War in the Pacific National Histori- cal Park on the island of Guam began holding monthly Curator's Cor- ner presentations ... Black History Month, examined the.
Montford Point Marines in the Mariana Islands
James Oelke, Cultural Resources Program Manager, War in the Pacific National Historical Park, National Park Service ar in the Pacific National HistoriW cal Park on the island of Guam began holding monthly Curator’s Cor-
ner presentations several years ago. These presentations consist of a history lesson after which members of the public are allowed to see some of our 16,000 artifacts up close. A recent Curator’s Corner, part of Black History Month, examined the United States Marine Corps Montford Point boot camp graduates and their participation in the Mariana Islands campaigns of 1944. Montford Point, a facility at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, became a segregated garrison and basic training camp for African American Marines. In April 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to change the naval service, including the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard, by accepting African American volunteers. When WWII began, there were no African American Marines. The reasons for this went as far back as the Marine Corps itself. In 1797, a naval act put forth by Congress called for the use of Marines aboard naval vessels, yet a Marine Corps did not exist as it had been disbanded 12 years earlier. In establishing enlistment standards for these new Marines, then Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert insisted that “No Negro, Mulatto, or Indian could join…” This policy continued unchanged and unchallenged until Roosevelt’s presidency. The desegregation order was not initially welcomed by the Marine Corps. The country was divided by color. African Americans were at the back of the bus, in the balcony of the theater, and in their own restaurants and churches. There were “colored” fountains to drink from and restrooms to use. “Public” parks were behind signs that said “Whites Only.” When ordered by the president, the Marine Corps adhered to the directive to enlist African Americans, yet they were determined to decide where to place them. The Marine Corps set out to limit the military occupations that African Americans could hold and the type of units in which they could serve. Approximately 19,000 African Americans served in the Marine Corps during WWII, with more than 11,000 serving in the Pacific in SPRING 2013
Private Luther Woodard examining his Bronze Star received “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” on the island of Guam. The award was later upgraded to the Silver Star, the third highest military decoration for valor in the United States Armed Forces. USMC Photo.
units such as the 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions, the Stewards Branch (cooks and attendants for white officers), and Ammunition and Depot Companies. It would be November of 1942 before the first African American Marines completed boot camp and earned the right to don the eagle, globe and anchor or to wear the dress blue uniform (which at $54 was a considerable outlay). Initially, the men were trained to act as members of a defense battalion. A defense battalion was a 900-man unit that could operate coastal defense batteries, anti-aircraft weapons, searchlights and heavy machine guns to protect a forward deployed base against attack. These were combat units and yet, anytime a billet arose that could be filled by an African American Marine, they were taken from these battalions. Eventually the 51st Defense Battalion, down 400 men who had been transferred to the newly-organized 52nd Defense Battalion, would transfer overseas in February 1944. They were sent to Nanomea, Funafuti, and nearby Nukufetau in the Ellice Islands for six months before moving up to defend Eniwetok Atoll and later still to Kwajelein Atoll. It is not believed that they ever fired their guns at a single Japanese plane; they had been relegated to the “backwaters” of the war.
Guadalcanal was the turning point that eventually led to African Americans being on the front. What would the Marines do with the anticipated (and required) large number of African American draftees? Where could they be placed so they wouldn’t mix with white units? One lesson learned from the hard fought battle at Guadalcanal was that the off-loading of ships in an amphibious assault required strong capable men and men that understood what a Marine unit needed and when to get it to them. The Marine Corps immediately created Depot Companies of approximately 110 African American men to serve as labor troops. These units deployed to Pacific in April 1943—first to Noumea, New Caledonia; and then on to Guadalcanal. Although they received little weapons training, they quickly proved their logistical worth and requests were soon sent for more depot companies. Upper echelon Marine Corps brass also identified the need for ammunition and explosives handling. Marine Ammunition Companies were trained to safely load, unload, sort, stack, and guard all types of ammunition. During assaults, these ammunition companies would land soon after the first waves. It was dangerous, difficult work yet critical in the movement of ammunition from ship hold to rifle and gun. It was June 15, 1944 when the Marianas campaign began with an amphibious assault of Saipan; the depot companies and the ammunition companies landed on the first day of the invasion. One platoon of the 18th Company arrived at its assigned beach less than three hours after the first wave. The 18th and 20th Marine Depot Companies landed with the 4th Marine Division south of Chalan Kanoa and the 19th Company landed with the 2d Marine Division just north of the same village. Private Kenneth J. Tibbs suffered fatal wounds and died that very day, becoming the first African American Marine killed in combat during the war. Commandant of the Marine Corps Lieutenant General Alexander Vandegrift noted, “The Negro Marines are no longer on trial. They are Marines, period.” Elements of all of these units would see action on Tinian when that island was invaded from Saipan on July 24, 1944. On Guam on July 21, 1944, three platoons of the 2d Marine Ammunition 9
Company supported the 3d Marine Division when they assaulted the beaches of Asan. The 4th Ammunition Company and one platoon of the 2d assisted the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade during their invasion across the southern beachhead in the village of Agat. African American Marines killed 14 explosives-laden infiltrators in the 4th Ammunition Company’s ammunition dump perimeter at no loss to themselves in the first night alone. Elements of the 4th Marine Ammunition Company were left as part of the mop-up activities on Guam. One member of this company, Private First Class Luther Woodard, came across fresh footprints near the ammunition
dump and followed them to a hut where a half-dozen Japanese had taken refuge. He opened fire, killing one, wounding another, and scattering the rest. He went back to get more Marines from his company and then set out to get the rest of the Japanese stragglers. He killed another soldier in this second fight and his friends were able to kill another. Woodard’s actions earned him a Bronze Star for heroism, later upgraded to the more prestigious Silver Star. The 52nd Defense battalion arrived in Guam in March 1945 after defending Majuro. Sergeant Major Gilbert “Hashmark” Johnson, one of the first African American drill instructors, asked that black Marines be assigned to combat
patrols, from which they were then exempt. Once approved, he personally led combat patrols searching the jungles for Japanese stragglers. After the Mariana Island campaigns, the Montford Point Marines had proven their ability and value to the Corps beyond doubt. While integration into non-African American units wouldn’t occur in force until the Korean War, the efforts of these first African American Marine Corps units showed it was just a matter of time. All Montford Point graduates were recognized in 2011 with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal and the camp itself was renamed Camp Gilbert H. Johnson in 1974.
Interview with Oliver Carter, Montford Point Marine Amanda Carona, Staff Historian, WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, National Park Service uring WWII, African Americans D fought two very different battles. One was against a distance enemy that
threatened the freedoms of the United States. The other was a personal battle against the country for which they were willing to risk risk their lives. Civil rights for these citizens was still years away; however, African Americans continued to fight for the freedoms that they didn’t always experience on the homefront. The Montford Point Marines, an African American unit, made one of the biggest contributions to the war effort. This unit consisted of men from across the United States and they participated in the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific Theater. They were trained and operated in segregated units, but their courage and tenacity eventually led to the desegregation of the military in 1948. In 2012, the United States Congress awarded the living Montford Point veterans the congressional gold medal at a ceremony in Washington D.C. One of the Montford Marines honored was Oliver Carter. Mr. Carter worked in the defense industry during the first year of the war and joined the Marines in 1943. He went on to participate in the invasions of Saipan and Okinawa. Below is a portion of an oral history interview that was conducted by Daniel Martinez, NPS Historian at WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument in 2012. 10
Oliver Carter, a former member of the Montford Point Marines, participated in an oral history interview with represenatives from the National Park Service in 2012.
Oliver Carter (OC): I wanted to go into the Army, but that month the Army had its quota. This was in ’43. They told me I had to go into the Navy. And I said, “Well I don’t particularly want to go into the Navy. I’m not refusing to go into the Navy, but I don’t particularly want to go into the Navy.” And he asked me why. Well, at that time, the service was still segregated and I didn’t want to go into the steward branch. That was basically the only thing they had for blacks in those days --the steward branch, even though the Great Lakes had just been opened up and they was supposed to be opened up to train blacks to be boatswain mates and train them how to operate a ship. Anyway, I said, “I’m not refusing to go into the Navy.” So, about that time, a big Marine sit-
ting in the corner there recruited me to go to the Marine Corps. I had never seen a black Marine in my life. But anyway, he said, “How’d you like to go to Marine Corps?” And I said, “Well anything except the Navy.” So the Navy discharged me right there on the spot and the next morning I was sworn in downtown in San Antonio to the Marine Corps. Daniel Martinez (DM): Did you know what the Marine Corps was? OC: No, I didn’t even know what the Marine Corps was. Like I said, I had never seen a black Marine. I’d seen a white Marine, but I’d never seen a black Marine. DM: That’s because there were none.
REMEMBRANCE
