I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3927 

To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 26, 2009 

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida (for herself, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BUYER, Mr. 

RANGEL, Mr. JONES, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. SNYDER, and 

Mr. MICHAUD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 

House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point 

Marines. 

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 makes the following findings: 

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

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


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1 and opening the doors for the very first African2 Americans to enlist in the United States Marine 

3 Corps. 

4 (2) The first Black Marine recruits were 

5 trained at Camp Montford Point, near the New 

6 River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. 

7 (3) On August 26, 1942, Howard P. Perry of 

8 Charlotte, North Carolina, was the first Black pri9 vate to set foot on Montford Point. 

10 (4) During April 1943 the first African-Amer11 ican Marine Drill Instructors took over as the senior 

12 Drill Instructors of the eight platoons then in train13 ing; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th (Thom14 as Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert 

15 H. Johnson), 20th (Arnold R. Bostic), 21st 

16 (Mortimer A. Cox), 22nd (Edgar R. Davis, Jr.), and 

17 23rd (George A. Jackson). 

18 (5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Com19 pany and the 36th Depot Company landed on the is20 land of Iwo Jima on D-day, February 19, 1945. 

21 (6) The largest number of Black Marines to 

22 serve in combat during World War II took part in 

23 the seizure of Okinawa in the Ryuku Islands with 

24 some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action during the 

25 campaign. 


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1 (7) On November 10, 1945, the first African2 American Marine, Frederick C. Branch, was com3 missioned as a second lieutenant at the Marine 

4 Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. 

5 (8) Overall 19,168 Blacks served in the Marine 

6 Corps in World War II. 

7 (9) An enterprising group of men, including 

8 original Montford Pointer Master Sergeant Brooks 

9 E. Gray, planned a reunion of the Men of Montford 

10 Point, and on September 15, 1965, approximately 

11 400 Montford Point Marines gathered at the 

12 Adelphi Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to lay 

13 the foundation for the Montford Point Marine Asso14 ciation Inc., 16 years after the closure of Montford 

15 Point as a training facility for Black recruits. 

16 (10) Organized as a non-military, nonprofit en17 tity, the Montford Point Marine Association’s main 

18 mission is to preserve the legacy of the first Black 

19 Marines. 

20 (11) Today the Montford Point Marine Associa21 tion has 36 chapters throughout the United States. 

22 (12) Many of these first Black Marines stayed 

23 in the Marine Corps like Sergeant Major Edgar R. 

24 Huff. 


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1 (13) Sergeant Major Huff was one of the very 

2 first recruits aboard Montford Point. 

3 (14) Sergeant Major Huff was also the first Af4 rican-American Sergeant Major and the first Afri5 can-American Marine to retire with 30 years of serv6 ice which included combat in three major wars, 

7 World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam 

8 War. 

9 (15) During the Tet Offensive, Sergeant Major 

10 Huff was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with com11 bat ‘‘V’’ for valor for saving the life of his radio op12 erator. 

13 (16) Another original Montford Pointer who 

14 saw extensive combat action in both the Korean War 

15 and the Vietnam War was Sergeant Major Louis 

16 Roundtree. 

17 (17) Sergeant Major Roundtree was awarded 

18 the Silver Star Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, 

19 three Purple Hearts, and numerous other personal 

20 and unit awards for his service during these con21 flicts. 

22 (18) On April 19, 1974, Montford Point was 

23 renamed Camp Johnson after legendary Montford 

24 Pointer Sergeant Major Gilbert ‘‘Hashmark’’ John25 son. 


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1 (19) The Montford Point Marine Association 

2 has several memorials in place to perpetuate the 

3 memory of the first African-American Marines and 

4 their accomplishments, including— 

5 (A) the Montford Point Marine Association 

6 Edgar R. Huff Memorial Scholarship which is 

7 offered annually through the Marine Corps 

8 Scholarship Foundation; 

9 (B) the Montford Point Museum located 

10 aboard Camp Johnson (Montford Point) in 

11 Jacksonville, North Carolina; 

12 (C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consoli13 dated Academic Instruction Facility named in 

14 honor of original Montford Pointer and the 

15 Montford Point Marine Corps Association 

16 founder Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray. This 

17 facility was dedicated on 15 April 2005 aboard 

18 Camp Johnson, North Carolina; and 

19 (D) during July of 1997 Branch Hall, a 

20 building within the Officers Candidate School in 

21 Quantico, Virginia, was named in honor of Cap22 tain Frederick Branch. 

23 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

25 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 


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1 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

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

3 of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Ma4 rines, collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice 

5 and service to their country. 

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

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

8 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

10 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

14 gold medal in honor of the Montford Point Marines 

15 under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given 

16 to the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be dis17 played as appropriate and made available for re18 search. 

19 (2) SENSE.—It is the sense of the Congress 

20 that the Smithsonian Institution should make the 

21 gold medal received under paragraph (1) available 

22 for display elsewhere, particularly at other appro23 priate locations associated with the Montford Point 

24 Marines. 


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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre3 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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

7 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

8 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National med9 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

10 Code. 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

12 OF SALE. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

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

16 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized under section 

17 2. 

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

19 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

20 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

21 Fund. 

Æ 


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