Sometimes you never know.......

[Pete]

...........where a story will lead you.

Was looking at the Military Section of the Fayetteville Observer and found this story.

"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. benefit to help museum for Montford Point Marines"

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/01/17/1150852?sac=Mil

"JACKSONVILLE - The director of a museum honoring the first black Marines hopes the facility will see a wave of new donations now that Congress has granted those men the nation's highest civilian honor, but he says that hasn't happened yet....."

interesting story but not a lot of background but which lead me to this site.

MONTFORD POINT MARINE ASSOCIATION, INC.

HOME OF THE ORIGINAL MONTFORD POINTERS

http://www.montfordpointmarines.com/History.html

Very interesting portion of American history.

[Pete]

Montford Marines who were desegregation pioneers to get their due

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/06/24/1185501?sac=fo.local

"Few people know their story.

Unlike the Army's Triple Nickels and the Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the groundbreakers who went through Montford Point has been largely overlooked.

Fayetteville's James Robert Simpson was among the roughly 20,000 Marines who lived it, training on a small, swampy peninsula jutting into the New River on the North Carolina coast. The World War II veteran, the eldest son of a farming couple from rural Cumberland County, was a "Point man" - one of the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps................................"

Nice story to start the day.

[Gypsy]

Interesting part of history...thanks for the story Pete.

[DIYPatriot]

I come from a Marine family and can't believe I've never heard of this. Thank you for sharing this one. I finally have something worth sharing at the next gathering.