MONTFORD POINT MARINES AWARDED CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 35, August 19, 2012, Article 22

Members of the Montford Point Marines are gathering in Washington D.C. this week to receive their long-anticipated Congressional Gold Medal.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Norman Preston, 90, an original Montford Point Marine. “I’m proud of us; we were the pioneers of the Marine Corps and we are really being honored and respected ... We couldn’t ask for anything better.”

The Montford Point Marines were the first blacks to join the Corps after they were finally allowed to serve. The Marines trained at the segregated Montford Point, aboard what is now Camp Johnson in Jacksonville. Many were barred from entering establishments, forced to work and train harder than their white counterparts and faced discrimination and prejudice from fellow troops and outsiders.

“They treated us like a bunch of dogs,” said Paul Hagan, 84, as he prepared to board a plane Tuesday to D.C. to receive his award. “But they’re doing a good job now because they’re finally recognizing us ... I really think we rate (the Congressional Gold Medal).”

Overall 19,168 black men trained at Montford Point from 1942 to 1949. Of those, only about 400 remain, all of whom received invitations to the two-day ceremony, which will begin today, June 27.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, blacks were, for the first time, permitted to join the Marine Corps. One of the first African Americans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps was Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson, who became a drill instructor. Between 1942 and 1949, the camp at Montford Point was a recruit depot for black recruits, training 20,000 African Americans during that period.

In 1948, by Executive Order 9981, President Harry S. Truman ordered the military to integrate. In 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp Gilbert H. Johnson in honor of the late Sergeant Major Gilbert H. "Hashmark" Johnson. A Montford Point drill instructor, he served during World War II and the Korean War. Camp Johnson became the home of the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools.

In 2007, a documentary entitled The Montford Point Marine Project was released, honoring the black Marines who trained at Montford Point. Montford Point, which is now known as Camp Johnson is located near Jacksonville, North Carolina and is adjacent to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.