In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established a presidential directive giving African Americans an opportunity to be recruited into the Marine Corps. These African Americans, coming from all states were not sent to the traditional boot camps of Parris Island, South Carolina and San Diego, California. Instead , African Americans Marine recruits were segregated and assigned to basic training at Montford Point, a newly established facility at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Conditions were less than hospitable. Prefabricated huts used as barracks were often filled beyond capacity. Those buildings and others –leftovers from an earlier Civilian Conservation Corps unit—were dilapidated. Undeterred by such living conditions and the overt racism and segregation of the era and surrounded by an air of constant doubt about their capabilities, the men that would become known as the Montford Point Marines persevered.
Before closing its gates in 1949, approximately 20,000 African American recruits received training at Montford Point Camp. These Marines served honorably in the Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa campaigns during World War II, The Korean and Vietnam wars and beyond. The initial intent of the Marine Corps’ leadership was to discharge these African Americans Marines after the war, returning them to civilian life and leaving the Marine Corps an all-white service. Once given the chance to prove themselves it became impossible to deny the fact that this new breed of Marines was just as capable as all other Marines regardless of race, color, creed or national origin. These Marines’ honorable, courageous and committed service in defense of freedom serve as a gleaming testament to their undaunted character and sacrifice—endeavors that led our nation to victory and forever pulled down racial barriers that existed within its military.