The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines

I found out after I’d retired that my former neighbor was a Montfort Point Marine. I ordered this CD to learn more about his trials and tribulations. We had the opportunity for me to thank him again for his sacrifices prior to his death at 100 years of age! Thanks for the great history lessons!

An interesting look at the U.S. Marine Corps and it's history. I bought this after attending a dinner in honor of Black Marines because I wanted to hear more of their stories. While some in this book are repetitive, the narrative is gripping, sometimes funny, but always patriotic.

The stories in this book are hard to believe but all too real. Sad to think how ignorant our country was and how so many great Americans were treated so bad. The book is a must read for anyone who has a sincere desire to understand the history of our military - specifically the Marine Corps. Not only does it reveal the truth about race relations in our Marine Corps, but the Espri de Corps maintained by the Montford Point Marines through out their lives after the Marine Corps speaks volumes of what it takes to be a Marine and what it means to any person - regardless of race - that has earned the title - "Marine." I gave the book only 4 stars because I feel the format and organization undermines the story and unintentionally misses the mark on an extremely important point: you can be born into a life of ignorance and prejudice - or you can live a life of being kept "separate but equal" - but when the bullets and bombs start - we are all brothers-in-arms - and we will all look out for each other. In war - the human race is the only race that matters and you either band together as brothers or we all go down together. If you have no military in your blood - this is the one book on military history you should read.

As a retired Marine First Sergeant (white) who was very familiar with the history of the Montford Point Marines, my eyes were opened to a more telling story that needed to be told. Although most books, articles and movies focus on the confrontational pressure cooker of black vs. white in a few dramatic examples, this book was the first one that allowed me to actually feel the emotions of oppression during their routine daily life. I have read many books, articles and seen several movies on the subject of racism but I have never been enthralled like I have during my reading of this book.What I found very commendable was the neutrality of the writer. The mixture of good stories of genuine helpful whites was balanced with an equal number of examples of racism. Because the book is 90 percent actual stories from Montford Point Marines and 10 percent framing the content for each chapter, you feel as though you are visiting with these special Marines on their front porch as they tell their story.I commend the writer on his method of creating chapters in the book. Each Chapter has a unique focus that is very specific for that chapter. This will make for an excellent method of research when seeking specific information for public speaking or citation in future articles to be written.Semper Fi!First Sergeant John E. Crouch (ret)

This book contains a lot of interesting and eye-opening anecdotes (presented verbatim) about the Marines, race relations in the armed services, prevailing societal attitudes about race when the Montford Point Marines enlisted, and the experiences of black Marines in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. So in that regard, it is a five-star book. But unfortunately, the style of the book is not my favorite. It is presented as a series of anecdotes from different Montford Point Marines. There is some general historical narrative, but the bulk of the text is first-person accounts, so it skips around from person to person. The anecdotes are roughly in chronological order, so they start with each man's account of his youth and how he came to enlist in the Marines. Then the anecdotes switch to each man's experience in boot camp, then his experiences in WWII, then Korea, etc. So you might read an anecdote from Person A on page 25 and then again on page 75. It became hard to remember each person's back story.If you like first-person accounts of history, this is definitely a great book. If you are particularly interested in one man's anecdotes, I recommend bookmarking the pages where he appears so that you can reference his background information later on in the book.Follow-up: Several readers have complained that the stories are difficult to read because some of the speakers have bad grammar and the grammar is not edited. I did not find this to be the case. The only time I had trouble following an anecdote was when someone made too many references to battalion numbers, since I couldn't keep them straight.

In this amazing history of the Montfort point Marines, I found a picture of my grandfather. This was so special for my family- as he is now deceased. Now we are working on his posthumous medal of honor.

I bought this as a gift for my father who is an African-American Marine veteran. Although he served in Vietnam, his father was a Marine in World War I so this gave him an insight as to what is father endured. He absolutely loved it.

I found this book to be very useful and edifying regarding how African American Marines worked so hard to integrate the Corps.This was an eye opening experience for me. Their pride and self sacrifice for this country is what makes our Marine Corps what it is today.God bless all those “Greatest Generation” Marines from Montfort Point!

This book effectively explains the interactions of Black males (non-white males) in the United States Marine Corps from World War Two to the Vietnam Conflict and how they endured the challenges of combat and/or racism simultaneously. It exposes the reader to the lives of Black (non-white) marines who were not effectively represented in popular movies such as: Letters From Iwo Jima and/or Flags Of Our Fathers. I suggest white and/or non-white people read this in order to learn more about The Race Problem.