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On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 8802 establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission and opening the doors for the very first African-Americans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. (source: H.R.2447 112th Congress 1st Session. To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.)
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On 25 May 1942, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, in accordance with instructions received from Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, issues formal instructions to "begin on 1 June to recruit qualified colored male citizens of the United States between ages of 17 and 29" (source: The Right to Fight: African American Marines in World War II, USMC History Division)
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On 18 August 1942, the 51st Defense Battalion was activated at New River, NC. It was the first combat unit composed of Black Marines in the Corps. (Photo: Cpl. Arvin Lou Ghazlo, USMC, giving judo instructions to Pvt. Ernest C. Jones, USMCR.", 04/1943. Credit: National Archives.)
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Edgar R. Huff enlists in the Marine Corps. He made platoon sergeant by September 1943 and gunnery sergeant in November 1943. Along with Hashmark Johnson, he was one of the first African-American Drill Instructors. Huff was discharged from the Corps after WW2 ended, spent a few months as a civilian, and re-enlisted.
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Gilbert H. "Hashmark"Johnson joined the Army in 1923, enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1933, the regular Navy in 1941, and reported for Marine Corps recruit training at Montford Point on 14 November 1942. In January 1945, he became the Sgt Major of the Montford Point Camp. Hashmark Johnson is one of the most famous African-American Drill Instructors in Marine Corps history. Read his Marine Corps bio here.
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The 1st Marine Depot Company, the first of 51 such units, is activated. The depot companies unloaded ships and hauled ammunitionand other supplies to the Marines fighting on the front lines.
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The 1st Marine Depot Company arrives in San Diego, en route to Noumea, New Calendonia, in the Pacific Theatre. According to the base newspaper, the Marines "put on a demonstration of close order drill that left observers gaping." (Photo: Cpl. Edgar R. Huff drills a platoon of recruits at the Montford Point Camp)
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During April 1943 the first African-American Marine Drill Instructors took over as the senior Drill Instructors of the eight platoons then in training; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th (Thomas Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert H. Johnson), 20th (Arnold R. Bostic), 21st (Mortimer A. Cox), 22nd (Edgar R. Davis, Jr.), and 23rd (George A. Jackson).
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On 20 August, the 51st Defense Battalion suffered its first training fatality. During a disembarkation exercise, Cpl Gilbert Fraser, Jr., slipped and fell into a landing craft in the water below and suffered injuries which claimed his life. The road leading from Montford Point Camp to the artillery range was renamed Fraser Road in his honor.
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1st Marine Ammunition Company formed at Montford Point.
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The 52nd was the second African-American defense battalion, with 400 officers and men transferred from the 51st Defense Batallion. (Photo: Cpl John Griffin served in the Corps from 1943-1946 and deployed with the 52nd to Roi-Namr in the Marshall Islands and Guam. Photo courtesy USMC Archives.)
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The 4th Marine Ammunition Company, who had set up the brigade ammunition dump, digs in and protects the dump from enemy infiltrators. The enemy tried to blow up the ammunition dump overnight, but the 4th killed 14 explosive-laden infiltrators, suffering no casualties of their own. For these heroic efforts they shared in the Navy Unit Commendation awarded to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade.
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The 18th & 20th Marine Depot Companies land with the 4th Marine Division on D-Day. The 19th company went ashore with the 2d Marine Division. One platoon of the 18th Company landed in support of 3d Btn 23d Marines, moving inland and fighting the infiltrators that breached the boundary between the 23d & 8th Marines.
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Pvt Kenneth J. Tibbs, 20th Marine Depot Company, suffered fatal wounds in the fighting of the fourth wave of Marines to come ashore in support of 1st Btn 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division. Pvt Tibbs was the orderly to the company commander, Capt. William C. Adams.
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African-American Marines of the 8th Ammunition Company & the 36th Depot Company landed on the island of Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19, 1945. Overall, 19,168 African-Americans would serve in the Marine Corps in World War II.
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On November 10, 1945, Frederick C. Branch becomes the the first African-American Marine commissioned as a second lieutenant at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
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8 September 1949 the first African-American woman Marine, Annie E. Graham, enlists at Detroit, Michigan. On the following day, Ann E. Lamb joined at New York. The two women reported to Parris Island on 10 September and went through boot camp together with Platoon 5-A of the 3d Recruit Training Battalion. Both subsequently reported for duty at Headquarters Marine Corps.
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The second African-American woman Marine, Ann E. Lamb, enlists in New York. Along with Annie Graham, she reported to Parris Island on 10 September and went through boot camp together with Platoon 5-A of the 3d Recruit Training Battalion. Both subsequently reported for duty at Headquarters Marine Corps.
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On September 17-18, 1965, approximately 400 Montford Point Marines gathered for a reunion at the Adelphi Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, to lay the foundation for the Montford Point Marine Association, Inc. (MPMA) 16 years after the closure of Montford Point as a training facility for Black recruits. Organized as a non-military, nonprofit entity, the MPMA's main mission is to preserve the legacy of the first Black Marines.
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Sgt Major Huff was one of the first recruits aboard Montford Point. He was also the first African-American Sergeant Major and the first African-American Marine to retire with 30 years of service which included combat in three major wars: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Huff earned the Bronze Star Medal with combat `V' for valor for saving the life of his radio operator during the Tet Offensive.
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In August 1973, the Montford Point Ladies Auxiliary was established.
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On April 19, 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp Johnson after legendary Montford Point Marine SgtMaj Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson.
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In July of 1997, Branch Hall, a building within the Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, was named in honor of Capt Frederick Branch.
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The Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consolidated Academic Instruction Facility is dedicated 15 April 2005, aboard Camp Johnson, North Carolina. The Facility was named after original Montford Point Marine and Montford Point Marine Corps Association founder MGySgt Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr.
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Congressional Gold Medal Award Authorized- The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Marines, collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their country. Read the text of the bill here.
