The Montford Point Marines

[thedrifter]

The Montford Point Marines

By Bethanne Kelly Patrick

It was May 1943, and the young man in his $54 dress blues just wanted to get away from base and the stress of wartime, take some liberty, and see his family. But when he got to Cleveland, Pfc. R.J. Wood was arrested and charged with impersonating a Marine, according to Bennie J. McRae's "The Montford Point Marines" Web site. Like most Americans at that time, the Cleveland police had never seen an African-American Marine before.

Wood was one of 21,609 African Americans trained at Montford Point, N.C. They all soon proved that they were real Marines, many of them at places like Iwo Jima.

Today's Marine Corps, like its sister services, is fully integrated, but for decades, the Marines did not admit African Americans. In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 to establish the Fair Employment Practice Commission, banning discrimination "because of race, creed, color, or national origin" in all government agencies.

Recruiting for the "Montford Marines" began on June 1, 1942. Thousands of African-American men, eager to serve, flocked to recruiting offices. The quota of 1,200 men were housed in prefabricated huts near segregated Jacksonville, N.C., where railroad tracks divided white residents from black. The troops at Montford experienced racism again and again. For example, unless accompanied by a white Marine, these men were not allowed to enter Camp Lejeune.

By 1945, all drill instructors and many NCOs at Montford Point were black. The Montford Marines performed well in their duties at home and abroad, despite the strictures placed on them by society in their era. In practice, these men surpassed all anti-aircraft gunnery records previously set by Marines, and named their weapon "Lena" after their favorite singer, Lena Horne.

Most important, the men of Montford Point made it impossible for the Marine Corps to return to its prewar policy. President Harry S. Truman eliminated segregated units in 1949. But the Montford Point Marines have not been forgotten. In 1998, Parris Island drum major Staff Sgt. Vernon Harris composed the music to a song, "I'll Take the Marines," commemorating the group. The words had been written by a Montford Marine, LaSalle Vaughn. "If African Americans at that time could go through the rigorous training of Marines when it was segregated and they were looked down on and still be proud Marines … it encourages all Marines to look forward and recognize our progress," Harris said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

February 11, 2005
Montford Point Marine remembers his days of old



by Cpl. Lameen Witter
New York City Public Affairs


NEW YORK -- Over 25,000 African-American Marines serve in the ranks of the Corps today. It may be hard to imagine a time where there were none at all. For former Sgt. Ernie Richardson, a World War II and Korean War veteran, those times are not easily forgotten.

Richardson, a Queens, N.Y. native, entered the Corps in 1943. The presence of World War II and the draft that was implemented as a result of it was felt throughout American communities, both black and white. His older brother was already answering the call of duty in the Army. The then 18-year-old Richardson knew he couldn't dodge the draft, even with three athletic scholarships for track to various colleges. In an effort to feel in control of his destiny, Richardson chose to join the Marine Corps. He had been caught by the allure of the "Blues" uniform and learning that blacks were recently allowed in the branch.

"I joined the Marines for the Dress Blues; it was the only nice looking uniform the military had. But in actuality, it was inspiration because they were just beginning to take black Marines. I wanted to prove something, I wanted to prove that (blacks) could be good Marines too," said Richardson.

He brought the news of his decision to his parents, who were already unhappy about his older brother going off to war, but who knew Richardson's abilities were needed in the new world war. Two weeks later in August 1943, young Richardson boarded a train bound for Jacksonville, N.C., and prepared for the long journey that would make him a Marine. The train ride took a little over 24 hours to reach North Carolina from New York, and was integrated from New York to Washington, D.C. In Washington, Richardson got off the train with the other black Marine recruits and had to get on a segregated train to continue his journey. The southerners of that time adamantly upheld the Jim Crow segregation laws; and having never been away from the streets of New York, Richardson felt the full prejudice of the south as he drew closer to North Carolina.

"When we got off the train in D.C. the American Red Cross wouldn't give us coffee. We ran over to the table to get some coffee and donuts, and they told us we couldn't have any and had to go to the other side of the platform. I never forgot that," said Richardson. "We got back on another train and they didn't have air conditioning in those days. It was hot, so we had to keep the window open and there was a screen over the window. We had a guy sitting with us in the black section that decided the screen was keeping the cool air from coming in. So, he tore the screen out, but it really was keeping the dirt from the coal cinders out. So, all the dirt was getting in the car on the way down."

A hot and exhausted Richardson eventually arrived at Montford Point, Camp Lejeune, N.C., ready for training. Although blacks had only been admitted into the Marines just over a year earlier, Richardson was trained by one of the first black drill instructors. He recalled there were many difficult things about adjusting to recruit training, but the most important thing he had learned was the discipline that has carried him throughout his life.

"When we went through boot camp and survived, we felt pretty good about it," said Richardson, laughing to himself. "The Marine Corps is discipline, period; it's based on discipline. Everything the Marine Corps does is cut out, drawn, and printed out in black and white. You just followed the orders."

Richardson was such a stellar recruit that at the end of his training his drill instructor offered him an opportunity to stay and be a drill instructor for the incoming recruits, but Richardson wanted more for his military career, declined the offer, and headed home. After 15 days of "boot leave", Richardson left his loving family and came back to his command, and the war that awaited him. He and the 2nd Ammunition Company he was assigned to made their way to the Pacific.

"The first island we went ashore was Guadalcanal, and we spent the first night sleeping on a turned over Japanese graveyard. It was stinking all night. The Marines had bulldozed the (dead) enemy by scooping the groundout and throwing the bodies in. That is where they put us to sleep, but our morale was still pretty good," said Richardson.

The 2nd Ammunition Company went on several maneuvers while in Guadalcanal in preparation for the invasion of Saipan, but while it was on standby for Saipan, Richardson said his company received word that they were needed in Guam. So, Richardson and his fellow Marines went on to invade Guam in support of 3rd Marine Division. He was only 19 years old.

"Everyone has his or her own interpretation (of the invasions), but it was not easy. Ninety-nine percent of the people, no matter who they were, were not happy about going on an invasion, but you do it because you're ordered to do it. The only thing I can say about it is thank the Lord that I'm still here, and I was able to come back home to live until I was 80-years-old," said Richardson with a heavy sigh in his voice, almost at a lost for words. "I have never seen anything like that in my life, and I hope I never do."

According to Richardson, one of the most hurtful things about his initial Marine Corps experience was that no matter how smart he or any of his fellow black Marines were, they couldn't become officers. It was against the Corps' regulations for any black Marine to order a white Marine even if the black Marine outranked the white Marine.

When Richardson came to the end of his tour of two years he had achieved the rank of corporal, and had to extend his time in the Pacific to perform duties as an acting first sergeant to assist with the Marines just arriving in country.

However, his focus was to go back to school, and when he returned to the States in May 1946, he diligently searched for a job and enrolled in college. He attended City College of New York and worked his way through school with the goal of being a lawyer. Along the way he changed his focus from law to business administration.

With his sights set on school, Richardson never imagined he would return to don the Marine Corps Blues whose luster had caught him in 1943. However, Richardson's name still read boldly between the lines of the list of inactive reserve Marines, and when President Harry Truman decided a conflict with Korea was unavoidable, Richardson heard his country call again.

Richardson said he committed to the idea of serving, but he didn't want to return to combat out of concern for his mother. His older brother fell in combat while the two were overseas, and their mother had taken his death very hard. When he returned to the Corps in 1949, he was the only surviving son of the family.

The Corps noted Richardson's new status as an only child. When he returned to its ranks as a sergeant in Korea, he worked as a legal administration clerk. However, the face of the Corps had changed significantly while he was out. Its ranks were now fully intergraded and black and white Marines now marched together within them.

"The attitude was different, and living with white Marines was different than living with all black Marines. The atmosphere was different. I was a sergeant in charge of the barracks, and I would lie in my room listening to the white Marines talk about what they did to the '******s in ******town'. Then I'd walk through the barracks, and you could see their red faces," said Richardson as he recalled the awkward moment. "But they were just living their normal life. It was an unusual thing for them to have a black in charge and walk through their barracks, as it was for us to be there."

Richardson said there were mixed feelings amongst many black and white Marines as they interacted with each other. Some of these feelings resulted in situations of insubordination for many black Marines in charge and the white Marines under them. However, Richardson and his Marines never had a problem, because he was tough on his troops. Moreover, as all the Marines began work together, the color of each other's skin became a lesser factor. Richardson returned from the Korean conflict to brush his heels across the New York streets in 1951, where he pursued his career goals and enjoyed a marriage and children. However, he never lost the pride the Corps gave him.

"I was proud of being a Marine, and I'm still proud of being a Marine. I always let people know I was in the Marine Corps, and their reaction was always good. They were always very impressed. There is a greater amount of respect for the Marines than there is for the Army or the Navy.

"One night I went to a party, and I had on my Dress Blues. There were Tuskegee airmen walking around with their bars on their shoulders and all the rest of that stuff. But when I stepped in the ladies all looked at my polished gold buttons, and I just knew that was my place," said Richardson with a smile in his voice.

Richardson met his career goals, and held prominent business administration positions for various major companies throughout his life. Today, he enjoys his retirement, while still residing in Queens, N.Y. He is also a founding member of the Montford Point Marines Association metro chapter, and still attends their meetings.


Ellie