The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines

by Melton A. McLaurin

With an executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, the United States Marine Corps--the last all-white branch of the U.S. military--was forced to begin recruiting and enlisting African Americans. The first black recruits received basic training at the segregated Camp Montford Point, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, near Jacksonville, North Carolina. Between 1942 and 1949 (when the base was closed as a result of President Truman's 1948 order fully desegregating all military forces) more than 20,000 men trained at Montford Point, most of them going on to serve in the Pacific Theatre in World War II as members of support units. This book, in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name, tells the story of these Marines for the first time.

Drawing from interviews with 60 veterans, The Marines of Montford Point relates the experiences of these pioneers in their own words. From their stories, we learn about their reasons for enlisting; their arrival at Montford Point and the training they received there; their lives in a segregated military and in the Jim Crow South; their experiences of combat and service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; and their legacy. The Marines speak with flashes of anger and humor, sometimes with sorrow, sometimes with great wisdom, and always with a pride fostered by incredible accomplishment in the face of adversity. This book serves to recognize and to honor the men who desegregated the Marine Corps and loyally served their country in three major wars.

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With an executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, the United States Marine Corps--the last all-white branch of the U.S. military--was forced to begin recruiting and enlisting African Americans. The first black recruits received basic training at the segregated Camp Montford Point, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, near Jacksonville, North Carolina.
This book, in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name, tells the story of these pioneering African American Marines. Drawing from interviews with 60 veterans, Melton McLaurin relates in the Marines' own words their reasons for enlisting; their arrival at Montford Point and the training they received there; their lives in a segregated military and in the Jim Crow South; their experiences of combat and service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; and their legacy. This book serves to recognize and to honor the men who desegregated the Marine Corps and loyally served their country in three major wars.
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Genres: Military Fiction, History, Nonfiction, American History, World War II

216 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2007

About the author

Melton Alonza McLaurin received his Ph.D. in American history from the University of South Carolina in 1967 and taught at the University of South Alabama prior to joining the UNCW department of history as chairperson in 1977. From 1996 until 2003 he served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, retiring in 2004. He is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on various aspects of the history of the American South and race relations.

Reviews

[Mark Mortensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1941 President Roosevelt issued an order for the Marine Corps to begin accepting African Americans for the first time since the American Revolution. One year later Camp Montford Point, located next to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was opened as a segregated training facility. This book describes the experience of the African Americans through a collection of firsthand accounts.

With America committed to World War II young men entered the thought process as to which branch of service they would like to join prior to being drafted. African Americans, who chose to become Marines, did so for reasons similar to others throughout the history of the Corps. As Paul Holtsclaw mentioned; “And we [his family] were always taught to do the right thing and to obey God and keep his Commandments, and I just thought it would be nice that I go into the service because I’ve always had a feeling of loyalty to my country and duty to God, duty to country and duty to self.” The grammar used in many of the accounts is not perfect, but for me this adds rather than detracts from the story.

The book captures a unique part of history with tales of leaving home, basic training, successfully becoming a Marine, followed by service. Unique photos enhance the piece of history.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently took a look at the USMC Commandant’s Reading List and decided to start reading them all. This was my first book from the list. While topically I feel this is an important book for young Marines to read, the format it was written in was basically a transcribed documentary film. In fact, had this been a documentary it would be outstanding.

It’s a set of interviews from many of the first black Marines allowed in the Corps. Maybe too many. It was difficult to follow each one and I don’t feel like I knew any of them by the time I finished. I can’t help but think of Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns” and the way she built a narrative out each person’s story of their northern migration. I KNEW who they were and why they moved. Had this book been written in a similar fashion I would rate it much higher.

I still encourage Marines to read it. The Corps isn’t all Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Hue City, Fallujah war stories. There were some rough patches in its history and it’s important to learn those for perspective and humility.

S/F

[Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

BLUF: important stories, but save your time and watch a documentary on them. The book won’t give you anything different.

This book documents an important part of the Corps’ history that is tragically overlooked, and for that it should be commended. However, the book itself is nothing more than the written transcripts of interviews conducted with veterans. I learned about things I’m not proud of, being a Marine, but I am proud of those who went before me and suffered through them in order to better our Corps. That being said, it would have been much quicker watching the interviews themselves in a documentary rather than wasting my time reading them word by word.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that should be better known. The first African Americans accepted into the United States Marine Corps. Trained separately at Montford Point, an outpost at Camp Lejeune NC.

This book is part of an oral history project so it consists primarily of the interviews with Montford Point Marines. As such, it is very repetitive and can wander a bit. The project is important, the recording of these men's reminiscences is extremely important, but as a book, it was challenging to get through.

As a Marine Corps veteran, I was well aware of the Montford Point legacy - it is an important part of Marine Corps (and our country's) history. Wish the story was available in a more focused, direct way.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history and personal accounts portrayed in this book make it a worth-while read. But I do wish the book had been organized differently. The layout made it difficult to connect to the individualized stories of each Montfort Point Marine. And it felt fairly repetitive throughout—some spacing in the repetition may have helped with the overwhelming redundancy. All-in-all this was a good read. Unlike any military-history book I have read this far; and undoubtedly, a part of history that all Americans should know.

[LENIS E. MCCALISTER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal.

I have been to Camp Johnson for training and never knew of its history. This recollection of stories provided by African American Marines that served before me makes me feel proud that I made the Marines a career. It also gives me another reason to be proud of the choice I made to stay Marine.

[Jerry Elix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that tells the forgotten story of the first African American Marines. It’s a good easy read, but it needs to be read by many. The Greatest Generation of the United States looked like America and not only a single segment of America.

[Brooke Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way the book was structured; it gave the book a really nice flow. Reading the stories from so many different Montford Point Marines was inspiring, heartbreaking at times, eye-opening, and left me with a profound respect and admiration for those brave men.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good history of the Marines who volunteered to be the first Black Marines. Relegated to a unfinished and heavily populated with mosquitoes, an inspiring story of how they vowed to be better than others.

[Preston · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an important part of American history to be familiar with. I didn't find the way the story was written, namely as a collection of anecdotes, to be particularly engrossing.

[Joy E. Rancatore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers first person accounts of the experiences of the first African-American Marines during WWII and in the years to follow.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of interesting and eye-opening anecdotes (presented verbatim) about the Marines, race relations in the armed services, prevailing societal attitudes about race when the Montford Point Marines enlisted, and the experiences of black Marines in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. So in that regard, it is a five-star book. But unfortunately, the style of the book is not my favorite. It is presented as a series of anecdotes from different Montford Point Marines. There is some general historical narrative, but the bulk of the text is first-person accounts, so it skips around from person to person. The anecdotes are roughly in chronological order, so they start with each man's account of his youth and how he came to enlist in the Marines. Then the anecdotes switch to each man's experience in boot camp, then his experiences in WWII, then Korea, etc. So you might read an anecdote from Person A on page 25 and then again on page 75. It became hard to remember each person's back story.

If you like first-person accounts of history, this is definitely a great book. If you are particularly interested in one man's anecdotes, I recommend bookmarking the pages where he appears so that you can reference his background information later on in the book.

Follow-up: Several readers have complained that the stories are difficult to read because some of the speakers have bad grammar and the grammar is not edited. I did not find this to be the case. The only time I had trouble following an anecdote was when someone made too many references to battalion numbers, since I couldn't keep them straight.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a (White) Marine I found this book to be a real eye-opener. I have read many books by Marines, and about Marines, and many were informative as well as entertaining. This book revealed aspects of the Marine Corps that I was completely ignorant of. Such as there being almost no Black Marines prior to WW 2, and when Black Americans were allowed to join in the early 1940's it was only to be part of a segregated Marine Corps.

This book is basically the transcribed accounts of Black Marines who were trained at Montford Point, a part of Camp Lejune (formerly Marine Barracks, New River, North Carolina), and a separate facility from Paris Island, South Carolina and the place where White recruits were trained initially to be Marines. And of course, Montford Point was located in a prominent part of the segregated south.

This book reveals through individual Marines telling about their experience of getting to this base, going through training, deployment to their various occupations and duty stations, and as well their the combat situations they found themselves a part of.

As someone who lived through the Civil Rights movement of the 60's and 70,s letting these men tell their stories provides a contribution to American History, American Military History, and quite importantly as well, the History of the United States Marine Corps.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in American Black History, Military History, and of course, USMC History.

[Tim Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by author Melton A. Mclaurin who takes us into the life and time of the very first African American Marines. As many of us know, there was a point in time in this countries history.Where minorities were enslaved and thought to be less than human. African people in this country for a very long time were treated as cattle, believed to maybe even be cursed because of the color of their skin. The powers that be kept Black people in oppression through segregation, and other things like hindering them from receiving an education, and denying them all basic human rights. All of these things make since. If you hate someone don't allow them to do the things to better them self. But what I found interesting reading this book was the fact that African Americans weren't even allowed to fight in the army. Now that's crazy to me! Even if I dislike someone if they want to help me succeed in something as serious as war I would let them help! The main people this country treat like crap at the end of they day will still fight for the slight freedom this country does allow them. That's what I call chivalry. This was truly a good read.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

FDR ordered the Marines to accept black men with the entry of America into World War II. Segregated from the white marines, these men were trained at Montford Point in North Carolina. McLaurin interviewed these marines about their experiences enlisting, training and fighting with the marines.

Why I started this book: I'm working my way thru the Navy's recommended reading, searching for the books that are on audio.

Why I finished it: This book's audio format reminded me of War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars. Various narrators read this words of these interviews in dealing with each of the steps of becoming a U.S. Marine.

[Elizabeth Reichow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some amazing stories about a profoundly important time in our history, told by the participants, interspersed with historical background. I HATE that the author chose to use the interviews with the Marines word for word. These 60-70 year old gentlemen were speaking of a time when their life was chaos. I think its safe to assume their sentences would be incomplete and sometimes repetitive. I re-read the whole book six months later and highlighted the highlights for my son who was at Montford Point last year (it's called Camp Johnson now and logistic officers train there). We went to the memorial, which is very nice, but I think he should read the whole story.

[Austin Carroll Keeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of the Montford Point Marines is one of exceptional courage and honor in the face of overwhelming adversity, at home and aboard. It is a story that all Marines should know and should serve as a point of reflection; how can we continue to improve the state of the Corps so that it lives up to the legacy of those who came before?

The stories herein are terrific, but because they are organized by topic rather than person, a coherent picture is tough to realize. Lots of great anecdotes and insights. I would love to see this book in both subject and biographical form.

[JP Aycox · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Marines of Montford Point" was a book written from interviews conducted for a documentary. The book is written exactly as the men spoke, some parts were hard to read. This really opens your eyes to the way the Marine Corps operated and how segregation really played a role on the Corps. This book really helps to appreciate what the men went through for all Americans now. Highly recommend this book for others to read.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great stories. This isn't so much a history as a collection of stories. The audiobook version uses multiple voice actors to give each man a distinct voice, which adds a lot to the telling. There is a lot more to be told, as this gives brief pieces of the history to frame the stories the men tell. The men range from very articulate to some which seem uneducated. All are interesting, and have a unique style and rhythm. A good little tidbit of World War II history.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a valuable resource for those who study World War II and/or the history of the Marine Corps. However, it is mostly transcriptions of interviews conducted with the men who trained at Montford Point in the 1940's and some were not as educated as others, so their stories are not as easy to understand.

[Janine Spendlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing oral history of the Marines of Montford Point -- their story, told in their words -- a history of the first black Marines during the time of Jim Crowe and government sanctioned segregation.

A must read for sure.

[Randy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an important story of the first black marines but the poor grammar transcribed in the first person accounts of these marines makes it a hard read.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved picturing the characters based on how they spoke. This was a very entertaining book.