GREAT LAKES, Ill. --
On
June 25, a sunny summer day in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 8802 which prohibited racial discrimination in the national
defense services. Segregation and racial discrimination, even in the military
services, was a normal practice in the United States. Because the topic of
racial discrimination was so sensitive, leaders of the Marine Corps understood
that drastic changes needed to be handled carefully. As a result, then
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Keller E. Rocher, organized a board to oversee and study
the integration of African Americans assigned to the Composite Defense
Battalion, which included coastal artillery, antiaircraft, infantry and tank
units.
Executive
Order 8802 did not result in full integration of the Marine Corps, but it
permitted African Americans to be recruited into the Marine Corps who were
trained separately and barred from combat within Caucasian units. African
American Marines were trained at Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Complete desegregation of the military services would not come until July 26,
1948, when President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981.
Fast
forward to February 6, 2016, 68 years later. Marines with 3rd Civil Affairs
Group, Force Headquarters Group, Marine Forces Reserve, were honored to host
living history by having the Marines who experienced Montford Point firsthand
tell their stories and take their audience back in time. Three Montford Point
Marines who served in battles from World War II to Vietnam and two Marine Corps
veterans from the Montford Point Marine Association spoke about their service.
A
brief introduction was given by Col. John C. Church, Jr., commanding officer of
3rd CAG, where he stressed the amazing contributions of the Montford Point
Marines and spoke about the legacy Marines enjoy today. Following the introduction,
Maj. Frank Albi, the unit’s Professional Military Education Officer, introduced
the guests and set the stage for a robust question and answer session.
The
men and women of the Montford Point Marines and Montford Point Marine
Association told their stories, which covered being drafted, basic training,
and their overall experiences while serving in a time when their abilities were
distrusted because of the color of their skin. Harry Hamilton, a Montford
Point Marine, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943. Hamilton joined the 52nd
Defense Battalion, one of the battalions charged with coastal defense of
various naval bases in the Pacific during World War II. Hamilton closed his
story by saying, “If I had to go back in, I would still go with the Marines
because I thought they were the best group.”
Another
Montford Point Marine, John Vanoy, was drafted in 1943 and trained for two
months before being reassigned to Hawaii. In September of that year, he was
sent to Nagasaki, Japan, to be part of the armed occupation of the Japanese
Empire. He recounted the story of his most memorable moment in the Marine Corps
about how he turned down the steward’s branch, a place where African Americans
traditionally had served.
The
MPMA President, Sharon Stokes-Perry, a Marine Corps veteran herself, and Tyrone
Smiley, a combat-decorated Vietnam veteran also presented their insights and
experiences in this legacy of breaking the racial barrier. Ms. Perry left
3rd CAG with parting words, “If not for he, the first African-American Marine,
I could not have served as a woman, I stood on the shoulders of my heroes.”