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thedrifter
11-05-03, 06:30 AM
Montford Pointers donate memories, memorabilia to local museum
November 04,2003
CYNDI BROWN
DAILY NEWS STAFF

James Carter solemnly swore 60 years ago to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. But as an original Montford Point Marine, said Carter, "All I fought were domestic."

Carter and fellow Montford Pointer Joseph Burrell visited Camp Johnson, originally Montford Point, last week to donate memorabilia to the museum there chronicling the history of the first black Marines.

"I said, 'Look, Burrell, I think I'm the oldest surviving first sergeant,'" said Carter. "(Burrell) said, 'I think I'm the oldest surviving gunnery sergeant.'"

So they came to the Montford Point Museum to reestablish their place in history.

"That's why we're here," said Carter, who turns 82 next week. "I'm just so happy to be here at this particular time, 60 years later."

And 61 years after he first tried to be a Marine.

Carter, who is originally from New Bern, went to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1942.

"I tried to get in the Marine Corps … but they rejected me," said Carter. "They said I was color blind, then they said I was knock-kneed … Then I had the audacity to challenge them."

He was sent back to see the military doctor, who this time said Carter had a bad heart. Carter was rejected. Again.

"I was young. I was ignorant. I really didn't know any better," said Carter, laughing about trying to enlist in a service that didn't want him. "Really, I wanted to be a hero. When they said Marine Corps, that excited me … I could see myself in that blue uniform."

Carter was finally accepted into the Marine Corps in April of 1943, and he was eager to fight for his country during World War II. Instead, he had to fight for his place in its service.

Since Carter could type, he ended up as a clerk when he wanted to be infantry. He was even more disappointed when the steward branch was created for the black troops to serve in.

"That was awful. Awful. They tried to make me one," said Carter with a shake of his head. He still wanted to fight, but he was sent instead to Hawaii, which was as close to combat as he ever got.

"We got over in Hawaii and started a company, then they didn't move us," said Carter, who met Burrell on the trip to the island.

Burrell, like Carter, went to enlist in 1942. Unlike Carter, however, Burrell had no fondness for the blue uniform.

"I didn't want to go in the Marines. If I had my choice I would go in the Coast Guard," said Burrell, 81 and from Detroit. "(But) I knew I was going to be drafted, and they had no black Marines."

So, thought Burrell, he wouldn't have to serve if they wouldn't let him in.

"They said, 'What do you want, boy?'" remembered Burrell, who told the recruiter he wanted to join the Marine Corps. "They said, 'Raise your right hand,' and I said, 'Oh, (shoot).'"

In boot camp, Burrell volunteered to work with tanks. But on the second day of training, a general came down, saw the black men with the tanks and said, "What the hell are these tanks doing down here." The tanks were gone that same day, and Burrell went to the motor pool before volunteering to be one of the first military police officers at Montford Point.

"They gave me special privileges and I took advantage of them," said Burrell, who went AWOL for four days. "They shipped me out the next day."

"That's how they made the (17th Marine Depot Company) up," added Carter. "They emptied the brig."

Carter was the company's first sergeant, and Burrell was its gunnery sergeant, but their friendship did not grow until after the war.

"They thought Carter was the Uncle Tom and I was the good cop. It was the other way around," said Burrell.

"I was accused of being a 30-year man, and I thought I would make it," admitted Carter. "I got disillusioned later on."

Like when he arrived at the "integrated" Hawaiian base from the segregated Montford Point.

"That's only because they didn't have the signs up," said Carter, remembering one evening he went to see a movie. Carter sat in the front row only to be told those seats were reserved for staff non-commissioned officers only. Count my chevrons, responded Carter.

"So I didn't move," he said, "but all the boys, all the white boys, moved."

He was disappointed watching the other black men relegated to menial tasks but never training to fight. So he complained. He complained about the treatment. He complained about the supplies always running "out" when it came to the black Marines standing at the end of the line. He complained about the cold showers they had to take in the latrines half a block away. He wanted a hot shower, and he wanted to take it across the street where the white troops bathed.

Again he was told, these are reserved for staff NCOs only. Again he responded, count 'em.

"I finally got in trouble," said Carter, "as much as I tried to stay out of trouble.

"I was determined to be an excellent Marine," said Carter, who ended up serving less than three-and-a-half years in the Marine Corps. "Just the main fact that I got in made me feel like I had done something, something great.

"I'm glad the Marine Corps has changed," he added, "and I'm still proud to have been a Marine."

After recording an oral history from the two men, museum curator Jack Robinson and museum director Finney Greggs accepted the chevrons, leggings, photographs and press clippings the men brought to donate. After completing administrative records on the items, each will go on display and add to the story of the first black Marines.

"I'm glad they had the opportunity to come down here," said Greggs, adding the museum is always looking to make contact with original Montford Pointers and their families. "It means it's going to better educate our community what Montford Point was all about and what it means to be a Montford Point Marine. I think that's the significance of having them, the actual men who were involved, present the memorabilia.

"They knew about the museum, knew exactly what we're doing down here," added Greggs of why he thought the men made the trip down.

Carter, who lives in Hampton, Va. and is treasurer and past president of Tidewater Chapter 14, Montford Point Marines Association, had been to the museum before. For Burrell, it was his first visit.

"Sixty years, I have never been back," said Burrell. "It was a thrill."


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Sempers,

Roger
:marine: