The Montford Point Marines: The Men Who Fought for the Right to Fight

SOURCE: This documentary was produced in 2012-2013 and released publicly for the first time June 2017 – YouTube.com

Before thousands of Black Marines served across the Marine Corps, before African-American Marines became officers, commanders, drill instructors, and senior enlisted leaders, a group of men had to fight for something most Marines today take for granted.

They had to fight for the right to become Marines.

Between 1942 and 1949, approximately 20,000 African-American men entered the United States Marine Corps and trained at Montford Point, a segregated training facility near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. They served during a period when the color of their skin often mattered more to the institution around them than their willingness to serve their country.

Their story is one of endurance, discipline, courage, and a determination to earn a title they refused to let anyone deny them.

A History That Began Long Before Montford Point

Black Americans had participated in the defense of the nation since its earliest days.

The documentary featured here traces Black military service back to the American Revolution and notes that Black Marines served during the Revolutionary War. Yet from 1798 until 1942, African-Americans were denied the opportunity to enlist in the Marine Corps.

As the United States prepared for World War II, Black leaders and organizations pushed the federal government for equal opportunity to serve.

Their efforts helped bring change.

For the first time in the modern Marine Corps, African-American men would receive an opportunity to earn the title of United States Marine.

The opportunity came with a condition.

They would serve separately.

They Were Marines, But They Were Sent Somewhere Else

Black recruits did not report to the Marine Corps’ established recruit depots at Parris Island or San Diego.

Instead, they were sent to Montford Point.

Some recruits did not even know a separate training camp existed until they arrived. One Marine recalled expecting to go to Parris Island before learning Black recruits were not permitted there.

Montford Point sat in the woods near Camp Lejeune. Conditions were difficult.

Early recruits lived in basic huts with limited protection from the weather. Veterans in the documentary describe cold nights, crude living conditions, and facilities far removed from what recruits at established Marine Corps bases experienced.

Yet the men stayed.

• They trained.
• They adapted.
• They became Marines.

“You’re Going to Have to Be Better”

The Montford Point Marines understood the burden placed on them.

They knew their performance would affect every Black Marine who followed.

One Marine recalled being told by his drill instructor that if he intended to become a Black Marine, he would have to be better than everyone else.

Another described the larger meaning behind their service. They understood they were among the first Black Marines and were paving the way for the people who would come after them. That responsibility strengthened their determination to succeed.

Training at Montford Point became demanding by design.

The Marines who had already endured the first years of segregation expected the recruits behind them to develop the same discipline and resolve. Veterans describe training intended to ensure no one would question whether these Marines belonged in the Corps.

Their mission extended beyond completing boot camp.

They were proving a point.

Facing Segregation in Uniform

Becoming a Marine did not shield these men from discrimination.

Several veterans describe encountering segregation while traveling through the South. Others recall hostility in Jacksonville, North Carolina, including restaurants refusing service and restrictions placed on Black Marines entering areas of the base.

They wore the uniform of the United States Marine Corps while living under rules that treated them differently from other Marines.

They continued serving anyway.

That distinction matters.

The Montford Point Marines did not wait for the country or the Corps to become fair before demonstrating their loyalty. They served during a period when many of the institutions they defended had not yet fully accepted them.

Their conduct helped force those institutions to change.

War Changed Perceptions

During World War II, Montford Point Marines deployed to the Pacific.

They served on islands including Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Some transported ammunition to Marines on the front lines and carried wounded Marines back. At times they fought their way through combat zones to complete those missions.

Combat exposed the weakness of segregation in a way policy debates could not.

When Marines depended on one another for ammunition, evacuation, and survival, race became less important than whether the Marine beside them would do the job.

Veterans in the documentary describe earning the respect of white Marines under combat conditions.

One statement captures the transformation.

After witnessing Black Marines in combat during the Pacific campaign, Marine Corps Commandant General Alexander Vandegrift is remembered for declaring:

“The experiment with Negro Marines is over. They are Marines, period.”

The documentary presents the statement as recognition that the question had been answered. Black Marines had proved their place in the Corps.

Breaking Another Barrier

The barriers did not end with enlisted service.

Frederick C. Branch became the first African-American commissioned officer in the Marine Corps after successfully completing officer training.

The documentary reflects on those who attempted the path before him and the significance of Branch finally making it through. His achievement created another path for the generations who followed.

The legacy of Montford Point gradually expanded throughout the Marine Corps.

Men who once were not permitted to train at Pa