IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2447 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2011 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

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

4 Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 8802 estab5 lishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission 

6 and opening the doors for the very first African7 Americans to enlist in the United States Marine 

8 Corps. 

9 (2) The first Black Marine recruits were 

10 trained at Camp Montford Point, near the New 

11 River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. 

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

13 Charlotte, North Carolina, was the first Black pri14 vate to set foot on Montford Point. 

15 (4) During April 1943 the first African-Amer16 ican Marine Drill Instructors took over as the senior 

17 Drill Instructors of the eight platoons then in train18 ing; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th (Thom19 as Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert 

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

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

22 23rd (George A. Jackson). 

23 (5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Com24 pany and the 36th Depot Company landed on the is25 land of Iwo Jima on D–Day, February 19, 1945. 


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1 (6) The largest number of Black Marines to 

2 serve in combat during World War II took part in 

3 the seizure of Okinawa in the Ryuku Islands with 

4 some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action during the 

5 campaign. 

6 (7) On November 10, 1945, the first African7 American Marine, Frederick C. Branch, was com8 missioned as a second lieutenant at the Marine 

9 Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. 

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

11 Corps in World War II. 

12 (9) An enterprising group of men, including 

13 original Montford Pointer Master Sergeant Brooks 

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

15 Point, and on September 15, 1965, approximately 

16 400 Montford Point Marines gathered at the 

17 Adelphi Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to lay 

18 the foundation for the Montford Point Marine Asso19 ciation Inc., 16 years after the closure of Montford 

20 Point as a training facility for Black recruits. 

21 (10) Organized as a non-military, nonprofit en22 tity, the Montford Point Marine Association’s main 

23 mission is to preserve the legacy of the first Black 

24 Marines. 


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1 (11) Today the Montford Point Marine Associa2 tion has 36 chapters throughout the United States. 

3 (12) Many of these first Black Marines stayed 

4 in the Marine Corps like Sergeant Major Edgar R. 

5 Huff. 

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

7 first recruits aboard Montford Point. 

8 (14) Sergeant Major Huff was also the first Af9 rican-American Sergeant Major and the first Afri10 can-American Marine to retire with 30 years of serv11 ice which included combat in three major wars, 

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

13 War. 

14 (15) During the Tet Offensive, Sergeant Major 

15 Huff was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with com16 bat ‘‘V’’ for valor for saving the life of his radio op17 erator. 

18 (16) Another original Montford Pointer who 

19 saw extensive combat action in both the Korean War 

20 and the Vietnam War was Sergeant Major Louis 

21 Roundtree. 

22 (17) Sergeant Major Roundtree was awarded 

23 the Silver Star Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, 

24 three Purple Hearts, and numerous other personal 


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1 and unit awards for his service during these con2 flicts. 

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

4 renamed Camp Johnson after legendary Montford 

5 Pointer Sergeant Major Gilbert ‘‘Hashmark’’ John6 son. 

7 (19) The Montford Point Marine Association 

8 has several memorials in place to perpetuate the 

9 memory of the first African-American Marines and 

10 their accomplishments, including— 

11 (A) the Montford Point Marine Association 

12 Edgar R. Huff Memorial Scholarship which is 

13 offered annually through the Marine Corps 

14 Scholarship Foundation; 

15 (B) the Montford Point Museum located 

16 aboard Camp Johnson (Montford Point) in 

17 Jacksonville, North Carolina; 

18 (C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consoli19 dated Academic Instruction Facility named in 

20 honor of original Montford Pointer and the 

21 Montford Point Marine Corps Association 

22 founder Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray. This 

23 facility was dedicated on 15 April 2005 aboard 

24 Camp Johnson, North Carolina; and 


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

2 building within the Officers Candidate School in 

3 Quantico, Virginia, was named in honor of Cap4 tain Frederick Branch. 

5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

7 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

8 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

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

10 of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Ma11 rines, collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice 

12 and service to their country. 

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

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

15 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec16 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

17 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec18 retary. 

19 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre21 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

2 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National med3 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

4 Code. 

5 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

6 OF SALE. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

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

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

11 2. 

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

13 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

14 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

15 Fund. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 25, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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