The Marines of Montford Point

With an executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, the United States Marine Corps--the last all-white branch of the U.S. military--was forced to begin recruiting and enlisting African Americans. This book, in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name, tells for the first time the story of the African American Marines who integrated the last all-white branch of the U.S. military in 1942. Drawing from interviews with 60 veterans, McLaurin relates their reasons for enlisting; their arrival at Montford Point and the training they received there; their lives in a segregated military and in the Jim Crow South; their experiences of combat and service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; and their legacy.