Readiness

(From left to right) Retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 James T. Averhart, the National President of Montford Point Marines Association, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, the commander of Marine Forces Reserve, James A. Gray II, the New Orleans District E Councilman, Retired Master Gunnery Sgt. James Carr, the National Vice President for MPMA and Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald C. Johnson, the Deputy Director of the host chapter for MPMA, gather for a photo after Feltus Sterling (bottom left) and D. K. Cooley (bottom right) were presented the Congressional Gold Medal at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, March 21, 2014. Sterling and Cooley are original Montford Point Marines that served when segregation laws of the 1940s prohibited African-American recruits to train at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award conferred by Congress and is awarded to all original Montford Point Marines. Montford Point Marines Participated in the Pacific Theater Campaigns of World War II, including the Battle of Iwo Jima. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Codey Underwood)