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November 8, 2011 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson co-sponsored a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines of World War II, the first African-Americans to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“As we honor all veterans this week and appreciate the sacrifices they have made, it is important to recognize the Montford Point Marines as true trailblazers. Not only did they fight to protect the American way of life, their service and loyalty to our country helped advance the American ideals of equality and freedom for all,” said Senator Nelson, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The U.S. Marine Corps has served our country in peace and war since 1775, but it was not until a presidential directive from Franklin Roosevelt in 1942 that the first African-Americans were allowed to be recruited and train to become Marines. The directive was the result of an executive order from Roosevelt in 1941 to prohibit racially-based employment discrimination by all federal agencies and private government contractors.
The Marine Corps was the last of the American military branches to accept African-Americans.
African-American Marine recruits were not sent to the traditional boot camps in Parris Island, S.C., or San Diego, Calif., but received basic training at Montford Point, a separate facility at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Reflective of larger American society in the 1940’s, the facilities at Montford Point were not equal to the standards at Camp Lejeune or any of the other Marine boot camps. Montford Point Marines were treated as second-class citizens and were forbidden from eating in the mess hall until the white Marines had finished.
All branches of the American Armed Forces remained segregated through World War II, and the Montfort Point Marines were prohibited from fighting alongside their white colleagues until the Korean War. Still, they served in supporting roles in the Pacific Theater of World War II, taking on extensive enemy fire at Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the Armed Forces in 1948, and the Montford Point Marine Camp was deactivated in 1949. Nearly 20,000 men trained at Montfort Point during the seven years it was in service.
Nelson is co-sponsoring legislation to collectively award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II.
“Strength of character, faith and patriotism led the Montford Point Marines to defend their country, even at a time when their country did not recognize them as equal United States citizens. These men and their families deserve this important recognition,” Nelson said.
This bill follows last week’s ceremony to collectively award the Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. Army’s 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service members who served in World War II. These three groups were predominantly composed of Japanese-American soldiers at a time when roughly 120,000 Japanese-Americans were forced to live in internment camps.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the United States’ highest civilian honor. It is awarded to an individual or unit who performs an outstanding act or service that contributes to American security, prosperity, and national interest. It has been granted to 300 people since 1776, including George Washington, Ronald Reagan, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Wright Brothers and the Navajo Code Talkers.
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