WUFT 89.1 WUFT 90.1 Live TV DONATE

Black Marines were ‘dogged’ on this base in the 1940s. Now they’re honored there

By

July 4, 2022 National, News from NPR

New recruits learn to drill. Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps enlisted blacks, June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 black volunteers began their training three months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion.

In the 1940s about 20,000 men trained on racially segregated Montford Point in North Carolina. Some of the 300 surviving Marines recently returned for the reopening of a restored museum honoring them.

(Image credit: HUM Images/HUM Images/Universal Images Grou)

Read More at NPR

Check Also

Calif. Gov. Newsom names Laphonza Butler to finish Sen. Feinstein’s term

Laphonza Butler, a Democratic adviser and labor leader, is expected to be sworn in Tuesday …

© 2023 WUFT / Division of Multimedia Properties