I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2447 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 7, 2011 

Ms. BROWN of Florida (for herself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. FILNER, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, 

Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana, Ms. CLARKE

of New York, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. RUSH, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. FATTAH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

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 

8 and opening the doors for the very first AfricanVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:26 Jul 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2447.IH H2447

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1 Americans to enlist in the United States Marine 

2 Corps. 

3 (2) The first Black Marine recruits were 

4 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 Black pri8 vate 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 eight platoons then in train12 ing; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th (Thom13 as Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert 

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

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

16 23rd (George A. Jackson). 

17 (5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Com18 pany and the 36th Depot Company landed on the is19 land of Iwo Jima on D–Day, February 19, 1945. 

20 (6) The largest number of Black Marines to 

21 serve in combat during World War II took part in 

22 the seizure of Okinawa in the Ryuku Islands with 

23 some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action during the 

24 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 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre14 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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

18 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

19 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National med20 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

21 Code. 

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

23 OF SALE. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 


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

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

3 2. 

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

5 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

6 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

7 Fund. 

Æ 


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