II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1527 

To authorize the award of a Congressional gold medal to the Montford 

Point Marines of World War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 

Mrs. HAGAN (for herself, Mr. BURR, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

UDALL of Colorado, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. NELSON

of Florida, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the award of a Congressional gold medal to 

the Montford Point Marines of World War II. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) on June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. 

6 Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 8802, estab7 lishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission 

8 and opening the doors for African-American individVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:21 Sep 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 uals to enlist in the United States Marine Corps for 

2 the first time; 

3 (2) the first African-American Marine recruits 

4 were trained at Camp Montford Point, near the New 

5 River in Jacksonville, North Carolina; 

6 (3) on August 26, 1942, Howard P. Perry of 

7 Charlotte, North Carolina, was the first African8 American private to set foot on Montford Point; 

9 (4) during April 1943, the first African-Amer10 ican Marine drill instructors took over as the senior 

11 drill instructors of the 8 platoons then in training, 

12 including— 

13 (A) Edgar R. Huff, 16th Platoon; 

14 (B) Thomas Brokaw, 17th Platoon; 

15 (C) Charles E. Allen, 18th Platoon; 

16 (D) Gilbert H. Johnson, 19th Platoon; 

17 (E) Arnold R. Bostic, 20th Platoon; 

18 (F) Mortimer A. Cox, 21st Platoon; 

19 (G) Edgar R. Davis, Jr., 22nd Platoon; 

20 and 

21 (H) George A. Jackson, 23rd Platoon; 

22 (5) African-American Marines of the 8th Am23 munition Company and the 36th Depot Company 

24 landed on the Island of Iwo Jima on D-Day, Feb25 ruary 19, 1945; 


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1 (6) the largest number of African-American 

2 Marines to serve in combat during World War II 

3 took part in the seizure of Okinawa in the Ryuku Is4 lands, with some 2,000 African-American Marines 

5 seeing action during the campaign; 

6 (7) on November 10, 1945, Frederick C. 

7 Branch was the first African-American Marine to be 

8 commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, at the Marine 

9 Base in Quantico, Virginia; 

10 (8) overall, 19,168 African-Americans served in 

11 the Marine Corps in World War II; 

12 (9) 16 years after the closure of Montford Point 

13 as a training facility for African-American recruits, 

14 an enterprising group of men, including original 

15 Montford Point Master Sergeant Brooks E. Gray, 

16 planned a reunion of the ‘‘Men of Montford Point’’, 

17 and on September 15, 1965, approximately 400 

18 Montford Point Marines gathered at the Adelphi 

19 Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and laid the 

20 foundation for the Montford Point Marine Associa21 tion Inc.; 

22 (10) organized as a nonmilitary, nonprofit enti23 ty, the Montford Point Marine Association has as its 

24 main mission to preserve the legacy of the first AfriVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:20 Sep 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 can-American Marines, and today the Association 

2 has 36 chapters throughout the United States; 

3 (11) many of the first African-American Ma4 rines stayed in the Marine Corps for a career, in5 cluding Sergeant Major Edgar R. Huff, 1 of the 

6 very first recruits at Montford Point; 

7 (12) Sergeant Major Huff was the first Afri8 can-American Sergeant Major and the first African9 American Marine to retire with 30 years of service, 

10 which included combat in 3 major conflicts, World 

11 War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War; 

12 (13) Sergeant Major Huff was awarded the 

13 Bronze Star medal with a combat ‘‘V’’ for valor for 

14 saving the life of his radio operator during the Tet 

15 Offensive in Vietnam; 

16 (14) another original Montford Point Marine 

17 who saw extensive combat action in both the Korean 

18 Conflict and the Vietnam War was Sergeant Major 

19 Louis Roundtree, who was awarded the Silver Star, 

20 4 Bronze Stars, 3 Purple Hearts, and numerous 

21 other personal and unit awards for his service dur22 ing those conflicts; 

23 (15) on April 19, 1974, Montford Point was re24 named ‘‘Camp Johnson’’, after legendary Montford 


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1 Point Marine Sergeant Major Gilbert ‘‘Hashmark’’ 

2 Johnson; and 

3 (16) the Montford Point Marine Association 

4 has several memorials in place to perpetuate the 

5 memory of who they were and what they accom6 plished, including— 

7 (A) the Montford Point Marine Association 

8 Edgar R. Huff Memorial Scholarship, which is 

9 offered annually through the Marine Corps 

10 Scholarship Foundation; 

11 (B) the Montford Point Museum located at 

12 Camp Johnson in Jacksonville, North Carolina; 

13 (C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consoli14 dated Academic Instruction Facility, named in 

15 honor of original Montford Point Marine and 

16 Montford Point Marine Corps Association 

17 founder Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray (dedi18 cated on April 15, 2005, at Camp Johnson, 

19 North Carolina); and 

20 (D) Branch Hall, a building within the Of21 ficers Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, 

22 which was named in honor of Captain Frederick 

23 Branch during July of 1997. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

3 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

4 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

5 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

6 of appropriate design to the Montford Point Marines, 

7 United States Marine Corps, collectively, in recognition of 

8 their dedicated service during World War II. 

9 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

10 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

13 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec14 retary. 

15 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

17 gold medal in honor of the Montford Point Marines, 

18 United States Marine Corps, under subsection (a), 

19 the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian In20 stitution, where it will be displayed as appropriate 

21 and made available for research. 

22 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

23 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

24 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

25 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 


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1 appropriate locations associated with the Montford 

2 Point Marines, United States Marine Corps. 

3 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

4 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre5 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

6 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2, at a price 

7 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

8 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

10 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med11 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

12 Code. 

13 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

14 OF SALE. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

17 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 

18 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 

19 2. 

20 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

21 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

22 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

23 Fund. 

Æ 


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