thedrifter
11-01-07, 07:42 AM
Montford Point documentary set to air
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF
In the early 1940s, Turner Blount had never heard of the Marine Corps. But a friend was going to join, and he asked Blount to come, too.
"I didn't know where I was going," Blount said.
While white Marine recruits of the time went to Parris Island, S.C., or San Diego, Calif., for their recruit training, Blount - who is black - was shipped to Montford Point in Jacksonville.
Beginning tonight, the story of Blount and other Montford Point Marines will be broadcast on public television stations across the country in "The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom."
The hour-long documentary about the Marines trained at the segregated camp between 1942 and 1949 was written and directed by Melton McLaurin, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is narrated by Louis Gossett Jr.
The documentary shows the hardships the Montford Point Marines faced, Blount said.
The Marine Corps allowed the first black Marines to enlist in 1942. About 20,000 black Marines were trained in the segregated facilities at Montford Point from 1942 to 1949.
"We really had to do some sacrificing to be in the Marine Corps," said Blount, who joined in 1943.
Though the men faced many hardships and leaders would tell the men they were free to leave if they wished, "I don't know a person that I've come in contact with who wanted to leave or wanted to come back home," Blount said.
The documentary and books that are coming out now about the Marines of Montford Point are "just the tip of the iceberg," said Finney Greggs, director of the Montford Point Museum.
"There is a lot of history that's still out there," he said.
Greggs was in the Marine Corps for 10 years before he learned anything about Montford Point, he said. Now, he hopes the documentary will help America "see what these men have done."
The lesson to take away from Montford Point, Greggs said, is that anyone can make a difference.
"Here was a group of men who chose to fight for the right to fight," he said. "If they had gone home when they told them to, I may not have had the opportunity to retire from the Marine Corps. I may not have had the opportunity to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor."
Ellie
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF
In the early 1940s, Turner Blount had never heard of the Marine Corps. But a friend was going to join, and he asked Blount to come, too.
"I didn't know where I was going," Blount said.
While white Marine recruits of the time went to Parris Island, S.C., or San Diego, Calif., for their recruit training, Blount - who is black - was shipped to Montford Point in Jacksonville.
Beginning tonight, the story of Blount and other Montford Point Marines will be broadcast on public television stations across the country in "The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom."
The hour-long documentary about the Marines trained at the segregated camp between 1942 and 1949 was written and directed by Melton McLaurin, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is narrated by Louis Gossett Jr.
The documentary shows the hardships the Montford Point Marines faced, Blount said.
The Marine Corps allowed the first black Marines to enlist in 1942. About 20,000 black Marines were trained in the segregated facilities at Montford Point from 1942 to 1949.
"We really had to do some sacrificing to be in the Marine Corps," said Blount, who joined in 1943.
Though the men faced many hardships and leaders would tell the men they were free to leave if they wished, "I don't know a person that I've come in contact with who wanted to leave or wanted to come back home," Blount said.
The documentary and books that are coming out now about the Marines of Montford Point are "just the tip of the iceberg," said Finney Greggs, director of the Montford Point Museum.
"There is a lot of history that's still out there," he said.
Greggs was in the Marine Corps for 10 years before he learned anything about Montford Point, he said. Now, he hopes the documentary will help America "see what these men have done."
The lesson to take away from Montford Point, Greggs said, is that anyone can make a difference.
"Here was a group of men who chose to fight for the right to fight," he said. "If they had gone home when they told them to, I may not have had the opportunity to retire from the Marine Corps. I may not have had the opportunity to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor."
Ellie