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COMMUNITY FILM EVENT
AMP to screen doc on 1st Black Marines
Graphic illustration created to honor the Montford Point Marines during the annual observance of Black History Month on Jan. 29, 2021, at Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans. (U.S. MARINE CORPS GRAPHIC/LANCE CPL. LESLIE ALCARAZ)
In honor of the first Black Marine recruits and in recognition of Black History Month, American Memorial Park will be showing the documentary film, The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom. The film includes interviews of veterans who trained at Montford Point and served during World War II. The film will show at the park theater on Feb. 17 at 6pm. The event is free and all are welcome.
By the end of World War II some 13,000 Montford Point Marines have been deployed overseas to the Pacific, including Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
This documentary tells the story of the first Black Marine recruits trained at a segregated training facility called Montford Point. On June 15, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802. E.O. 8802 states that “there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in the defense industries of Government because of race, creed, color, or national origin…” While this executive order did not ban segregation in the United States military, it did open positions to many Americans who had been kept out until then.
In 1942 the first Black Marine recruits trained at Montford Point. These Marines were trained for anti-aircraft defense battalions as well as supply and logistical roles. (PR/Saipan Tribune)
