The Right to Fight African-American Marines in World War II

8/7/2019 The Right to Fight African-American Marines in World War II

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A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s a n d t h e M a r i n e sT h e e s t i m a t e d 5 , 0 0 0 b l a c k s , f r e e m e n a n d s l a v e s ,w h o s e r v e d t h e A m e r i c a n c a u s e i n t h e R e v o l u t i o n -a r y W a r i n c l u d e d a t l e a s t a f e w C o n t i n e n t a l M a -r i n e s . F o r e x a m p l e , i n A p r i l 1 7 7 6 C a p t a i n M i l e s P e n n i n g -t o n , M a r i n e o i f i c e r o f t h e C o n t i n e n t a l b r i g R e p r i s a l ,r e c r u i t e d a 5 l a v e , J o h n M a r t i n ( a l s o k n o w n a s K e t o ) ,w i t h o u t o b t a i n i n g p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e s l a v e h o l d e r , W i l -l i a m M a r s h a l l o f W i l m i n g t o n . D e l a w a r e . P r i v a t e M a r t i np a r t i c i p a t e d i n a c r u i s e t h a t r e s u l t e d i n t h e c a p t u r e o f f i v eB r i t i s h m e r c h a n t m e n , b u t d i e d i n O c t o b e r 1 7 7 7 , a l o n g w i t ha l l b u t o n e o f h i s s h i p m a t e s , w h e n R e p r i s a l f o u n d e r e d i na g a l e .

T w o o t h e r b l a c k s , I s a a c W a l k e r a n d a m a n k n o w n o n l ya s O r a n g e , e n l i s t e d a t P h i l a d e l p h i a ' s T u n T a v e r n i n a c o m -p a n y r a i s e d b y R o b e r t M u l l a n . t h e o w n e r o f t h e t a v e r n .w h i c h s e r v e d a s a r e c r u i t i n g r e n d e z v o u s f o r M a r i n e s . C a p -t a i n M u l l a n ' s c o m p a n y , p a r t o a b a t t a l i o n r a i s e d b y M a j o rS a m u e l N i c h o l a s , c r o s s e d t h e D e l a w a r e R i v e r w i t h G e o r g eW a s h i n g t o n o n C h r i s t m a s E v e 1 7 7 6 a n d f o u g h t t h e B r i t i s ha t P r i n c e t o n . T h e w a r t i m e c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e b l a c k C o n -t i n e n t a l M a r i n e s , a n d t h e o t h e r b l a c k s w h o s e r v e d o n l a n do r a t s e a , w e n t u n r e w a r d e d , f o r t h e a r m e d f o r c e s o f t h ei n d e p e n d e n t U n i t e d S t a t e s s o u g h t t o e x c l u d e A f r i c a n -

A m e r i c a n s .F o r a t i m e , a m i l i t i a b a c k e d b y a s m a l l r e g u l a r A r m y b o t h m a d e u p e x c l u s i v e l y o f w h i t e s s e e m e d f o r c e e n o u g h

t o d e f e n d t h e n a t i o n , b u t t e n s i o n s b e t w e e n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e sa n d F r a n c e r e s u l t e d i n t h e b u i l d i n g o f a f l e e t t o r e p l a c e t h ed i s b a n d e d C o n t i n e n t a l N a v y . I n 1 7 9 8 , w h e n t h e t i m e a r -r i v e d t o r e c r u i t c r e w s f o r t h e n e w w a r s h i p s , t h e N a v yb a n n e d " N e g r o e s o r M u l a t t o e s , " g r o u p i n g t h e m w i t h " P e r -S o n s w h o s e C h a r a c t e r s a r e S u s p i c i o u s : ' T h e C o m m a n d a n to f t h e r e e s t a b l i s h e d M a r i n e C o r p s , L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l W i l -l i a m W a r d B u r r o w s , f o l l o w e d t h e N a v y ' s e x a m p l e a n db a r r e d A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s f r o m e n l i s t i n g , a l t h o u g h b l a c kd r u m m e r s a n d f i f e r s m i g h t p r o v i d e m u s i c t o a t t r a c t p o t e n -

t i a l r e c r u i t s .T h e M a r i n e C o r p s m a i n t a i n e d t h i s r a c i a l e x c l u s i v e n e s su n t i l W o r l d W a r I I . I t s s m a l l s i z e e n a b l e d t h e C o r p s t or e c r u i t e n o u g h w h i t e s t o f i l l i t s r a n k s , b u t o t h e r c o n s i d e r a -t i o n s m a y a l s o h a v e h e l p e d s h a p e r a c i a l p o l i c y . M a r i n e sm a i n t a i n e d o r d e r o n s h i p b o a r d a n d a t n a v a l i n s t a l l a t i o n s ,a n d t h e i d e a o f b l a c k s e x e r c i s i n g a u t h o r i t y o v e r w h i t es a i l o r s w o u l d h a v e s h o c k e d a r a c i a l l y c o n s c i o u s A m e r i c a .T h e M a r i n e C o r p s , m o r e o v e r , h a d a s i z a b l e p r o p o r t i o n o fS o u t h e r n o f f i c e r s , p r o d u c t s o f a s o c i e t y t h a t h a d h e l d b l a c ks l a v e s . N o t e v e n t h e N o r t h e r n v i c t o r y i n t h e C i v i l W a r ,w h i c h e n f o r c e d e m a n c i p a t i o n , c o u l d b r i n g t h e r a c e st o g e t h e r i n t h e f o r m e r C o n f e d e r a c y . J i m C r o w , t h e p e r -s o n i f i c a t i o n o f r a c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n , r a p i d l y i m p o s e d h i s g r i po n t h e e n t i r e n a t i o n , a s s u m i n g t h e f o r c e o f l a w i n 1 8 9 6w h e n t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t d e c i d e d P l e s s y v . F e r g u s o n a n d ,i n e f f e c t , i s o l a t e d b l a c k s f r o m w h i t e s o c i e t y .

g o v e r n m e n t a n d e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e F a i rE m p l o y m e n t P r a c t i c e s C o m m i s s i o nt o m o n i t o r c o m p l i a n c e . H e a l s o i n -c r e a s e d p r e s s u r e o n t h e a r m e d f o r c e st o p r o v i d e b l a c k s b e t t e r t r e a t m e n ta n d b r o a d e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s a s h e h a dp l e d g e d d u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s a u t u m n .T h e n a v a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t h a d b e e ns l o w t o c a r r y o u t t h e P r e s i d e n t ' sw i s h e s . A s l a t e a s t h e s u m m e r o f1 9 4 1 , S e c r e t a r y o f t h e N a v y F r a n kK n o x c o n t i n u e d t o o p p o s e t h er e c r u i t i n g o f A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s , e x -c e p t a s s t e w a r d s i n o f f i c e r s ' m e s s e s .H e i n s i s t e d t h a t t h e r e s t r i c t i o n s o no p p o r t u n i t i e s a c t u a l l y b e n e f i t e db l a c k s , f o r i n o t h e r s p e c i a l t i e s t h e yw o u l d h a v e t o c o m p e t e o n e q u a lt e r m s w i t h w h i t e s a n d c o u l d n o t p o s -s i b l y s u c c e e d . S i n c e t h e P r e s i d e n t , a nA s s i s t a n t S e c r e t a r y o f t h e N a v y d u r -i n g W o r l d W a r I , t o o k a p e r s o n a l i n -t e r e s t i n t h e N a v y a n d M a r i n e C o r p s ,

K n o x r e a l i z e d t h e s e s e r v i c e s w o u l dh a v e t o l o w e r t h e i r r a c i a l b a r r i e r s a n d

r e l u c t a n t l y s u g g e s t e d r e c r u i t i n g 5 , 0 0 0b l a c k s f o r g e n e r a l s e r v i c e . I n J a n u -a r y 1 9 4 2 , w h i l e t h e G e n e r a l B o a r dc o n s i d e r e d t h i s p r o p o s a l a n d r e f l e c t e do n t h e p r e s i d e n t i a l p r e s s u r e b e h i n di t , G e n e r a l H o l c o m b v o i c e d h i s d e e p -l y f e l t m i s g i v i n g s . A l t h o u g h f u r t h e ro p p o s i t i o n c o u l d o n l y b e f u t i l e , t h eC o m m a n d a n t c o m p l a i n e d t h a t t h o s eb l a c k s s e e k i n g t o e n l i s t i n t h e M a r i n eC o r p s w e r e " t r y i n g t o b r e a k i n t o ac l u b t h a t d o e s n ' t w a n t t h e m : ' T h e" n e g r o r a c e 7 h e a r g u e d , " h a s e v e r yo p p o r t u n i t y n o w t o s a t i s f y i t s a s p i r -a t i o n s f o r c o m b a t i n t h e A r m y , "w h i c h h a d m a i n t a i n e d f o u r r e g u l a rr e g i m e n t s o f b l a c k s o l d i e r s s i n c es h o r t l y a f t e r t h e C i v i l W a r .R o o s e v e l t t r i e d t o a v o i d a n t a g o n i z -i n g a r e l u c t a n t N a v y , o f f e r i n g a s s u r -a n c e t h a t i t n e e d n o t " g o a l l t h e w a ya t o n e f e l l s w o o p " a n d r a c i a l l y i n t e -g r a t e t h e g e n e r a l s e r v i c e . H e k e p t

p u s h i n g , h o w e v e r , f o r g r e a t e r o p p o r -t u n i t i e s f o r b l a c k s w i t h i n t h e b o u n d s

o f s e g r e g a t i o n , a n d t h e N a v y c o u l dn o t d e f y t h e C o m m a n d e r i n C h i e f .S e c r e t a r y K n o x o n 7 A p r i l 1 9 4 2 a d -v i s e d t h e u n i f o r m e d l e a d e r s o f t h eN a v y , M a r i n e C o r p s , a n d C o a s tG u a r d ( a c o m p o n e n t o f t h e w a r t i m eN a v y ) t h a t t h e y w o u l d h a v e t o a c -c e p t A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s f o r g e n e r a ls e r v i c e . S o m e s i x w e e k s l a t e r , t h eN a v y D e p a r t m e n t p u b l i c l y a n -n o u n c e d t h a t t h e N a v y , M a r i n eC o r p s , a n d C o a s t G u a r d w o u l d e n -l i s t a b o u t 1 , 0 0 0 A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n se a c h m o n t h , b e g i n n i n g 1 J u n e , a n dt h a t t h e M a r i n e s w o u l d o r g a n i z e ar a c i a l l y s e g r e g a t e d 9 0 0 - m a n d e f e n s eb a t t a l i o n , t r a i n i n g t h e b l a c k s r e c r u i t -e d f o r i t f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f b o o tc a m p o n w a r d .

O n 2 5 M a y 1 9 4 2 t h e C o m m a n d a n to f t h e M a r i n e C o r p s i s s u e d f o r m a li n s t r u c t i o n s t o b e g i n o n 1 J u n e t o

C h a n g e C o m e s t ot h e M a r i n e C o r p s

African-Americans and the Marineshe estimated 5,000 blacks, free men and slaves,whoserved he American cause in the Rwolution-ary War included at least a few Continental Ma-rines. For example, in April 1776 Captain Miles Penning-ton, Marine officer of the Continental brig Reprisal,

recruited a slave, John Martin (also known as Keto),without obtaining permission from the slaveholder, Wil-liam Marshall of Wilmington, Delawate. Private Martinparticipated in a cruise that resulted in the capture of fiveBritish merchantmen, but died in October l m , along withall but one of hi shipmates, when Reprisal foundered ina gale.

Two other blacks, Isaac Walker and a man known onlyasOrange, enlisted at Philadelphia's Tun Tavern in a com-pany raised by Robert Mullan, the owner of the tavern,which servedas a d t i n g endezvous for Marines. Cap-tain Mullan's company, part of a battalion raisedby MajorSamuel Nicholas, crossed the DelawareRiver with GeorgeWashington on Christmas Eve 1776 and fought the Britishat Princeton. The wartime contributions of the black Con-tinental Marines, and the other blacks who served on landor at sea, went unmvaded, for the armed forces of theindependent United States sought to exdude African-Americans.

For a time, a militia backed by a small regular Army-both made up exclusively of whites- eemed force enough

to defend the nation, but tensionsbetween theUni td Statesand France esulted in the building of a fleet to replace thedisbanded Continental Navy. In 1798, when the time ar-rived to recruit arws for the new warships, the Navybanned "N- or MulattoesIngrouping them with "Per-sons whose Characters are Suspicious." The Commandantof the reestablished Marine Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Wi-liam Ward Burrows, followed the Navy's example andbarred African-Americans from enlisting, although blackdrummers and Hers might provide music to attract poten-tial recruits.

The Marine Corps maintained this racial exclusivenessuntil World War 11. Its small size enabled the Corps torecruit enough whites to fill its ranks, but other considera-tions may also have helped shape racial policy. Marinesmaintained order on shipboard and at naval installations,and the idea of b l a h exercising authority over whitesailors would have shockeda racially conscious America.The Marine Corps, moreover, had a sizable proportion ofSouthern officers, products of a society that had held blackslaves. Not even the Northern victory in the Civil War,which enforced emancipation, could bring the racestogether in the former Confederacy. Jim Crow, the per-sonification of racial segregation, rapidly imposed his gripon the entire nation, assuming the force of law in 1896when the Supreme Court decided Plessy v. Ferguson and,in effect, isolated blacks from white society.

government and establishing the FairEmployment Practices Commissionto monitor compliance. He also in-creased pressure on the armed forcesto provide blacks better treatmentand broader opportunities as he hadpledged during the previous autumn.The naval establishment had beenslow to carry out the President'swishes. As late as the summer of1941, Secretary of the Navy FrankKnox continued to oppose therecruiting of African-Americans, ex-cept as stewards in officers' messes.He insisted that the restrictions onopportunities actually benefitedblacks, for in other specialties theywould have to compete on equalterms with whites and could not pos-sibly succeed. Since the President, anAssistant Secretary of the Navy dur-ing World War I, took a personal in-terest in the Navy and Marine Corps,Knox realized these services wouldhave to lower their racial barriers and

reluctantly suggested recruiting 5,000blacks for general service. In Janu-ary 1942, while the General Boardconsidered this proposal and reflectedon the presidential pressure behindit, General Holcomb voiced his deep-ly felt misgivings. Although furtheropposition could only be futile, theCommandant complained that thoseblacks seeking to enlist in the MarineCorps were "trying to break into aclub that doesn't want them." The"negro race," he argued, "has everyopportunity now to satisfy its aspir-ations for combat in the Army,"which had maintained four regularregiments of black soldiers sinceshortly after the Civil War.Roosevelt tried to avoid antagoniz-ing a reluctant Navy, offering assur-ance that it need not "go all the wayat one fell swoop" and racially inte-grate the general service. He keptpushing, however, for greater oppor-tunities for blacks within the bounds

of segregation, and the Navy couldnot defy the Commander in Chief.Secretary Knox on 7 April 1942 ad-vised the uniformed leaders of theNavy, Marine Corps, and CoastGuard (a component of the wartimeNavy) that they would have to ac-cept African-Americans for generalservice. Some six weeks later, theNavy Department publicly an-nounced that the Navy, MarineCorps, and Coast Guard would en-list about 1,000 African-Americanseach month, beginning 1 June, andthat the Marines would organize aracially segregated 900-man defensebattalion, training the blacks recruit-ed for it from the beginning of bootcamp onward.

--#-a* - O y rO n 25 May 1942 the Commandant

of the Marine Corps issued formalinstructions to begin on 1 June to


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r e c r u i t q u a l i f i e d " c o l o r e d m a l ec i t i z e n s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s b e t w e e nt h e a g e s o f 1 7 a n d 2 9 , i n c l u s i v e , f o rs e r v i c e i n a c o m b a t o r g a n i z a t i o n . "G i v e n t h e n a t u r e o f A m e r i c a n s o c i -e t y i n 1 9 4 2 , t h a t o r g a n i z a t i o n w o u l db e r a c i a l l y s e g r e g a t e d , t h e b l a c k s i nt h e r a n k s b e i n g c o m m a n d e d b yw h i t e s . T h o s e b l a c k v o l u n t e e r sw h o m t h e M a r i n e C o r p s a c c e p t e dw o u l d , a s m o s t w a r t i m e w h i t er e c r u i t s , e n t e r t h e r e s e r v e f o r t h e d u -r a t i o n o f t h e w a r p l u s s i x m o n t h s , b u tt h e i r a c t i v e d u t y w o u l d b e d e l a y e du n t i l t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f a s e g r e g a t e dt r a i n i n g c a m p , s c h e d u l e d f o r 2 5 J u l y .

S o m e o f t h e n e w r e c r u i t s w o u l d s e r v ea s s p e c i a l i s t s , e v e r y t h i n g f r o m c o o k st o c l e r k s , w h o w o u l d s e e t o t h e d a y -t o - d a y o p e r a t i o n o f a r a c i a l l y e x c l u -s i v e t r a i n i n g c a m p .T h e t a s k o f f o r m i n g a n d t r a i n i n ge v e n o n e b a t t a l i o n o f A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n s s e e m e d a f o r m i d a b l ec h a l l e n g e , f o r i t i n v o l v e d g i v i n g r a wr e c r u i t s t h e i r b a s i c s k i l l s , f u r t h e r h o n -i n g t h e f i g h t i n g e d g e , a n d f i n a l l yc r e a t i n g a c o m b a t t e a m . G e n e r a l R a yA . R o b i n s o n , i n 1 9 4 2 a c o l o n e l i n

c h a r g e o f t h e P e r s o n n e l S e c t i o n , D i -v i s i o n o f P l a n s a n d P o l i c i e s , a t M a -r i n e C o r p s h e a d q u a r t e r s , c o n f e s s e dd u r i n g a n i n t e r v i e w i n 1 9 6 8 t h a t t h ea d m i s s i o n o f b l a c k s " j u s t s c a r e d u s t od e a t h " A l t h o u g h t h e d r a f t d i d n o t b e -c o m e t h e n o r m a l s o u r c e o f r e c r u i t sf o r a l l t h e s e r v i c e s u n t i l D e c e m b e r1 9 4 2 , a n d t h e f i r s t d r a f t e e s d i d n o te n t e r t h e M a r i n e C o r p s u n t i l J a n u -a r y 1 9 4 3 , R o b i n s o n s o u g h t h e l p f r o mt h e S e l e c t i v e S e r v i c e S y s t e m , w h e r ea b l a c k o f f i c e r o f t h e A r m y R e s e r v e ,L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l C a m p b e l l C .J o h n s o n , h a d b e e n c a l l e d t o a c t i v ed u t y a s a n a d m i n i s t r a t o r . J o h n s o n i n -d i c a t e d t h a t h e w o u l d d o w h a t h ec o u l d a n d j o k e d a b o u t p a s s i n g t h ew o r d t h a t M a r i n e s d i e y o u n g , s o t h a to n l y t h o s e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s w i l l -i n g t o r i s k t h e i r l i v e s w o u l d j o i n .R o b i n s o n a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t t h eC o r p s " g o t s o m e a w f u l l y g o o dN e g r o e s " o v e r t h e y e a r s a n d b e l i e v e dt h a t J o h n s o n w a s a t l e a s t p a r t l yr e s p o n s i b l e .D e s p i t e J o h n s o n ' s i n t e r e s t i n t h eb l a c k M a r i n e s , t h e C o r p s h a d t o r e l yt h r o u g h o u t 1 9 4 2 o n v o l u n t e e r s , a n d

3

r e c r u i t i n g p r o v e d s l u g g i s h . B y m i dJ u n e , o n l y 6 3 A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s h a de n l i s t e d a n d r e c r u i t e r s w e r e b e c o mi n g d e s p e r a t e , s i n c e t h e t r a i n i n g c a m pf o r b l a c k s n e a r e d c o m p l e t i o n . T h i sl a c k o f i m m e d i a t e r e s u l t s r e f l e c t e d t hf a c t t h a t t h e M a r i n e C o r p s , a f t e r e xc l u d i n g A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s s i n c e t h eA m e r i c a n R e v o l u t i o n , w a s a t t e m p ti n g t o s i g n u p r e c r u i t s i n a b l a c k c o mm u n i t y t h a t h a d n o t r a d i t i o n os e r v i c e a s L e a t h e r n e c k s . R e c r u i t e rf o u n d i t e s p e c i a l l y d i f f i c u l t t o s i g n u pt h e t r u c k d r i v e r s , c o o k s , a n d t y p i s tt o s u p p o r t t h e b a t t a l i o n , e v e n t h o u g hb l a c k e d u c a t o r s a s s u r e d t h e M a r i n eC o r p s t h a t a n a d e q u a t e p o o l o f s u c hs p e c i a l i s t s e x i s t e d . W h e n a r e c r u i t ei n B o s t o n t o l d O b i e H a l l t h a t h ec o u l d e n t e r t h e M a r i n e C o r p s i mm e d i a t e l y i f h e h a d t h e r i g hs p e c i a l t y , H a l l s a i d h e w a s a t r u c kd r i v e r . A l t h o u g h h e " n o m o r e c o u l dd r i v e a t r u c k t h a n t h e m a n i n t h em o o n , " h e w a n t e d t o g o a n d h a d n oh o p e o f p a s s i n g h i m s e l f o f f a s a c o o ko r t y p i s t .T h e n u m b e r o f A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a nw h o s h a r e d H a l l ' s e n t h u s i a s m s l o w

P a i n t i n g b y C o l C h a r l e s H . W a t e r h o u s e , U S M C R ( R e tA b l a c k A m e r i c a n s e r v e d w i t h t h e M a r i n e s w h e n G e n G e o r g e W a s h i n g t o n f o u g h t t h e B a t t l e o f P r i n c e t o n i n J a n u a r y 1 7 7 7


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l y i n c r e a s e d . S o m e o f t h o s e w h oj o i n e d u p l o o k e d o n s e r v i n g i n t h eM a r i n e C o r p s a s a n o p p o r t u n i t y d e -n i e d b l a c k s f o r a c e n t u r y a n d a h a l f .O t h e r s s a w t h i s s e r v i c e a s a p e r s o n a lc h a l l e n g e . B y t h e e n d o f S e p t e m b e r ,a b o u t h a l f o f t h e 1 , 2 0 0 r e c r u i t s n e e d -e d t o m a n t h e b a t t a l i o n a n d r e n d e ra d m i n i s t r a t i v e , h o u s e k e e p i n g , a n dt r a n s p o r t a t i o n s u p p o r t h a d e n l i s t e d .T h e P r e s i d e n t i a l d e c i s i o n o n 1 D e -c e m b e r 1 9 4 2 t o m a k e t h e S e l e c t i v eS e r v i c e S y s t e m t h e n o r m a l s o u r c e o fr e c r u i t s f o r a l l t h e s e r v i c e s e n s u r e dt h a t , b e g i n n i n g i n J a n u a r y 1 9 4 3 ,1 , 0 0 0 A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s w o u l d e n t e rt h e M a r i n e C o r p s e a c h m o n t h . T h i si n f l u x r e s u l t e d f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t t h ed r a f t l a w p r o h i b i t e d r a c i a l d i s c r i m i -n a t i o n i n i t s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ; i n p r a c -t i c a l t e r m s , t h i s m e a n t t h a t t h e A r m ya n d N a v y c o u l d e s t a b l i s h q u o t a s f o rb l a c k r e c r u i t s b u t n o t a r b i t r a r i l y e x -c l u d e t h e m .W h i l e p r e p a r i n g t o a b s o r b t h eA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s p r o v i d e d b y t h e

S e l e c t i v e S e r v i c e S y s t e m , t h e M a r i n eC o r p s r e a f f i r m e d i t s c o m m i t m e n t t or a c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n , b u t i t p r o p o s e d t oc a r r y o u t t h i s p o l i c y w i t h o u t c h a n -n e l i n g b l a c k s i n t o m e a n i n g l e s s a s -s i g n m e n t s t h a t h a d l i t t l e t o d o w i t hw i n n i n g t h e w a r . L a c k i n g r e c e n t e x -p e r i e n c e w i t h b l a c k s , t h e M a r i n e ss o u g h t t o p r o f i t f r o m t h e e x a m p l e o ft h e A r m y , w h i c h a v o i d e d p l a c i n gb l a c k s i n c h a r g e o f w h i t e s . A p p l y i n gt h i s l e s s o n , G e n e r a l H o l c o m b i nM a r c h 1 9 4 3 i s s u e d L e t t e r o f I n s t r u c -t i o n 4 2 1 , w h i c h d e c l a r e d i t " e s s e n t i a lt h a t i n n o c a s e s h a l l t h e r e b e c o l o r e dn o n c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r s s e n i o r t ow h i t e m e n i n t h e s a m e u n i t , a n dd e s i r a b l e t h a t f e w , i f a n y , b e o f t h es a m e r a n k . " L O l 4 2 1 w a s a c l a s s i f i e dd o c u m e n t a n d d i d n o t b e c o m e p u b -

l i c d u r i n g t h e w a r , b u t t h e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n M a r i n e w h o c o u l d n o te a r n p r o m o t i o n b e c a u s e a w h i t e n o n -c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r b l o c k e d h i sp a t h i m m e d i a t e l y f e l t i t s i m p a c t . T or e m o v e t h i s r a c i a l r o a d b l o c k w h i l e

a d h e r i n g t o t h e p o l i c y o f s e g r e g a t i o n ,w h i t e n o n c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r sw o u l d b e r e m o v e d a s p r o m p t l y a n dc o m p l e t e l y a s f e a s i b l e f r o m t h e n e w l yo r g a n i z e d b l a c k u n i t s , f o r c i n g t h eM a r i n e C o r p s t o c r e a t e i n a m a t t e ro f m o n t h s a f u l l y f u n c t i o n i n g c a d r eo f b l a c k s e r g e a n t s a n d c o r p o r a l s .A t b e s t , t h e C o m m a n d a n t h a dm i x e d f e e l i n g s a b o u t t h e b l a c kr e c r u i t s w h o m t h e R o o s e v e l t a d -m i n i s t r a t i o n h a d f o r c e d o n h i m . " A l lM a r i n e s ; ' h e p r o c l a i m e d , " a r e e n t i t l e dt o t h e s a m e r i g h t s a n d p r i v i l e g e s u n -d e r N a v y R e g u l a t i o n s , " b u t e v e n a sh e a n n o u n c e d t h i s i d e a l i s t i c p r i n c i -p l e , h e f e l t c o m p e l l e d t o r e m i n d t h eA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s t h a t t h e y s h o u l d" c o n d u c t t h e m s e l v e s w i t h p r o p r i e t ya n d b e c o m e a r e a l c r e d i t t o t h eC o r p s " a n d t o r e q u i r e p e r i o d i cr e p o r t s o n t h e i r s t a t u s . T h e b l a c kM a r i n e s c l e a r l y f a c e d a s t r u g g l e f o ra c c e p t a n c e w i t h i n t h e C o r p s b e f o r et h e y g o t t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o f i g h t t h eJ a p a n e s e .

C p l E d g a r R . H u f f d r i l l s a p l a t o o n o f r e c r u i t s a t t h e M o n t f o r d H u f f b e c a m e a l e g e n d a m o n g t h e M a r i n e s w h o w e r e t r a i n e dP o i n t C a m p . H e e n l i s t e d i n t h e M a r i n e C o r p s i n J u n e 1 9 4 2 . h e r e . H e r e t i r e d i n 1 9 7 2 a s a s e r g e a n t m a j o r a t N e w R i v e r .N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s P h o t o 1 2 7 - N - 5 3 3 7

4


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S e r v i c e i n t h e M a r i n e C o r p sb r o u g h t m e n l i k e O b i e H a l l , w h o e n -l i s t e d f r o m t h e c i t i e s o f t h e N o r t hw h e r e r a c e r e l a t i o n s w e r e s o m e w h a tr e l a x e d , i n t o c o n t a c t w i t h s e g r e g a t i o na t i t s h a r s h e s t . H a l l r e c e i v e d as l e e p i n g - c a r t i c k e t f o r t h e r a i l j o u r -n e y f r o m B o s t o n t o t h e t r a i n i n g s i t ei n N o r t h C a r o l i n a , a n d a l l w e n t w e l lu n t i l h e r e a c h e d W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . ,w h e r e h e w a s o r d e r e d o u t o f h i s a s -s i g n e d b e r t h . A p o r t e r , a l s o a nA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n , e x p l a i n e d t h a tH a l l h a d r e a c h e d t h e " b l a c k l i n e "s o u t h o f w h i c h r a i l t r a v e l w a ss e g r e g a t e d . T h e p o r t e r , i n d e f i a n c e o ft h e l a w a n d s o c i a l c u s t o m o f t h a tt i m e , f o u n d a n e m p t y c o m p a r t m e n tt h a t H a l l o c c u p i e d f o r t h e r e s t o f t h et r i p . S o m e 1 8 m o n t h s l a t e r , J o h n R .G r i f f i n o f C h i c a g o d i d n o t f i n d as y m p a t h e t i c p o r t e r w i l l i n g t o b r e a kt h e r u l e s ; a t W a s h i n g t o n h e h a d t ot r a n s f e r t o a J i m C r o w c a r , " h o t ,d i r t y , c r o w d e d ( w i t h b a b i e s c r y i n ga n d o l d m e n d r i n k i n g a n d [ b l a c k }M a r i n e s d i s c u s s i n g t h e f u n t h e y h a do n l e a v e ) . "

S e g r e g a t i o n p r e v a i l e d a t t h e M a -r i n e B a r r a c k s , N e w R i v e r , N o r t hC a r o l i n a s o o n r e d e s i g n a t e d C a m pL e j e u n e w h e r e t h e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n s w o u l d t r a i n , a n d i n t h en e a r b y t o w n o f J a c k s o n v i l l e . F o r t h eb l a c k r e c r u i t s , t h e M a r i n e C o r p s e s -t a b l i s h e d a s e p a r a t e c a n t o n m e n t , t h eM o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p , i n w e s t e r n -m o s t C a m p L e j e u n e . A t l e a s t o n eM a r i n e v e t e r a n , L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a lJ a m e s L . U n d e r h i l l , s u g g e s t e d i nr e t r o s p e c t t h a t t h e C o r p s m a d e a m i s -t a k e i n p u s h i n g t h e m " o f f t o o n e c o r n -e r ; ' f o r d o i n g s o r e i n f o r c e d t h e b e l i e f ,a c c u r a t e t h o u g h i t w a s , t h a t b l a c k sw e r e n o t t r u l y w e l c o m e . T h e M a r i n eC o r p s , U n d e r h i l l b e l i e v e d , " s h o u l dh a v e d r e s s e d t h e m u p i n b l u e u n i -f o r m s a n d p u t t h e m b e h i n d a b a n da n d m a r c h e d t h e m d o w n F i f t hA v e n u e " t o s h o w t h e i r p r i d e i n b e i n gM a r i n e s a n d t h e i r a c c e p t a n c e b y t h eC o r p s . A t t h e t i m e , a s U n d e r h i l l s u r e -l y r e a l i z e d , n e i t h e r t h e M a r i n e C o r p s

n o r m u c h o f A m e r i c a n s o c i e t y w a sr e a d y f o r s u c h a g e s t u r e o f r a c i a la m i t y .T h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p c o n -s i s t e d a t f i r s t o f a h e a d q u a r t e r s b u i l d -i n g , a c h a p e l , t w o w a r e h o u s e s , am e s s h a l l , a d i s p e n s a r y , a s t e a mg e n e r a t i n g p l a n t , a m o t o r p o o l ,q u a r t e r s a n d r e c r e a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s f o rt h e w h i t e e n l i s t e d m e n w h o i n i t i a l l y

s t a f f e d t h e o p e r a t i o n , a b a r b e r s h o p ,a n d 1 2 0 g r e e n - p a i n t e d p r e f a b r i c a t e dh u t s , e a c h c a p a b l e o f a c c o m m o d a t -i n g 1 6 r e c r u i t s , t h o u g h t w i c e t h a tn u m b e r w e r e s o m e t i m e s j a m m e d i n t ot h e m , p e n d i n g t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f n e wb a r r a c k s . T h e o r i g i n a l c a m p a l s ob o a s t e d a s n a c k b a r t h a t d i s p e n s e db e e r , a s m a l l c l u b f o r t h e w h i t eo f f i c e r s , a n d a t h e a t e r , o n e w i n g o fw h i c h w a s c o n v e r t e d i n t o a l i b r a r y .A s t h e b l a c k M a r i n e s c l e a r e d t h el a n d a r o u n d t h e c a m p , t h e y e n c o u n -t e r e d c l o u d s o f m o s q u i t o e s , a v a r i e -t y o f s n a k e s , a n d t h e t r a c k s o f a no c c a s i o n a l b e a r , i f n o t t h e a n i m a l i t -s e l f . T o t h e n o r t h o f t h e o r i g i n a l s i t e ,a c r o s s a c r e e k , l a y C a m p K n o x , o c -c u p i e d d u r i n g t h e G r e a t D e p r e s s i o no f t h e 1 9 3 0 s b y a c o n t i n g e n t o f t h eC i v i l i a n C o n s e r v a t i o n C o r p s , a na g e n c y t h a t p u t j o b l e s s y o u n g m e nt o w o r k , u n d e r m i l i t a r y s u p e r v i s i o n ,o n p u b l i c i m p r o v e m e n t s a n d r e c l a -

5

m a t i o n p r o j e c t s . A s t h e n u m b e r oA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a r i n e s i n c r e a s e dt h e y s p i l l e d o v e r i n t o t h e o l d C C Cc a m p .

R a i l r o a d t r a c k s d i v i d e d w h i t e r e s id e n t s f r o m b l a c k i n s e g r e g a t e d J a c ks o n v i l l e . S u d d e n l y , h u n d r e d s oA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a r i n e s o n l i b e r t ya p p e a r e d o n t h e w h i t e s i d e o f t ht r a c k s , l o o k i n g f o r e n t e r t a i n m e n t . Af i r s t , w h i t e b u s i n e s s m e n r e a c t e d t ot h i s s i g h t b y b o l t i n g t h e i r d o o r s . E v et h e b u s d e p o t s h u t d o w n u n t i l s o m eo n e r e a l i z e d t h a t t h e l i b e r t y p a r t i em i g h t w e l l f i n d o t h e r N o r t h C a r o l in a t o w n s l i k e N e w B e r n o r W i l m i n gt o n m o r e a t t r a c t i v e t h a n J a c k s o n v i l l ea n d t h e t i c k e t a g e n t s w e n t b a c k tw o r k .G e t t i n g o u t o f J a c k s o n v i l l e b e c a me a s i e r , b u t r e t u r n i n g t o c a m p f r o mt h e t o w n p r o v e d d i f f i c u l t o n a J i mC r o w b u s l i n e . D r i v e r s g a v e p r i o r i t yt o w h i t e p a s s e n g e r s , a s s t a t e l a w r eq u i r e d , a n d r e s t r i c t e d b l a c k p a ss e n g e r s t o t h e r e a r o f t h e b u s , u n l e sw h i t e s n e e d e d t h e s p a c e . S i n c e t ht w o r a c e s f o r m e d s e p a r a t e l i n e s a t t hb u s s t o p , d r i v e r s t e n d e d t o t a k e o n lw h i t e s o n b o a r d a n d l e a v e t h e b l a cM a r i n e s s t a n d i n g t h e r e a s t h e d e a dl i n e f o r r e t u r n i n g t o M o n t f o r d P o i nd r e w n e a r e r . W h e n t h i s h a p p e n e d

a n g r y b l a c k M a r i n e s , a t t h e r i s k o

D e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e P h o t o ( U S M C ) 5 3 4S g t G i l b e r t H . " H a s h m a r k " J o h n s o n , a v e t e r a n o f s e r v i c e i n b o t h t h e A r m y a nN a v y , g l a r e s a t t h e b o o t s i n h i s r e c r u i t p l a t o o n . H e b e c a m e a M a r i n e i n 1 9 4 2


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T h e ' G r e a t W h i t e F a t h e r 'o l o n e l S a m u e l A . W o o d s , J r . ,l a u n c h e d t h e t r a i n i n g p r o g r a mf o r b l a c k M a r i n e s a t M o n t f o r d( o r i g i n a l l y M u m f o r d ) P o i n t . A t t h i st i m e , b a s e d o n t h e A r m y ' s p r a c t i c e s , t h eM a r i n e C o r p s b e l i e v e d t h a t o f f i c e r s b o r n

i n t h e S o u t h w e r e u n i q u e l y s u i t e d t oc o m m a n d i n g A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s , a n dt h e c o l o n e l f i t t h e p a t t e r n , s i n c e h e h a i l e df r o m S o u t h C a r o l i n a . B o r n a t A r l i n g t o n ,h e g r a d u a t e d f r o m T h e C i t a d e l , S o u t hC a r o l i n a ' s m i l i t a r y c o l l e g e , a n d i n 1 9 0 6a c c e p t e d a c o m m i s s i o n i n t h e C o r p s . H es e r v e d i n H a i t i a n d C u b a b u t a r r i v e d i nF r a n c e a s W o r l d W a r I w a s e n d i n g . A f -t e r w a r d h e s a w d u t y i n t h e D o m i n i c a n

R e p u b l i c a n d C h i n a , a t t e n d e d t h e N a v a lW a r C o l l e g e , a n d h e a d e d t h e M a r i n eC o r p s c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s c h o o l s a t t h eM a r i n e B a r r a c k s , Q u a n t i c o , V i r g i n i a .T h e c o l o n e l ' s c a l m n e s s a n d f a i r n e s se a r n e d h i m t h e r e s p e c t o f t h e b l a c k s h ec o m m a n d e d . H e c u l t i v a t e d a p a t e r n a l i s -t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h h i s m e n a n de m e r g e d , a c c o r d i n g t o o n e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n v e t e r a n o f t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n tC a m p , a s " t h e G r e a t W h i t e F a t h e r o fe v e r y b o d y , " t r y i n g t o e a s e t h e i m p a c t o fs e g r e g a t i o n o n t h e m o r a l e o f h i s t r o o p s ,t h o u g h h e a c c e p t e d t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f t h er a c e s , a n d i n s i s t i n g t h a t t h e b l a c k M a -r i n e s e x h i b i t s e l f - p r i d e a n d c o m p e t e n c e .

N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s P h o t o 1 2 7 - N - 9 5 1 1C o l S a m u e l A . W o o d s , J r . , e s t a b l i s h e dt h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p a n d a l s os e r v e d a s t h e f i r s t c o m m a n d i n g o f f i c e r o ft h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o n ( C o m p o s i t e ) .

v i o l e n c e f r o m t h e l o c a l p o l i c e , m i g h tc o m m a n d e e r a b u s , r e m o v e t h ed r i v e r , a n d t a k e i t t o t h e g a t e n e a r e s tJ a c k s o n v i l l e , w h e r e t h e t r a n s i t c o m -p a n y c o u l d r e t r i e v e i t o n t h e n e x tm o r n i n g . T h e w h i t e o f f i c e r i n c o m -m a n d a t M o n t f o r d P o i n t , C o l o n e lS a m u e l A . W o o d s , J r . , t o o k s t e p s t oe n s u r e t h a t t h e b l a c k M a r i n e s c o u l dr e t u r n s a f e l y t o M o n t f o r d P o i n tw i t h o u t r i s k i n g a r r e s t . H e s e n t h i sb a t t a l i o n ' s t r u c k s i n t o t o w n t o p i c ku p t h e m e n a n d a s s i g n e d w h i t e n o n -c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r s f r o m t h e s t a f fa t M o n t f o r d P o i n t t o t h e m i l i t a r yp o l i c e p a t r o l s t h a t k e p t o r d e r i n t h et o w n . T h e N C O s d e t a i l e d b y C o l o n e lW o o d s h e l p e d d e t e r l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e sf r o m m a k i n g a r b i t r a r y a r r e s t s o fb l a c k M a r i n e s . A s b l a c k n o n c o m m i s -s i o n e d o f f i c e r s b e c a m e a v a i l a b l e , o n eo f t h e m a c c o m p a n i e d e a c h p a t r o l ,t h o u g h u n a r m e d a n d w i t h o u t a u -t h o r i t y t o a r r e s t o r d e t a i n w h i t eM a r i n e s .

A l t h o u g h r a c e a l s o a f f e c t e d r e l a -t i o n s h i p s a m o n g M a r i n e s , e s p e c i a l l yd u r i n g t h e e a r l y m o n t h s o f t h e M o n t -f o r d P o i n t C a m p , i n s t a n c e s o f t h e r a -c i a l h a r a s s m e n t o f b l a c k M a r i n e s b e -c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y l e s s f r e q u e n t . T h ei m p r o v e d c o n d i t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n p a r tf r o m M o n t f o r d P o i n t ' s i s o l a t i o n , b u ti t a l s o r e f l e c t e d t h e e f f o r t s o f t h eA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s t o i m p r e s s t h e i r

w h i t e f e l l o w M a r i n e s . O b i e H a l l r e -c a l l e d t h a t t h e m e n o f M o n t f o r dP o i n t t r i e d t o l o o k t h e i r s h a r p e s t , e s -p e c i a l l y w h e n i n t h e p r e s e n c e o fw h i t e M a r i n e s . " T h e y r e a l l y p u t t h a tc h e s t o u t , " h e s a i d . P r i d e i n a p p e a r -a n c e h a d b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t s , f o r o n ew h i t e M a r i n e r e m a r k e d t h a t ,a l t h o u g h h e o n l y s a w b l a c k s w h e nt h e y w e r e o n l i b e r t y b e c a u s e o f t h es e g r e g a t i o n o n C a m p L e j e u n e , " t h e ya l w a y s l o o k e d s h a r p . " T h e w h i t e m i l i -t a r y p o l i c e r e m a i n e d u n i m p r e s s e d ,h o w e v e r . T h e y t e n d e d t o s h a r e t h er a c i a l a t t i t u d e s o f t h e i r c i v i l i a n c o u n -t e r p a r t s , a n d t h e p e r s i s t e n t h o s t i l i t yg e n e r a t e d i n t e n s e r e s e n t m e n t a m o n gt h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a r i n e s .

K n o w l e d g e t h a t t h e y w o u l d h a v et o o v e r c o m e r a c i s m t o g a i n t h e r i g h tt o s e r v e c r e a t e d a f e e l i n g o f s o l i d a r i t ya m o n g b l a c k M a r i n e s . A t t i m e s , t h e yc o u l d i n v o k e t h i s u n i t y t o r i g h t aw r o n g , a s h a p p e n e d a f t e r t h e o f f i c e ro f t h e d a y a t M o n t f o r d P o i n t , a n -g e r e d b y w h a t h e c o n s i d e r e d r a u c o u sb e h a v i o r d u r i n g a c o m e d y b e i n gs h o w n a t t h e c a m p m o v i e t h e a t e r ,h a d t h e b l a c k a u d i e n c e t a k e t h e i rb u c k e t s t h e s e u t i l i t a r i a n p o s s e s -s i o n s a t t h e t i m e w e r e s e r v i n g a ss e a t s a n d p u t t h e m o v e r t h e i rh e a d s . T h e r e c e n t l y a p p o i n t e d b l a c k

d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r s r e a c t e d b y o r d e r i n gt h e i r M a r i n e s t o c l e a n t h e b a r r a c k s6

i n s t e a d o f a t t e n d i n g a s h o w b e i n gs t a g e d e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h e m b y b l a c kp e r f o r m e r s . W h e n C o l o n e l W o o d sh e a r d o f t h e i m p r o m p t u f i e l d d a y , h ei n v e s t i g a t e d , l e a r n e d o f t h e i l l -c o n s i d e r e d a c t i o n b y t h e o f f i c e r o f t h ed a y , a n d m a d e s u r e t h e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n s a t t e n d e d t h e p e r f o r m -a n c e .O n e i n c i d e n t p a i n f u l l y r e m i n d e dt h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s o f t h e i r

s e c o n d - c l a s s s t a t u s i n t h e M a r i n eC o r p s , i n d e e d t h r o u g h o u t a J i mC r o w s o c i e t y . A b o x i n g s h o w s t a g e da t t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p a t t r a c t -e d a d i s t i n g u i s h e d g u e s t , M a j o rG e n e r a l H e n r y L . L a r s e n , w h o h a dt a k e n c o m m a n d o f C a m p L e j e u n e a f -t e r r e t u r n i n g f r o m t h e S o u t h P a c i f i c .D u r i n g a n i n f o r m a l t a l k , h e m a d ew h a t h e c o n s i d e r e d a h u m o r o u s r e -m a r k , b u t h i s a u d i e n c e i n t e r p r e t e d i ta s a n i n s u l t . A c c o r d i n g t o o n e o f t h eb l a c k M a r i n e s w h o w a s t h e r e , t h eg e n e r a l s a i d s o m e t h i n g t o t h e e f f e c tt h a t w h e n h e r e t u r n e d f r o m o v e r s e a sh e h a d s e e n w o m e n M a r i n e s a n d d o gM a r i n e s , b u t w h e n h e s a w " y o u p e o -p l e w e a r i n g o u r u n i f o r m , " h e k n e wt h e r e w a s a w a r o n . T h e o f f - h a n dc o m m e n t m a y h a v e s e r v e d , h o w e v e r ,t o b r i n g t h e m e n o f M o n t f o r d P o i n te v e n c l o s e r t o g e t h e r .

O d d l y e n o u g h , a w h i t e o f f i c e rc a m e t h e c l o s e s t t o c a p t u r i n g t h e i s o -


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l a t i o n f e l t b y b l a c k s i n s e g r e g a t e dN o r t h C a r o l i n a . R o b e r t W . T r o u p , i np e a c e t i m e a m u s i c i a n a n d c o m p o s e rw h o h a d p l a y e d a l o n g s i d e b l a c k p e r -f o r m e r s , a c c e p t e d a w a r t i m e c o m m i s -s i o n a n d r e p o r t e d t o M o n t f o r d P o i n t ,w h e r e h e m a d e a l a s t i n g i m p r e s s i o n .O n e o f t h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a -r i n e s , G i l b e r t H . J o h n s o n , c o n s i d e r e dh i m a " t o p n o t c h m u s i c i a n , a v e r y d e -c e n t s o r t o f o f f i c e r ; ' a n d a n o t h e r ,O b i e H a l l , d e s c r i b e d h i m a s " t h es h a r p e s t c a t I ' v e e v e r s e e n i n m y l i f e . "B o b b y T r o u p ' s s o n g " J a c k s o n v i l l e , "t h e u n o f f i c i a l a n t h e m o f m e n o fM o n t f o r d P o i n t , i n c l u d e d t h e h e a r t -f e l t p l e a :

T a k e m e a w a y f r o m J a c k s o n -v i l l e , ' c a u s e I ' v e h a d m y f i l l a n dt h a t ' s n o l i e .T a k e m e a w a y f r o m J a c k s o n -v i l l e , k e e p m e a w a y f r o m J a c k -s o n v i l l e u n t i l I d i e . J a c k s o n v i l l es t o o d s t i l l , w h i l e t h e r e s t o f t h ew o r l d p a s s e d b y .

W h i l e a s s i g n e d t o t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s eB a t t a l i o n ( C o m p o s i t e ) , t h e A f r i c a n -

A m e r i c a n d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n a u t h o -r i z e d i n 1 9 4 2 , T r o u p d o u b l e d a sr e c r e a t i o n o f f i c e r , o r g a n i z i n g b a s e b a l la n d b a s k e t b a l l t e a m s , a r r a n g i n g t h ec o n s t r u c t i o n o f s p o r t s f a c i l i t i e s , a n ds t a g i n g s h o w s u s i n g t a l e n t a v a i l a b l ea t M o n t f o r d P o i n t . P e r h a p s t h e m o s tp o p u l a r p e r f o r m e r w a s F i n i s H e n d e r -s o n , a p r i v a t e w h o h a d s u n g a n d t a p -d a n c e d i n M e t r o - G o l d w y n - M a y e rf i l m s . A s t h e s t a r o f o n e o f T r o u p ' s

s h o w s , H e n d e r s o n s a n g " J a c k s o n v i l l e "w h i l e s t a g e h a n d s t h r e w b i t s o fb r o w n p a p e r i n t o t h e a i r f l o w f r o ma p a i r o f e l e c t r i c f a n s t o s i m u l a t e t h ed u s t b l o w i n g d o w n t h e s t r e e t o f t h a tm u c h - d e s p i s e d t o w n . I n D e c e m b e r1 9 4 4 , T r o u p t o o k c o m m a n d o f t h eb l a c k 6 t h D e p o t C o m p a n y t h e s e -c o n d u n i t w i t h t h a t d e s i g n a t i o n w h i c h d e p l o y e d t o S a i p a n a n d h a n -d l e d s u p p l i e s a t t h e b a s e t h e r e .

T h e t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m a t M o n t f o r dP o i n t , w h i c h s i g n a l e d t h e f i r s t a p -p e a r a n c e o f b l a c k s i n M a r i n e u n i -

f o r m s s i n c e t h e R e v o l u t i o n a r y W ab e g a n w i t h b o o t c a m p a n d h a d a s i tu l t i m a t e o b j e c t i v e t h e c r e a t i o n o f c o m p o s i t e d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n . T h ic o m b a t u n i t w o u l d b e r a c i a l ls e g r e g a t e d , c o m m a n d e d b y w h i to f f i c e r s , a n d w i t h a n i n i t i a l c o m p l em e n t o f w h i t e n o n c o m m i s s i o n eo f f i c e r s , w h o w o u l d s e r v e o n l y u n tb l a c k r e p l a c e m e n t s b e c a m e a v a i l a b l eC o l o n e l W o o d s h a d t o s t a r t f r o ms c r a t c h , w i t h n o c a d r e o f e x p e r i e n c eA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s e x c e p t f o r a h a n df u l w i t h p r i o r s e r v i c e i n t h e A r m y oN a v y . W h e n b o o t t r a i n i n g b e g a n , t hc o l o n e l c o m m a n d e d b o t h t h e c a mi t s e l f a n d t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o( C o m p o s i t e ) b e i n g f o r m e d t h e r eL i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l T h e o d o r e AH o l d a h l a n e n l i s t e d v e t e r a n oW o r l d W a r I w h o s e r v e d a s a n o f f i c ei n t h e F a r E a s t a n d C e n t r aA m e r i c a h a d c h a r g e o f r e c r ut r a i n i n g . S o m e t w o d o z e n w h i to f f i c e r s , a n u m b e r o f t h e m r e c e n t lc o m m i s s i o n e d s e c o n d l i e u t e n a n t s l i kB o b b y T r o u p , a n d 9 0 w h i t e e n l i s t eM a r i n e s , d i r e c t e d t h e t r a i n i n g . T he n l i s t e d m e n f o r m e d t h e S p e c i a l E nl i s t e d S t a f f , w h i c h i n i t i a l l y c a r r i eo u t a s s i g n m e n t s t h a t v a r i e d f r o m

c l e r k o r t y p i s t t o d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r . T hM a r i n e C o r p s s c r e e n e d t h e S p e c i aE n l i s t e d S t a f f t o e x c l u d e a n y o n e o pp o s e d t o t h e p r e s e n c e o f b l a c k s i n t hr a n k s . O n e o f t h e M o n t f o r d P o i nM a r i n e s s u g g e s t e d t h a t , i n t h e n om a l p r e s s u r e s o f b o o t c a m p , a b r e a kd o w n i n t h e s c r e e n i n g p r o c e s s c o u lh a v e d o o m e d t h e p r o g r a m , f o r r a c i ah o s t i l i t y w o u l d h a v e r e i n f o r c e d t hu s u a l h a r a s s m e n t v i s i t e d o n e v e rr e c r u i t , w h i t e o r b l a c k . " W e w o u la l l h a v e l e f t t h e f i r s t w e e k ; ' h e j o k e d" S o m e o f u s , p r o b a b l y , t h e f i r s

7

I n k e e p i n g w i t h M a r i n e C o r pp o l i c y , W o o d s a n d H o l d a h l h a d tr e p l a c e t h e w h i t e s o f t h e S p e c i a l E nl i s t e d S t a f f w i t h b l a c k n o n c o m m i ss i o n e d o f f i c e r s a s r a p i d l y a s p o s s i b l eT h e c o m m a n d s t r u c t u r e a t M o n t f o rP o i n t t r i e d t o i d e n t i f y t h e b e s t o f t hA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n r e c r u i t s a n d p l a c

B o b b y T r o u p , a m u s i c i a n t u r n e d w a r t i m e M a r i n e C o r p s o f f i c e r , s t a g e d s h o w s a tM o n t f o r d P o i n t u s i n g t a l e n t s u c h a s P r i v a t e F i n i s H e n d e r s o n , a p r o f e s s i o n a l s i n g e ra n d d a n c e r b e f o r e e n l i s t i n g , a n d C u r t i s I n s t i t u t e g r a d u a t e S g t J o e W i l d e r , n o t s h o w n .D e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e P h o t o ( U S M C ) 6 7 9 7

n i g h t : '


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t h e m o n a f a s t t r a c k t o p o s i t i o n s o fr e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n b o o t c a m p a n d i nt h e b a t t a l i o n i t s e l f . T h e g e n e r a l c l a s -s i f i c a t i o n t e s t , a d m i n i s t e r e d a s a p a r to f t h e i n i t i a l p r o c e s s i n g , g r o u p e dt h o s e w h o t o o k t h e t e s t i n t o f i v ec a t e g o r i e s , w i t h t h e h i g h e s t s c o r e s i nC a t e g o r y I , a n d a f f o r d e d o n e t o o l f o rp r e d i c t i n g t h e a b i l i t y o f t h e n e w M a -r i n e s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h o s e b l a c k M a -r i n e s w h o a d m i n i s t e r e d t h e t e s t a n di n t e r p r e t e d t h e r e s u l t s w e r e t h e m -s e l v e s o n - t h e - j o b t r a i n e e s . C o n s e -q u e n t l y , t h e t e s t r e s u l t s c o u l d a t t i m e sp r o v e m i s l e a d i n g , w i t h c o l l e g e g r a d u -a t e s s o m e t i m e s s h o w i n g u p i nC a t e g o r i e s I V o r e v e n V . D r i l l i n -s t r u c t o r s , i n i t i a l l y w h i t e s w i t h v a r y -i n g e x p e r i e n c e i n t h e M a r i n e C o r p s ,h a d t o r e l y o n t h e i r o w n p o w e r s o fo b s e r v a t i o n t o d e t e r m i n e w h i c h o ft h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n r e c r u i t s h a dt h e a p t i t u d e t o e x e r c i s e e f f e c t i v el e a d e r s h i p a n d m a s t e r t h e n e c e s s a r yt e c h n o l o g y . F o r m a l t e s t s , w r i t t e n o r

o r a l , p r o v i d e d a f i n a l w i n n o w i n g o ft h e c a n d i d a t e s . T h e f i r s t p r o m o t i o n s ,t o p r i v a t e f i r s t c l a s s , t o o k p l a c e e a r -l y i n N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 2 , a m o n t h b e -f o r e t h e m e n s e l e c t e d t o s e w o n t h e i rs i n g l e s t r i p e h a d c o m p l e t e d b o o t

c a m p .T h e p r o b l e m o f c l a s s i f y i n g r e c r u i t sd e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e M o n t f o r dP o i n t C a m p r e q u i r e d s k i l l e d a d m i n i s -t r a t o r s . C r e a t i n g a n a d m i n i s t r a t i v ei n f r a s t r u c t u r e p r o v e d d i f f i c u l t , f o r t h ec o m p a r a t i v e l y f e w v o l u n t e e r s w h os t e p p e d f o r w a r d i n t h e s u m m e r a n df a l l o f 1 9 4 2 i n c l u d e d f e w c l e r k s a n dt y p i s t s . E n o u g h A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a nr e c r u i t s w o u l d h a v e t o l e a r n t h e m y s -t e r i e s o f M a r i n e C o r p s a d m i n i s t r a -t i o n t o f i l l t h e n e c e s s a r y b i l l e t s , b u tr a c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n p r e v e n t e d t h e mf r o m t a k i n g c o u r s e s a l o n g s i d e w h i t e s .F o r t h e p r e s e n t , w h i t e i n s t r u c t o r sw o u l d t e a c h a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s u b j e c t sa t M o n t f o r d P o i n t , u n t i l b l a c k M a -

t h e m a l o n g . W h e n t a c k l i n g t h e m o r ec o m p l e x s u b j e c t s , l i k e o p t i c a l f i r ec o n t r o l o r r a d a r , t h e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n s a t t e n d e d c o u r s e s o f f e r e db y t h e A r m y a t n e a r b y C a m p D a v i s ,N o r t h C a r o l i n a , a n d e l s e w h e r e .L a c k i n g a c a d r e o f b l a c k v e t e r a n s ,t h e M a r i n e C o r p s h a d t o a d v a n c e t h eb e s t o f t h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n r e c r u i t si n t o t h e r a n k s o f n o n c o m m i s s i o n e do f f i c e r s s o a s t o a c h i e v e t h e g o a l o fa s e g r e g a t e d d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n c o m -

m a n d e d b y w h i t e o f f i c e r s b u t w i t h n ow h i t e e n l i s t e d m e n i n a n y c a p a c i t y .T h e p r o m o t i o n o f b l a c k M a r i n e s d e -p e n d e d o n a b i l i t y , a s r e v e a l e d b y t h ei n i t i a l c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t e s t s , r a t i n g s f r o ms u p e r i o r s , t h e r e s u l t s o f f o r m a l e x -a m i n a t i o n s , a n d t h e e x i s t e n c e o fv a c a n c i e s t h a t w o u l d n o t v i o l a t e p o l i -c y b y p l a c i n g a b l a c k M a r i n e i nc h a r g e o f w h i t e s . A s t h e n u m b e r o fA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a r i n e s i n c r e a s e da n d t r a i n i n g a c t i v i t y a c c e l e r a t e d ,

T h e s e M a r i n e s o f t h e f i r s t p l a t o o n t o e n t e r r e c r u i t t r a i n i n g a tM o n t f o r d P o i n t w e r e p r o m o t e d t o p r i v a t e f i r s t c l a s s a m o n t hb e f o r e t h e y c o m p l e t e d b o o t c a m p a n d b e c a m e a s s i s t a n t d r i l li n s t r u c t o r s . F r o m l e f t a r e M o r t i m e r A . C o x ; A r n o l d R . B o s t i c k ;

E d g a r R . D a v i s , J r . ; G i l b e r t H . " H a s h m a r k " J o h n s o n a n d E d g a rR . H u f f ( t h e i r d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r s ) ; a n d C h a r l e s E . A l l e n .

r i n e s c o u l d m a s t e r t h e s k i l l s a n d p a s s s o m e o f t h e r e c e n t l y p r o m o t e d p r i -8


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T w o o f T h o s e W h o S u c c e e d e dw o o f t h e b l a c k M a r i n e s w h o o v e r c a m e e v e r yc h a l l e n g e , E d g a r R . H u f f a n d G i l b e r t H . J o h n s o n ,b e c a m e l e g e n d s a m o n g t h e m e n o f M o n t f o r d P o i n t .B o t h g r e w u p i n A l a b a m a , a n d u l t i m a t e l y w o u l d m a r r yt w i n s i s t e r s , b u t t h e i r m i l i t a r y b a c k g r o u n d s c o u l d n o t h a v eb e e n m o r e d i f f e r e n t . H u f f ' s s e r v i c e b e g a n w h e n h e j o i n e dt h e M a r i n e C o r p s , b u t J o h n s o n h a d s e r v e d i n b o t h t h eA r m y a n d N a v y b e f o r e h e r e p o r t e d t o M o n t f o r d P o i n t .

G i l b e r t H . J o h n s o n e a r n e d t h e n i c k n a m e " H a s h m a r k " b e -c a u s e h e w o r e o n t h e s l e e v e o f h i s M a r i n e C o r p s u n i f o r mt h r e e o f t h e d i a g o n a l s t r i p e s , c a l l e d h a s h m a r k s , i n d i c a t i n gs u c c e s s f u l p r e v i o u s e n l i s t m e n t s . B o r n i n M t . H e b r o n ,A l a b a m a , i n 1 9 0 5 , h e j o i n e d t h e A r m y i n 1 9 2 3 a n d s e r v e dt w o t h r e e - y e a r h i t c h e s w i t h a b l a c k r e g i m e n t , t h e 2 5 t h I n -f a n t r y . I n 1 9 3 3 , h e e n l i s t e d i n t h e N a v a l R e s e r v e a s a m e s sa t t e n d a n t , s e r v i n g o n a c t i v e d u t y i n o f f i c e r s ' m e s s e s a t v a r -i o u s i n s t a l l a t i o n s i n T e x a s . H e e n t e r e d t h e r e g u l a r N a v y i nM a y 1 9 4 1 a n d h a d b e c o m e a s t e w a r d s e c o n d c l a s s b y 1 9 4 2w h e n h e h e a r d t h a t t h e M a r i n e C o r p s w a s r e c r u i t i n gA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s .

W i t h i n f a n t r y e x p e r i e n c e r a n g i n g f r o m c o m p a n y c l e r kt o m o r t a r g u n n e r a n d s q u a d l e a d e r , J o h n s o n f e l t h e w a si d e a l l y s u i t e d t o b e c o m e a M a r i n e . A s r e g u l a t i o n s r e q u i r e d ,h e a p p l i e d t o t h e S e c r e t a r y o f t h e N a v y , v i a t h e C o m m a n -d a n t o f t h e M a r i n e C o r p s , f o r a d i s c h a r g e f r o m t h e N a v yi n o r d e r t o j o i n t h e M a r i n e s . H e r e c e i v e d t h e n e c e s s a r y p e r -m i s s i o n a n d r e p o r t e d t o M o n t f o r d P o i n t o n 1 4 N o v e m b e r1 9 4 2 , s t i l l w e a r i n g h i s s t e w a r d ' s u n i f o r m .A s h e a n t i c i p a t e d , h e p o s s e s s e d v i t a l l y n e e d e d s k i l l s t h a t

r e s u l t e d i n h i s b e i n g c h o s e n a s a n a s s i s t a n t d r i l l i n s t r u c t o ra n d l a t e r a d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r . H e e n d e d u p s u p e r v i s i n g t h ev e r y p l a t o o n i n w h i c h h e h a d s t a r t e d h i s t r a i n i n g . L o o k i n gb a c k o n h i s d a y s a s a D I , J o h n s o n c o n c e d e d t h a t h e w a ss o m e t h i n g o f a n " o g r e " o n t h e d r i l l f i e l d . " 1 w a s a s t e r n i n -s t r u c t o r ; ' h e s a i d , " b u t I w a s f a i r : ' H e s o u g h t , w i t h u n s w e r v -i n g d e d i c a t i o n , t o p r o d u c e " i n a f e w w e e k s , a n d a t m o s ta f e w m o n t h s , a t y p e o f M a r i n e f u l l y q u a l i f i e d i n e v e r yr e s p e c t t o w e a r t h a t m u c h c h e r i s h e d G l o b e a n d A n c h o r : 'I n J a n u a r y 1 9 4 5 , h e b e c a m e s e r g e a n t m a j o r o f t h e M o n t -f o r d P o i n t C a m p a n d i n J u n e o f t h a t y e a r j o i n e d t h e 5 2 dD e f e n s e B a t t a l i o n o n G u a m , a l s o a s s e r g e a n t m a j o r , r e m a i n -G i l b e r t H . " H a s J i n i a r k " J o h n s o nD e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e P h o t o ( U S M C ) 5 3 4 4

9

i n g i n t h a t a s s i g n m e n t u n t i l t h e u n i t d i s b a n d e d i n 1 9 4 6 .H i s s u b s e q u e n t c a r e e r i n c l u d e d s e r v i c e d u r i n g t h e K o r e a nW a r . H e r e t i r e d i n 1 9 5 5 a f t e r c o m p l e t i n g a t o u r o f d u t y a sF i r s t S e r g e a n t , H e a d q u a r t e r s a n d S e r v i c e C o m p a n y , 3 d M a -r i n e s , 3 d M a r i n e D i v i s i o n . H e d i e d i n 1 9 7 2 . T w o y e a r s a f -t e r w a r d , t h e M a r i n e C o r p s p a i d t r i b u t e t o h i sa c c o m p l i s h m e n t s b y r e d e s i g n a t i n g t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n tC a m p a s C a m p G i l b e r t H . J o h n s o n .E d g a r R . H u f f e n l i s t e d i n t h e M a r i n e C o r p s i n J u n e 1 9 4 2a n d u n d e r w e n t t r a i n i n g a t t h e n e w M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p ." 1 w a n t e d t o b e a M a r i n e , " h e s a i d y e a r s l a t e r , " b e c a u s e Ih a d a l w a y s h e a r d t h a t t h e M a r i n e C o r p s w a s t h e t o u g h e s to u t f i t g o i n g , a n d I f e l t I w a s t h e t o u g h e s t g o i n g , s o I w a n t -e d t o b e a m e m b e r o f t h e b e s t o r g a n i z a t i o n : ' H i s t o u g h n e s sa n d p h y s i c a l s t r e n g t h h a d s e r v e d h i m w e l l w h i l e a c r a n er i g g e r f o r t h e R e p u b l i c S t e e l C o m p a n y i n A l a b a m a C i t y ,n e a r h i s h o m e t o w n o f G a d s d e n , A l a b a m a .H u f f r e p o r t e d f o r d u t y a t a t i m e w h e n t h e M o n t f o r dP o i n t o p e r a t i o n d e s p e r a t e l y n e e d e d f o r c e f u l a n d i n t e l l i g e n tA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s , w i t h o r w i t h o u t p r e v i o u s m i l i t a r y e x -p e r i e n c e , t o t a k e o v e r f r o m t h e w h i t e n o n c o m m i s s i o n e do f f i c e r s o f t h e S p e c i a l E n l i s t e d S t a f f . S i n c e h e p o s s e s s e d t h ev e r y q u a l i t i e s t h a t t h e M a r i n e C o r p s w a s s e e k i n g , h e a t -t e n d e d a d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r ' s c o u r s e , s e r v e d b r i e f l y a s a n a s -s i s t a n t t o t w o w h i t e d r i l l i n s t r u c t o r s , t o o k o v e r a p l a t o o no f h i s o w n , a n d s o o n a s s u m e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r a l l t h e D I sa t M o n t f o r d P o i n t H e m a d e p l a t o o n s e r g e a n t i n S e p t e m -b e r 1 9 4 3 , g u n n e r y s e r g e a n t i n N o v e m b e r o f t h a t y e a r , a n di n J u n e 1 9 4 4 b e c a m e f i r s t s e r g e a n t o f a m a l a r i a c o n t r o ld e t a c h m e n t a t M o n t f o r d P o i n t . H e w e n t o v e r s e a s s i xm o n t h s l a t e r a s t h e f i r s t s e r g e a n t o f t h e 5 t h D e p o tC o m p a n y t h e s e c o n d w a r t i m e u n i t w i t h t h a td e s i g n a t i o n s e r v e d o n S a i p a n , s a w c o m b a t o n O k i n a w a ,a n d t o o k p a r t i n t h e o c c u p a t i o n o f N o r t h C h i n a .D i s c h a r g e d f r o m t h e M a r i n e C o r p s w h e n t h e w a r e n d -e d , h e s p e n t a f e w m o n t h s a s a c i v i l i a n a n d t h e n r e e n l i s t -e d . H e s a w s e r v i c e i n t h e K o r e a n W a r a n d t h e V i e t n a m W a r .D u r i n g h i s s e c o n d t o u r o f d u t y i n V i e t n a m , h e w a s S e r -g e a n t M a j o r , I I I M a r i n e A m p h i b i o u s F o r c e , t h e p r i n c i p a lM a r i n e C o r p s c o m m a n d i n S o u t h e a s t A s i a . H e r e t i r e d i n1 9 7 2 w h i l e S e r g e a n t M a j o r , M a r i n e C o r p s A i r S t a t i o n , N e wR i v e r , N o r t h C a r o l i n a , a n d d i e d i n M a y 1 9 9 4 .

E d g a r R . H u f f


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G h a z l o , i n s t r u c t o r i n u n a r m e d c o m b a t ,y a t e s f i r s t c l a s s , c o r p o r a l s , a n d s e r -g e a n t s b e c a m e a s s i s t a n t d r i l li n s t r u c t o r s a t t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n tb o o t c a m p , r e p l a c e d t h e w h i t e d r i l li n s t r u c t o r s , o r j o i n e d t h e d e f e n s e b a t -t a l i o n w h e n i t b e g a n t a k i n g s h a p e .T h e r a p i d e x p a n s i o n o f t h e n o n c o m -m i s s i o n e d r a n k s t h r u s t m a n y o f t h en e w l y p r o m o t e d b l a c k M a r i n e s i n t os i n k - o r - s w i m a s s i g n m e n t s i n w h i c ht h e y n o t o n l y k e p t t h e i r h e a d s a b o v ew a t e r b u t m a d e r a p i d p r o g r e s sa g a i n s t t h e c u r r e n t .

A f e w o f t h e b l a c k v o l u n t e e r s b e -s i d e s G i l b e r t J o h n s o n h a d p r e v i o u sm i l i t a r y e x p e r i e n c e ; o t h e r s h a d s p e -c i a l a b i l i t y o r t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r l e a d e r -s h i p . J o h n T . P r i d g e n , f o r i n s t a n c e ,h a d s e r v e d i n t h e 1 0 t h C a v a l r y b e -f o r e t h e w a r , a n d G e o r g e A . J a c k s o nh a d b e e n a n o f f i c e r i n t h e p e a c e t i m eA r m y r e s e r v e . A t a t i m e w h e n f e ww h i t e s a n d f e w e r b l a c k s h e l d d e g r e e s ,t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t M a r i n e s i n c l u d e ds e v e r a l c o l l e g e g r a d u a t e s , a m o n gt h e m C h a r l e s F . A n d e r s o n a n dC h a r l e s W . S i m m o n s . T h e t a l e n t s o fA r v i n L . " T o n y " G h a z l o p r o v e d a sv a l u a b l e a s t h e y w e r e r a r e , f o r a s a

v i l i a n h e h a d g i v e n l e s s o n s i n j u j i t -W i t h t h e h e l p o f a n o t h e r b l a c k

d i s a r m s h i s a s s i s t a n t , P F C E r n e s t J o n e s .M a r i n e , E r n e s t " J u d o " J o n e s , G h a z l ot a u g h t u n a r m e d c o m b a t a t M o n t f o r dP o i n t . M e n l i k e t h e s e r e p l a c e d m e m -b e r s o f t h e S p e c i a l E n l i s t e d S t a f f i nt h e t r a i n i n g p r o c e s s , a t r a n s i t i o n a l lb u t c o m p l e t e d b y t h e e n d o f A p r i l1 9 4 3 , a n d b e c a m e n o n c o m m i s s i o n e do f f i c e r s i n t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o na n d t h e o t h e r u n i t s f o r m e d f r o m t h et i d e o f d r a f t e e s .

T h a n k s t o t h e u s e o f t h e S e l e c t i v eS e r v i c e S y s t e m a s t h e n o r m a l s o u r c eo f r e c r u i t s , t h e n a t u r e o f t h e p r o g r a ma t M o n t f o r d P o i n t w a s c h a n g i n g . As i n g l e d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n c o u l d n o t a b -s o r b t h e i n f l u x o f b l a c k s i n t o t h e M a -r i n e C o r p s . C o n s e q u e n t l y , S e c r e t a r yo f t h e N a v y K n o x a u t h o r i z e d a M a -r i n e C o r p s M e s s m a n B r a n c h a n d t h ef i r s t o f 6 3 c o m b a t s u p p o r t c o m -p a n i e s e i t h e r d e p o t o r a m m u n i t i o nu n i t s a s w e l l a s a s e c o n d d e f e n s eb a t t a l i o n , t h e 5 2 d . A n e x p a n s i o n o ft h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p b e g a n , a st h e M a r i n e C o r p s p r e p a r e d t o h o u s ea n o t h e r t h o u s a n d b l a c k s t h e r e . T h eH e a d q u a r t e r s a n d S e r v i c e C o m p a n y ,M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p , c a m e i n t o e x -i s t e n c e o n 1 1 M a r c h 1 9 4 3 , a n d a t t h es a m e t i m e , t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l -i o n ( C o m p o s i t e ) p r o v i d e d t h e

n u c l e u s f o r t h e H e a d q u a r t e r s C o m -p a n y , R e c r u i t D e p o t B a t t a l i o n .C o l o n e l W o o d s r e t a i n e d c o m m a n d o ft h e c a m p , e n t r u s t i n g t h e d e f e n s e b a t -t a l i o n t o L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l W . B a -y a r d O n l e y , a g r a d u a t e o f t h e N a v a lA c a d e m y w h o s e m o s t r e c e n t a s s i g n -m e n t h a d b e e n R e g i m e n t a l E x e c u t i v eO f f i c e r , 2 3 d M a r i n e s . L i e u t e n a n tC o l o n e l H o l d a h l c o n t i n u e d t o e x e r -c i s e c o n t r o l o v e r b o o t t r a i n i n g a sc o m m a n d e r o f t h e n e w r e c r u i t b a t -t a l i o n . O n 1 A p r i l , C a p t a i n A l b e r t0 . M a d d e n , a v e t e r a n o f W o r l d W a rI w h o , a s a c i v i l i a n , h a d o p e r a t e dr e s t a u r a n t s i n A l b a n y , N e w Y o r k ,t o o k c o m m a n d o f t h e n e w M e s s m a nB r a n c h B a t t a l i o n ; o n t h e 1 3 t h , w h e nt h e M e s s m a n B r a n c h b e c a m e t h eS t e w a r d s ' B r a n c h , t h e n a m e o f M a d -d e n ' s b a t t a l i o n c h a n g e d t o r e f l e c t t h er e d e s i g n a t i o n . T h e g r o w t h o f t h eM o n t f o r d P o i n t o p e r a t i o n r e q u i r e da d d i t i o n a l h o u s e k e e p i n g s u p p o r t ,m u c h o f i t o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e r i f l ec o m p a n y o f t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l -i o n , a f t e r a m o d i f i e d t a b l e o f o r g a n i -z a t i o n d i s b a n d e d t h e i n f a n t r y u n i t i nt h e s u m m e r o f 1 9 4 3 .

T h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n u n i t s a n d t h e e x p a n s i o n o fa c t i v i t y a t M o n t f o r d P o i n t i n t e r f e r e dw i t h t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d t r a i n i n g o ft h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o n ( C o m p o -s i t e ) b y m a k i n g d e m a n d s o n t h e p o o lo f b l a c k n o n c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r st h a t W o o d s , H o l d a h l , a n d t h es h r i n k i n g S p e c i a l E n l i s t e d S t a f f h a da s s e m b l e d . T h e f i r s t , a n d f o r a t i m et h e o n l y , M a r i n e C o r p s c o m b a t u n i tt o b e m a n n e d b y b l a c k s f o u n d i t s e l fi n c o m p e t i t i o n w i t h a n o t h e r d e f e n s eb a t t a l i o n , t h e n e w c o m b a t s u p p o r to u t f i t s ( d e p o t a n d a m m u n i t i o n c o m -p a n i e s ) , t h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c h , a n d ,a s b e f o r e , t h e r e c r u i t t r a i n i n g f u n c -t i o n . S o t h i n l y s p r e a d w a s t h eA f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n e n l i s t e d l e a d e r s h i pt h a t t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l s m i g h t s e r v e

i n a s u c c e s s i o n o f u n i t s . " H a s h m a r k "J o h n s o n , a D I i n b o o t c a m p , e n d e d

N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s P h o t o 1 2 7 - N - 5 3 3 4D u r i n g a d e m o n s t r a t i o n w h i l e t r a i n i n g a t M o n t f o r d P o i n t , C p l A r v i n L . " T o n y "


13/32

T h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c hI n o r g a n i z i n g t h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c h . t h e M a r i n e C o r p s f o l l o w e d t h e e x -a m p l e o f t h e N a v y , w h i c h h a d b e g u n b e f o r e W o r l d W a r I t o s e g r e g a t et h e e n l i s t e d f o r c e b y c h a n n e l i n g b l a c k s a w a y f r o m c o m b a t o r t e c h n i c a ls p e c i a l t i e s a n d m a k i n g t h e m s t e w a r d s o r m e s s a t t e n d a n t s . O n c e C a p t a i n M a d -d e n ' s f o r m a l c o u r s e s b e g a n p r o d u c i n g e n o u g h g r a d u a t e s , t h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c hp r o v i d e d c o o k s a n d a t t e n d a n t s f o r o f f i c e r s ' m e s s e s i n l a r g e - u n i t h e a d q u a r t -e r s . C o m b a t e x p e r i e n c e w o u l d p r o v e t h a t d u t y i n t h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c h c o u l db e a s d a n g e r o u s a s a n y o t h e r a s s i g n m e n t o p e n t o b l a c k s . O n S a i p a n , f o r e x -a m p l e , t w o m e m b e r s o f t h e b r a n c h s u f f e r e d w o u n d s w h e n t h e e n e m y s h e l l e dt h e h e a d q u a r t e r s o f t h e 2 d M a r i n e D i v i s i o n . O n O k i n a w a , w h e r e s t e w a r d sr o u t i n e l y v o l u n t e e r e d a s s t r e t c h e r b e a r e r s , S t e w a r d 2 d C l a s s W a r r e n N .M c G r e w , J r . , w a s k i l l e d a n d s e v e n o t h e r s s u s t a i n e d w o u n d s , o n e o f t h e m ,S t e w a r d ' s A s s i s t a n t 1 s t C l a s s J o e N . B r y a n t , b e i n g w o u n d e d t w i c e .T h e S t e w a r d s ' B r a n c h d i d n o t i n c l u d e t h e c o o k s a n d b a k e r s i n b l a c k u n i t s .S e g r e g a t i o n r e q u i r e d t h a t A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s t a k e o v e r t h e s e s p e c i a l t i e s , b e -g i n n i n g a t t h e M o n t f o r d P o i n t C a m p . I n J a n u a r y 1 9 4 3 , J e r o m e D . A l c o r n , O t t oC h e r r y a n d R o b e r t T . D a v i s b e c a m e t h e f i r s t t o c r o s s t h e d i v i d e b e t w e e n a s -s i s t a n t c o o k ( a t t h e t i m e t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f a c o r p o r a l ) a n d f i e l d c o o k ( s e r g e a n t ) .u p w i t h t h e 5 2 d D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o n .S i m i l a r l y , E d g a r H u f f , a l s o a D I ,m o v e d o n t o o t h e r a s s i g n m e n t s , i n -c l u d i n g f i r s t s e r g e a n t o f o n e o f t h ec o m b a t s e r v i c e s u p p o r t c o m p a n i e s .

T h e 5 1 s t h a d a t t a i n e d o n l y h a l f i t sa u t h o r i z e d s t r e n g t h o n 2 1 A p r i l ,w h e n a n e w c o m m a n d i n g o f f i c e r ,L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l F l o y d A .S t e p h e n s o n , t o o k o v e r f r o m L i e u -t e n a n t C o l o n e l O n l e y . S t e p h e n s o n , i nc o m m a n d o f a d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n a tP e a r l H a r b o r w h e n t h e J a p a n e s e a t -t a c k e d , l a t e r d e c l a r e d t h a t h e " h a d n ob r i e f f o r t h e N e g r o p r o g r a m i n t h eM a r i n e C o r p s ; ' s i n c e h e h a i l e d f r o mT e x a s , " w h e r e m a t t e r s r e l a t i n g t oN e g r o e s a r e n o r m a l l y g i v e n t h ec l o s e s t c r i t i c a l s c r u t i n y ; ' a e u p h e m i s -t i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f J i m C r o w . H e w a s ,i n s h o r t , t h e p r o d u c t o f a s e g r e g a t e d

s o c i e t y , b u t d e s p i t e h i s b a c k g r o u n d ,h e t a c k l e d h i s n e w a s s i g n m e n t w i t he n t h u s i a s m a n d s k i l l . A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n s , h e s o o n d i s c o v e r e d ,c o u l d l e a r n t o p e r f o r m a l l t h e d u t i e sr e q u i r e d i n a d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n .

B y t h e e n d o f 1 9 4 2 , t h e n a t u r e o ft h e d e f e n s e b a t t a l i o n h a d b e g u nc h a n g i n g . A l r e a d y t h e M a r i n e C o r p sh a d s t r i c k e n l i g h t t a n k s f r o m t h e t a -b l e o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d e q u i p m e n t ,a n d , a s c l o s e c o m b a t b e c a m e i n c r e a s -

i n g l y l e s s l i k e l y , t h e r i f l e c o m p a n ya n d t h e p a c k h o w i t z e r s f o l l o w e d t h ea r m o r i n t o o b l i v i o n . E m p h a s i s s h i f t -e d f r o m r e p u l s i n g a m p h i b i o u s l a n d -i n g s t o d e f e n d i n g a g a i n s t J a p a n e s e a i rs t r i k e s a n d h i t - a n d - r u n r a i d s b y w a r -s h i p s . I n J u n e 1 9 4 3 , t h e q u a l i f i e r" C o m p o s i t e " d i s a p p e a r e d f r o m t h ed e s i g n a t i o n o f t h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t -t a l i o n , t h e 1 5 5 m m b a t t e r y b e c a m e ag r o u p , a n d t h e m a c h i n e g u n u n i te v o l v e d i n t o t h e S p e c i a l W e a p o n sG r o u p , w i t h 2 0 m m a n d 4 0 m mw e a p o n s , a s w e l l a s m a c h i n e g u n s .A m o n t h l a t e r , t h e 1 5 5 m m G r o u p b e -c a m e t h e S e a c o a s t A r t i l l e r y G r o u p ,a n d t h e 9 0 m m o u t f i t , w i t h i t s s e a r c h -l i g h t s , t h e A n t i a i r c r a f t A r t i l l e r yG r o u p . N o f u r t h e r c h a n g e s t o o kp l a c e b e f o r e t h e b a t t a l i o n w e n to v e r s e a s .

A s t h i s e v o l u t i o n i n o r g a n i z a t i o na n d w e a p o n r y b e g a n , S t e p h e n s o n s e tt o w o r k b u i l d i n g a s e g r e g a t e d b a t t a l -i o n w i t h t h e A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n M a -r i n e s a v a i l a b l e t o h i m . T h e y h a du n d e r g o n e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t e s t i n g a tM o n t f o r d P o i n t a n d b e e n g r o u p e da c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r s c o r e s . N o r m a l l ym e n i n C a t e g o r y I V w o u l d a t b e s t a t -t a i n t h e r a n k o f c o r p o r a l , w h e r e a st h o s e i n C a t e g o r i e s I I I t h r o u g h Ig e n e r a l l y h a d t h e a p t i t u d e f o r h i g h e r1 1

r a n k , t h o u g h n o b l a c k c o u l d a s p i r e to f f i c e r t r a i n i n g . S i n c e c l a s s i f i c a t i o ns c o r e s t e n d e d t o b e f a l l i b l e , S t e p h e ns o n a n d h i s o f f i c e r s h a d t o r e l y o ni n s t r u c t i o n , o b s e r v a t i o n , a n d e v a l ua t i o n a s t h e y t r i e d t o c r e a t e a c a d ro f b l a c k n o n c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r s in i n e m o n t h s o r l e s s .

E a c h g r o u p w i t h i n t h e b a t t a l i o n a t t h e t i m e 1 5 5 m m a r t i l l e r y , 9 0 m ma n t i a i r c r a f t a r t i l l e r y , a n d s p e c i aw e a p o n s m a i n t a i n e d s t a n d i n g e xa m i n a t i o n b o a r d s , w h i c h i n c l u d et h e g r o u p c o m m a n d e r . T h e o f f i c e ra n d n o n c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e rr e c o m m e n d e d c a n d i d a t e s f o r p r o m ot i o n , w h o t h e n a p p e a r e d b e f o r e t hg r o u p ' s e x a m i n i n g b o a r d . T h e f i r st e s t i n t h i s s e r i e s , f o r p r o m o t i o n tp r i v a t e f i r s t c l a s s , w a s a w r i t t e n e xa m i n a t i o n u s u a l l y a d m i n i s t e r e d d u ri n g o r s h o r t l y a f t e r b o o t c a m p , b ut h e o t h e r s , g i v e n d u r i n g u n i t t r a i ni n g , c o n s i s t e d o f 2 5 t o 3 0 q u e s t i o na n s w e r e d o r a l l y . T h e n a m e s o f t h o sw h o s u r v i v e d t h e s c r e e n i n g w e n t tt h e b a t t a l i o n c o m m a n d e r w h om a t c h e d c a n d i d a t e s w i t h o p e n i n g s" M a n y q u a l i f i e d m e n w a i t e d f r o mm o n t h t o m o n t h : ' S t e p h e n s o n r ec a l l e d , a l t h o u g h i n s i x o r e i g h t i n

s t a n c e s o v e r p e r h a p s n i n e m o n t h s " ae s p e c i a l l y m e r i t o r i o u s , m a t u r e m aw a s a d v a n c e d t w o g r a d e s o n s u c c es i v e d a y s t o p l a c e e s p e c i a l l y t a l e n t el e a d e r s i n p o s i t i o n s o f r e s p o n s i b i lt y " J u s t a s " H a s h m a r k " J o h n s o n a nE d g a r H u f f h a d a d v a n c e d r a p i d lw i t h i n t h e r e c r u i t t r a i n i n g o p e r a t i o nO b i e H a l l b e c a m e a p l a t o o n s e r g e a nw i t h i n s i x m o n t h s o f j o i n i n g t h e b at a l i o n .T h e t e m p o o f t r a i n i n g p i c k e d ut h r o u g h o u t t h e s u m m e r a n d f a l l o1 9 4 3 , a s A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n n o n c o mm i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r s r e p l a c e d m o ro f t h e w h i t e e n l i s t e d m e n w h o h at a u g h t t h e m t o h a n d l e w e a p o n s a nl e a d m e n i n c o m b a t . O n 2 0 A u g u st h e 5 1 s t D e f e n s e B a t t a l i o n s u f f e r ei t s f i r s t f a t a l i t y . D u r i n g a d i s e m b a rk a t i o n e x e r c i s e , w h i l e t h e M a r i n e s ot h e 1 5 5 m m A r t i l l e r y G r o u p s c r a mb l e d d o w n a n e t d r a p e d o v e r

The Stewards' BranchI organizing the Stewadd Branch, the Marine Corps followed the ex-ample of the Navy, which had begunbefom World War to segregatethe enlisted force by channeling blacks awayfrom combat or technicalspecialties andmalsing them stmadsormess attendants.OnaCaptainMad-den's formalcou18e8began producing enough graduates, the StewaddBranchprovided amks and attendants for officed messes in largeunit headquart-ers. Combatexperienoewould prove that duty in the Skwards'Branch couldbeas dangerousas any other assignment open to blacks. OnSaipan, for ex-ample, two membersof the branch suffered wounds when the enemy shelledthe headquartem of the M Marine Division. On O b w a , where stewardsroutinely volunteered as stretcher bearem, Steward 2d Class Warren N.McGrew, Jr.,was killed and seven others sustained wounds, one of theq,Steward's Adstant lst Class JoeN. Bryant, being wounded twioe.TheStewards'Branch did not include the cooks and bakers in black units.Segregation required thatAfrican-Americanstake over these specialties, be-ginning at&Montford Point Camp. InJanuary1943, mmeD. Alcom,OttoCherry, and RobertT. Davisbecame the first to goss thedividebetween as-sistantoook (at the time the equivalent of a corporal) and fieldmok (seqeant).

up with the 52d Defense Battalion.Similarly, Edgar Huff, also a DI,moved on to other assignments, in-cluding first sergeant of one of thecombat service support companies.

The 51st had attained only half itsauthorized strength on 21 April,when a new commanding officer,Lieutenant Colonel Floyd A.Stephenson, took over from Lieu-tenant Colonel Onley Stephenson, in.command of a defense battalion atPearl Harbor when the Japanese at-tacked, later declared that he "had nobrief for the Negro program in theMarine Corps," since he hailed fromTexas, "where matters relating toNegroes are normally given theclosest critical scrutiny," a euphemis-tic description of Jim Crow. He was,in short, the product of a segregatedsociety, but despite his background,he tackled his new assignment withenthusiasm and skill. African-Americans, he soon discovered,could learn to perform all the dutiesrequired in a defense battalion.

By the end of 1942, the nature ofthe defense battalion had begunchanging. Already the Marine Corpshad stricken light tanks from the ta-ble of organization and equipment,and, as close combat became increas-

ingly less likely, the rifle companyand the pack howitzers followed thearmor into oblivion. Emphasis shift-ed from repulsing amphibious land-ings to defending against Japanese airstrikes and hit-and-run raids by war-ships. In June 1943, the qualifier"Composite" disappeared from thedesignation of the 51st Defense Bat-talion, the 155mm battery became agroup, and the machine gun unitevolved into the Special WeaponsGroup, with 20mm and 40mmweapons, as well as machine guns.A month later, the 155mm Group be-came the Seacoast Artillery Group,and the 90mm outfit, with its search-lights, the Antiaircraft ArtilleryGroup. No further changes tookplace before the battalion wentoverseas.

As this evolution in organizationand weaponry began, Stephenson setto work building a segregated battal-ion with the African-American Ma-rines available to him. They hadundergone classification testing atMontford Point and been groupedaccording to their scores. Normallymen in Category IV would at best at-tain the rank of corporal, whereasthose in Categories I11 through Igenerally had the aptitude for higher

rank, though no black could aspire tofficer training. Since classificationscores tended to be fallible, Stephenson and his officers had to rely oinstruction, observation, and evaluation as they tried to create a cadrof black noncommissioned officers inine months or less.

Each group within the battalion-at the time 155mm artillery, 90mmantiaircraft artillery, and speciaweapons -maintained standing examination boards, which includethe group commander. The officerand noncommissioned officerrecommended candidates for promotion, who then appeared before thgroup's examining board. The firstest in this series, for promotion tprivate first class, was a written examination usually administered duing or shortly after boot camp, buthe others, given during unit training, consisted of 25 to 30 questionanswered orally. The names of thoswho survived the screening went tthe battalion commander whmatched candidates with opening"Many qualified men waited frommonth to month," Stephenson recalled, although in six or eight instances over perhaps nine months "aespecially meritorious, mature mawas advanced two grades on succesive days to place especially talenteleaders in positions of responsibilty." Just as "Hashmark Johnson anEdgar Huff had advanced rapidlwithin the recruit training operationObie Hall became a platoon sergeawithin six months of joining the batalion.

The tempo of training picked uthroughout the summer and fall o1943, as African-American noncommissioned officers replaced morof the white enlisted men who hataught them to handle weapons anlead men in combat. On 20 Augusthe 51st Defense Battalion suffereits first fatality. During a disembakation exercise, while the Marines othe 155mm Artillery Group scrambled down a net draped over


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o o d e n s t r u c t u r e r e p r e s e n t i n g t h ed e o f a t r a n s p o r t , C o r p o r a l G i l b e r tr a s e r , J r . , s l i p p e d , f e l l i n t o a l a n d -n g c r a f t i n t h e w a t e r b e l o w , a n df f e r e d i n j u r i e s t h a t c l a i m e d h i s l i f e .n m e m o r y o f t h e 3 0 - y e a r - o l d g r a d u -e o f V i r g i n i a U n i o n C o l l e g e , t h eo a d l e a d i n g f r o m M o n t f o r d P o i n ta m p t o t h e a r t i l l e r y r a n g e b e c a m er a s e r R o a d .A l t h o u g h t h e m e n o f t h e 5 1 s t D e -f e n s e B a t t a l i o n h a d t o a s s u m e t h ee s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f s q u a d l e a d e r s a n dp l a t o o n s e r g e a n t s e v e n a s t h e y

l e a r n e d t o c a r e f o r a n d f i r e t h e b a t -t a l i o n ' s w e a p o n s , t h e b l a c k M a r i n e sm e t t h i s c h a l l e n g e , a s t h e y d e m o n -r a t e d i n N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 3 . D u r i n gf i r i n g e x e r c i s e s w h i l e S e c r e t a r yo f t h e N a v y K n o x , G e n e r a l H o l c o m b ,a n d C o l o n e l J o h n s o n o f t h e S e l e c t i v eS e r v i c e S y s t e m w a t c h e d a n A f r i -A m e r i c a n c r e w o p e n e d f i r e w i t hm m g u n a t a s l e e v e t a r g e t b e i n gt o w e d o v e r h e a d a n d h i t i t w i t h i n j u s ts . L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e lS t e p h e n s o n , l i s t e n i n g f o r t h e C o m -

m a n d a n t ' s r e a c t i o n , h e a r d h i m s a y " 1t h i n k t h e y ' r e r e a d y n o w " F e w o t h e rc r e w s i n t h e 5 1 s t c o u l d m a t c h t h i sp e r f o r m a n c e , a n d a n u m b e r o f t h e mc l e a r l y n e e d e d f u r t h e r t r a i n i n g , a ss o m e o f t h e i r o f f i c e r s w a r n e d a t t h et i m e . T h e f o u r d a y s o f f i r i n g a t t h ee n d o f N o v e m b e r c o u l d n o t b er e p e a t e d , h o w e v e r , f o r t h e u n i tw o u l d d e p a r t s o o n e r t h a n o r i g i n a l -l y p l a n n e d o n t h e f i r s t l e g o f a j o u r -n e y t o t h e P a c i f i c .W h e r e i n t h e P a c i f i c a r e a w o u l dt h a t j o u r n e y e n d ? M a r i n e M a j o r

G e n e r a l C h a r l e s F . B . P r i c e , i n c o m -m a n d o f A m e r i c a n f o r c e s i n S a m o a ,h a d a l r e a d y w a r n e d a g a i n s t s

The Right to Fight African-American Marines in World War II

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