bay.  "The two events are intertwined."

More to Come.  --GreGen

Congratulations to the Montford Point Marines!!

From the June 29th Chicago Tribune "First African-American Marines honored."

The nation's first black Marines were in Washington D.C. to receive the Congressional Gold Medal for their World War II service even in the face of huge descrimination back then.  They received their name from the segregated camp at which they trained in North Carolina by Camp Lejeune.

Those still living attended the ceremony along with family members held Wednesday in the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall.  Along with these pioneers, former and present Marines attended, including Marine Corps Commandant Gen, James Otis, who supported legislation for the award. 

The Montford Point Marines participated in three of the bloodiest World War II battles: Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Roughly 400 survivors of the 20,000 who trained there attended.

They are now among several groups of WWII veterans that lawmakers have honored, including the Tuskegee Airmen and the Navajo Code Talkers.

The Tuskegee Airmen are definitely better known of these groups.  Until recently, I was unaware of the Montford Point Marines.  The fact that these men risked their lives to fight for a country that denied them equality is worthy in itself.

A Well-Deserved Honor.  --GreGen