Wearing the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps for the first time in the history of this 167-year-old branch of the armed services, Negro Marines are now undergoing training at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, N.C.

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ccJ_328

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Wearing the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps for the first time in the history of this 167-year-old branch of the armed services, Negro Marines are now undergoing training at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, N.C. One unit of Negro graduates has already been assigned to overseas duty and new recruits are arriving at Camp Lejeune at the rate of 40 a day. The first 1,200 Negro volunteers began training on September 1, 1942. Pvt. Howard P. Perry, first Negro to volunteer for Marine Corps service, is shown in the center. At top left, "boots" of 3- day enlistment are shown learning to drill, while at top right, Sgts. Edson Blackman, Jerome Alcorn, Otto Cherry, and Robert T. Davis, and Pfc. Gus Pittman and Pvt. Renis Black are shown in the flashy dress uniform of the Marines. At the bottom left recruits are being trained with a 30-calibre machine gun, while recruits at the bottom right take the hurdles in bayonet training. Marine Corps Headquarters has announced plans for enlistment of more than 10,000 Negro Marines