thedrifter
10-11-05, 07:29 AM
Montford Point Marines endured discrimination, segregation
Two Port Royal men recall their careers in the Marine Corps for documentary
Published Tue, Oct 11, 2005
By GEOFF ZIEZULEWICZ
The Beaufort Gazette
To this day, close to 40 years after he retired from the Marine Corps, retired Staff Sgt. LaSalle Vaughn's memories of his time in the service are still bittersweet.
He had wanted to be a Marine since he got his draft papers during World War II. But being a young black man, he was not legally able to get in.
"I walked into the recruiting place and said 'I'm here to join the Marine Corps,'" said Vaughn, now 82. "He said, 'I'm sorry, but we don't accept negroes in the Marine Corps.'
"I said, 'I don't want to go into the Navy, and I don't want to go into the Army.'"
But shortly thereafter, in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an order to integrate the corps for the first time in its history.
Vaughn and another Port Royal man, retired Master Sgt. Frederick Drake, 85, became two of the first blacks to join the corps, two men who comprised part of the 20,000 men that would be known as the Montford Point Marines.
Now, Drake and Vaughn, two friends who have lived side by side in Port Royal for decades, are getting the chance to tell their story on film.
They have been interviewed for a Montford Point documentary, and Vaughn sits on an advisory board for the project to help younger generations understand that moment in history and the racism endured by men who were ready to die for their country.
"I feel like this is the honest truth," Vaughn said, still lively and passionate. "My wife tells me, 'Honey, you're supposed to forgive.' But the thing about it is, you can't forget. Especially when people have misused you, abused you. And you were standing up for America. Would you believe that?"
The documentary was conceived about five years ago by a retired Marine who felt the story should be told, said Learie Luke, project director for the Montford Point Marine Project at South Carolina State University.
"Hardly anybody knows about this," Luke said.
The project is a joint partnership with South Carolina State and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Paid for with a $500,000 federal grant, Luke said that script revisions are taking place and that a rough cut of the documentary will be ready by January.
"We plan to have the project finished by the end of April," said Luke, adding that organizers are looking to get the documentary shown on television and in classrooms.
Once the movie is finished, an educational guide including student workbooks and a teacher's kit will be available for classes, so that teachers can make the film an all-encompassing learning experience, Luke said.
"There is very little known in what these guys overcame," Luke said. "They helped the country to see racism, and they were willing to fight for their country. They were part of the whole civil rights movement."
Vaughn and Drake both went through the Montford Point facility in 1944, just outside Marine Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
But the place was hardly a camp, Drake said.
The men had to sleep in tents and spent much of their time turning the rugged terrain into some sort of base.
"All those people didn't know what to do, so they gave us a job cutting down trees, and there was nothing but bears coming out of those trees," Vaughn said, adding that there was no pool or rifle ranges or even buildings at the facility.
Black recruits slept in tents, and white drill instructors had to be brought in from Parris Island.
"They hadn't done it before," Drake said. "It was so disorganized."
"Me and Sgt. Drake here, at that point we had to learn how to swim in the ocean, because there wasn't any pool," Vaughn said.
After about eight weeks of training, the Montford Point Marines would get transferred to various installations across the country.
Vaughn and Drake both ended up at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, where they worked as cooks.
They were some of the first black Marines to be stationed there, Drake said.
"We were the first blacks, there had never been no blacks on Parris Island," Vaughn said, still sounding awed by the whole thing. "Can you imagine what we went through?"
Both men worked in the kitchen and worked as cooks for various generals before retiring.
"I had two guys from Chicago, they had bachelor's degrees and they were my dishwashers," Vaughn said, adding that the racism was all around them. "They used to call us stewards instead of calling us Marines."
Both men worked in that capacity in the Marine Corps until the '60s, when they both retired.
Drake said he would have liked to maybe have done something different during his military career.
"When I got in, we didn't have the extended or wide view of the military," Drake said.
Both men ended up settling on Sargeant Drive in Port Royal, which was named after the two over the years.
They raised their children together and still live right next door to each other.
"In fact, on this street there was nothing but kids, wasn't it bro?" Vaughn said, turning to Drake.
"That's all," Drake replied, smiling.
Both have seen the growth of the area and generally take it to be a positive thing. But times have changed.
"U.S. 21 was gravel, Ribaut Road was gravel," Vaughn said of the old days. "There was not housing on Ribaut Road at all. We used to go out and shoot squirrels and rabbits all the time."
Getting a Montford Point documentary made now is important, as the men, like others who served during World War II, start to move on, Luke said.
Only about 2,000 Montford Point Marines remain, Vaughn said, adding that the facility was closed down in the late 1940s.
"These guys are in their 70s and 80s," Luke said. "We're trying to have this done so they can see it before they pass on."
While life has blessed them with large families, successful children and the comfort of old age, Vaughn and Drake are proud of the part they played in erasing color lines in the Marine Corps, no matter the difficulties, indignities and hardship they endured.
"I love the Marine Corps," Vaughn said. "But I don't love what they did."
Ellie
Two Port Royal men recall their careers in the Marine Corps for documentary
Published Tue, Oct 11, 2005
By GEOFF ZIEZULEWICZ
The Beaufort Gazette
To this day, close to 40 years after he retired from the Marine Corps, retired Staff Sgt. LaSalle Vaughn's memories of his time in the service are still bittersweet.
He had wanted to be a Marine since he got his draft papers during World War II. But being a young black man, he was not legally able to get in.
"I walked into the recruiting place and said 'I'm here to join the Marine Corps,'" said Vaughn, now 82. "He said, 'I'm sorry, but we don't accept negroes in the Marine Corps.'
"I said, 'I don't want to go into the Navy, and I don't want to go into the Army.'"
But shortly thereafter, in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an order to integrate the corps for the first time in its history.
Vaughn and another Port Royal man, retired Master Sgt. Frederick Drake, 85, became two of the first blacks to join the corps, two men who comprised part of the 20,000 men that would be known as the Montford Point Marines.
Now, Drake and Vaughn, two friends who have lived side by side in Port Royal for decades, are getting the chance to tell their story on film.
They have been interviewed for a Montford Point documentary, and Vaughn sits on an advisory board for the project to help younger generations understand that moment in history and the racism endured by men who were ready to die for their country.
"I feel like this is the honest truth," Vaughn said, still lively and passionate. "My wife tells me, 'Honey, you're supposed to forgive.' But the thing about it is, you can't forget. Especially when people have misused you, abused you. And you were standing up for America. Would you believe that?"
The documentary was conceived about five years ago by a retired Marine who felt the story should be told, said Learie Luke, project director for the Montford Point Marine Project at South Carolina State University.
"Hardly anybody knows about this," Luke said.
The project is a joint partnership with South Carolina State and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Paid for with a $500,000 federal grant, Luke said that script revisions are taking place and that a rough cut of the documentary will be ready by January.
"We plan to have the project finished by the end of April," said Luke, adding that organizers are looking to get the documentary shown on television and in classrooms.
Once the movie is finished, an educational guide including student workbooks and a teacher's kit will be available for classes, so that teachers can make the film an all-encompassing learning experience, Luke said.
"There is very little known in what these guys overcame," Luke said. "They helped the country to see racism, and they were willing to fight for their country. They were part of the whole civil rights movement."
Vaughn and Drake both went through the Montford Point facility in 1944, just outside Marine Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
But the place was hardly a camp, Drake said.
The men had to sleep in tents and spent much of their time turning the rugged terrain into some sort of base.
"All those people didn't know what to do, so they gave us a job cutting down trees, and there was nothing but bears coming out of those trees," Vaughn said, adding that there was no pool or rifle ranges or even buildings at the facility.
Black recruits slept in tents, and white drill instructors had to be brought in from Parris Island.
"They hadn't done it before," Drake said. "It was so disorganized."
"Me and Sgt. Drake here, at that point we had to learn how to swim in the ocean, because there wasn't any pool," Vaughn said.
After about eight weeks of training, the Montford Point Marines would get transferred to various installations across the country.
Vaughn and Drake both ended up at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, where they worked as cooks.
They were some of the first black Marines to be stationed there, Drake said.
"We were the first blacks, there had never been no blacks on Parris Island," Vaughn said, still sounding awed by the whole thing. "Can you imagine what we went through?"
Both men worked in the kitchen and worked as cooks for various generals before retiring.
"I had two guys from Chicago, they had bachelor's degrees and they were my dishwashers," Vaughn said, adding that the racism was all around them. "They used to call us stewards instead of calling us Marines."
Both men worked in that capacity in the Marine Corps until the '60s, when they both retired.
Drake said he would have liked to maybe have done something different during his military career.
"When I got in, we didn't have the extended or wide view of the military," Drake said.
Both men ended up settling on Sargeant Drive in Port Royal, which was named after the two over the years.
They raised their children together and still live right next door to each other.
"In fact, on this street there was nothing but kids, wasn't it bro?" Vaughn said, turning to Drake.
"That's all," Drake replied, smiling.
Both have seen the growth of the area and generally take it to be a positive thing. But times have changed.
"U.S. 21 was gravel, Ribaut Road was gravel," Vaughn said of the old days. "There was not housing on Ribaut Road at all. We used to go out and shoot squirrels and rabbits all the time."
Getting a Montford Point documentary made now is important, as the men, like others who served during World War II, start to move on, Luke said.
Only about 2,000 Montford Point Marines remain, Vaughn said, adding that the facility was closed down in the late 1940s.
"These guys are in their 70s and 80s," Luke said. "We're trying to have this done so they can see it before they pass on."
While life has blessed them with large families, successful children and the comfort of old age, Vaughn and Drake are proud of the part they played in erasing color lines in the Marine Corps, no matter the difficulties, indignities and hardship they endured.
"I love the Marine Corps," Vaughn said. "But I don't love what they did."
Ellie