Montford Point

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Montford Point Camp
North Carolina

Type	Military base
Built	1942
In use	1942 - Present
Controlled by	United States Marine Corps
Garrison	Recruit training

Montford Point was a United States Marine Corps recruit depot in North Carolina. Created in 1942 as a satellite of the newly constructed Camp Lejeune, Montford Point was established for the training of black Marines during segregation.

In 2007, a documentary entitled "The Montford Point Marine Project" was released, honoring the black Marines who trained at Montford Point.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 blacks were, for the first time, permitted to join the Marine Corps. Between 1942 and 1949, the camp at Montford Point trained 20,000 African-Americans. In 1948, after Executive Order 9981, the military was ordered to fully integrate. By 1949, Montford Point was renamed Camp Gilbert H. Johnson in honor of the late Sergeant Major Gilbert H. "Hashmark" Johnson. Johnson was one of the first African Americans to join the Marine Corps, serving during World War II and the Korean War, he was a Montford Point drill instructor. Camp Johnson became the home of the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools.

Outside the gate of Camp Johnson stands a solemn tribute to Marines and Sailors who gave their lives trying to keep the peace in the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon. The Beirut Memorial is the site of an annual commemoration of the October 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers were killed in the blast.

[edit] See also

United States Marine Corps Portal

[edit] References

Monford Point Marine Association. Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
News article on documentary. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.

Bernard C. Nalty (1995). "Face-to-Face with Segregation", The Right to Fight: African-American Marines in World War II. United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.