Montford Point

The courageous and dedicated men who entered Montford Point in the 1940s graduated to become the Marines who brought the US Marine Corps into a new era. Black recruits were sent to Jacksonville, a city about 60 miles northeast of Wilmington, to complete a segregated basic training at Montford Point Base. The Montford Point Marines Association has since launched chapters across the US and in Japan to celebrate their legacy and has established a museum at Camp Johnson to preserve and share their stories.

From Tuesdays through Thursdays, you can visit the Montford Point Museum to immerse yourself in photos, documents and artifacts that capture the unique history of these Black Marines from 1942 to 1949. The museum's mission is to display memories of the past and show how those experiences have influenced the Marines today. At Lejeune Memorial Gardens, visit the first of two phases of the Montford Point Marine Memorial and the "Wall of Stars" that honors and represents the 20,000 Marines that trained at Montford Point in the 1940s. Black Marines were traditionally assigned to non-combat roles such as supplying ammunition to the front lines. The statue of the Marine holding the rifle symbolizes these men earning the right to fight.