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    Black Marines were 'dogged' on this base in the 1940s. Now they're honored there

    In the 1940s about 20,000 men trained on racially segregated Montford Point in North Carolina. Some of the 300 surviving Marines recently returned for the reopening of a restored museum honoring them.
    by Jay Price Jul 04, 2022 5 minutes
    New recruits learn to drill. Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps enlisted blacks, June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 black volunteers began their training three months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion.

    A project started in 2019 to restore key buildings used by the first Black Marines — and protect the structures from the effects of climate change — is nearly complete.

    During the 1940s, about 20,000 men trained under harsh conditions on a racially segregated base in North Carolina known as Montford Point .It's now part of Camp Lejeune — the main Marine Corps infantry base for the East Coast — and is called Camp Johnson after one of those first Black marines, Sgt. Maj. Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson, a storied drill instructor.

    The men who made the buildings worth saving are nearly gone. But a handful of the 300 or so surviving Montford Point Marines came back in late April for the reopening of the freshly-restored museum honoring them, in what was once their mess hall.

    "It's a good idea to

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