CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Eighty years ago, at the height of World War II, the first Black Marines arrived for basic training at Camp Montford Point, a segregated section of Camp Lejeune. Between 1942 ...

Montford Point became the first training facility for Black Marines. Nearly 20,000 Black Marines successfully completed training and supported the war effort in the 1940s.

The original camp for black marines at Camp Lejeune was Montford Point Camp. Over 20,000 African American Marines were trained at the camp between 1942 and 1949. These Marines fought in World War II.

Veterans with the Montford Point Marine Association visited Tuckaseegee Elementary School to share the story of the the first-ever Black Marines, who trained at Montford Point in North Carolina.

Montford Point is now part of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina --- the main Marine Corps infantry base for the East Coast --- and is called Camp Johnson after one of those first Black marines.

However, the Montford Point Marines’ performance during the war changed that expectation. Nearly 400 Montford Point Marines were issued the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony in July 2012.

The Montford Point Marines were the first Black men to serve in the United States Marine Corps. Because of segregation, they were not sent to Camp Lejeune for bootcamp with their white counterparts.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Friday was the 15th-annual Montford Point Marines Day in Jacksonville. The day is to remember the service of the first Black Marines who trained in Jacksonville ...

In 2012, over 400 surviving Montford Point Marines received replicas of the medal a day after Congress bestowed a collective, specially made award to the group, according to the Marine Corps.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Eighty years ago, at the height of World War II, the first Black Marines arrived for basic training at Camp Montford Point, a segregated section of Camp Lejeune. Between 1942 ...

The Montford Point Marines are the first class of African Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps. The original camp for black marines at Camp Lejeune was Montford Point Camp. Over 20,000 ...

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Friday was the 15th-annual Montford Point Marines Day in Jacksonville. The day is to remember the service of the first Black Marines who trained in Jacksonville ...