The US Marine Corps

Photos of US Marine Corps, Marine Base, Ammunition, lieutenant, Negro Marines

We have gathered a collection of some of the best and most moving photos taken of African-American soldiers during the Second World War. They are from the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Please browse at your leisure. Meditate on the sacrifices given by these men and women in wartime.

This page is dedicated to African Americans in the US Marine Corps

Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps started enlisting Negroes on June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 Negro volunteers began their training 3 months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, NC. The first Negro to enlist was Howard P. Perry shown here. N.d. Roger Smith. 208-NP-10KK-1. The first Negro to be commissioned in the Marine Corps has his second lieutenant's bars pinned on by his wife. He is Frederick C. Branch of Charlotte, NC. November 1945. 127-N-500043.
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Handling Negro Marine public relations at the Montford Point Camp here are Sgt. Lucious A. Wilson (left), and his photographer, Cpl. Edwin K. Anderson. Sgt. Wilson is a former correspondent for the New York Amsterdam News. d. 208-NP-10FFFF-1. Marine Cpl. Robert L. Hardin checks the main distributing frame in Montford Point's headquarters for line difficulties. N.d. Sgt. L. A. Wilson. 127-N-8768.
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Although a dress uniform is not a part of the regular equipment, most of the Negro Marines spend $54 out of their pay for what is generally considered the snappiest uniform in the armed services. Photo shows a group of the Negro volunteers in their dress uniforms. Ca. May 1943. Roger Smith. 208-NP-10NN-2. First Negro Marines decorated by the famed Second Marine Division somewhere in the Pacific (left to right) Staff Sgt Timerlate Kirven and Cpl. Samuel J. Love, Sr. They received Purple Hearts for wounds received in the Battle of Saipan. N.d. 208-NP-10SSSS-1.
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Pfc. Luther Woodward , a member of the Fourth Ammunition Company, admires the Bronze Star awarded to him for his bravery, initiative and battle-cunning. The award was later upgraded to the Silver Star. April 17, 1945. Cpl. Irving Deutch. 127-N-119492. Marines, following the rapid Japanese retreat northward on Okinawa, pause for a moments rest at the base of a Japanese war memorial. They are (on steps) Pfc. F. O. Snowden; Navy Pharmacist's Mate, 2nd class R. Martin; (on monument, left to right) Pvt. J. T. Walton, Pvt. R. T. Ellenberg, Pfc. Clyde Brown, Pvt. Robb Brawner. Photo was taken during the battle for Okinawa. April 12, 1945. Cpl. Art Sarno. 127-N-117624
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Peleliu Island Marines move through the trenches on the beach during the battle. September 15, 1944. Fitzgerald. 127-N-9527. Iwo Jima Negro Marines on the beach at Iwo Jima are, from left to right, Pfcs. Willie J. Kanody, Elif Hill, and John Alexander. March 1945. C. Jones. 127-N-11383
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Negro Marines, attached to the Third Ammunition Company, take time out from supplying ammunition to the front line on Saipan. Riding captured bicycle is Pfc. Horace Boykin; and left to right, Cpl. Willis T. Anthony, Pfc. Emmitt Shackelford, and Pfc. Eugene Purdy. June 1944. 127-N-8600. Aboard a Coast Guard-manned transport, a Negro Marine, Robert Stockman, goes over his carbine with Coast Guardsmen. Ca. February 1944. 26-G-321
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Aboard a Coast Guard-manned transport somewhere in the Pacific, these Negro Marines prepare to face the fire of Jap[anese] gunners. Ca. February 1944. 26-G-321. Surrounded by a veteran crew of Marines who have spent 15 months in the Southwest and Central Pacific, this gun, named the 'Lena Horne' by its crew, points majestically skyward. The gun is manned by members of [the 51st] Defense Battalion, one of two such Negro units in the Corps. 1945. Nicholson. 127-N-12174.
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Two Negro Marine movie operators. January 1945. 127-N-109561. Two Negro duck [DUKW] drivers turn riflemen after their vehicle is destroyed. February 19, 1945. Christian. 127-N-111123
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Marine Sgt. F. Smit and Cpl. S. Brown open a coconut to get a cool drink on Saipan. June 1944. 127-GW-1359-85636. Carrying a Jap[anese] prisoner from stockade to be evacuated and treated for malnutrition. Iwo Jima. February 23, 1945. Don Fox. 127-N-110622.
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Negro assault troops await orders D-day to attack enemy shortly after they had come ashore at Saipan in the Marianas. June 1944. T/Sgt. William Fitch. U.S. Coast Guard, 127-N-83928. Coast Guardsman Aught Guttery, Jr., first class Steward's Mate, is shown aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport on which he served during the initial landings at Guam. N.d. 208-NP-8WWW-9. .
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Coast Guardsman Charles Tyner, Fireman first class, examines the jagged shrapnel hole in the helmet he wore during the initial assault on the beaches of Southern France Tyner suffered just a superficial scratch. N.d. 26-G-2748. Two Coast Guard officers brave the wintry blasts of snow aboard a Coast Guard cutter on the North Atlantic patrol. The officers who give their cheery greetings despite the icy weather are Lt.(jg.) Clarence Samuels (right) and Ens. J.J. Jenkins (left) N.d. 26-G-3686.
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Five steward's mates stand at their battle stations, as a gun crew aboard a Coast Guard-manned frigate in the southwest Pacific. On call to general quarters, these Coast Guardsmen man a 20mm AA gun. They are, left to right, James L. Wesley, standing with a clip of shells; L. S. Haywood, firing; William Watson, reporting to bridge by phone from his gun captain's post; William Morton, loading a full clip, assisted by Odis Lane, facing camera across gun barrel. N.d. 26-G-3797. Crew members who man the 20mm guns of a Coast Guard fighting ship have won an enviable reputation for gunnery results, due primarily to incessant practice in assembly and operation. As expressed by the intent faces in this picture, these men play for keeps. N.d. 26-G-3154.
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Coast Guardsman. N.d. 208-NP-8WWW-3. Crew of a 20mm gun aboard a Coast Guard fighting ship are hanging up some new records for speed and accuracy. Left to right: Daniel Moore, Walter L. Bottoms, William Wheeler, and Rudolph C. Grimes, all Steward's Mates, second class. N.d. 26-G-3151.
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Two Ohio Coast Guardsmen [John R. Smith, on the left, and Daniel J. Kaczorowski] stand at their gun aboard a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport on which they served during the invasion of Normandy. Smith, steward's mate, third class, also served during assaults against North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. N.d. 26-G-2624. Coast Guardsman George W. Steele is serving aboard a Coast Guard-manned frigate in the North Pacific. [He] has been stationed with his vessel for the past 16 months. N.d. 208-NP-8UUU-1.
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A startling change is affected by Coast Guardsman Dorall Austin, Steward's Mate third class, at the alarm of general quarters aboard his Coast Guard assault transport somewhere in the Pacific. With the enemy sighted Austin springs from his duty in the ship's galley to his battle station as a gunner N.d. 208-NP-8UUU-2. Coast Guardsman Marvin Sanders, Fireman first class, is presently serving in the engine room of a Coast Guard manned Army repair ship doing a vital job repairing the invading fleet in the southwest Pacific. N.d. 208-NP-8WWW-8.
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These Negro members of a Coast Guard Horse Patrol unit patrol beaches in the New Jersey area in all kinds of weather. Left to right: Seamen first class C. R. Johnson, Jesse Willis, Joseph Washington, and Frank Garcia. N.d. 208-NP-8CCC-1. Coast Guardsman Joseph K. Noel, Radioman third class, is pictured on duty aboard a Coast Guard-manned frigate doing patrol duties in the North Pacific. N.d. 208-NP-8VVV-5.
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Coast Guardsman Levern Robinson, Seaman first class, is shown at work in the ship's laundry, aboard a Coast Guard manned troop transport operating in the Atlantic. The transport is engaged in bringing home our victorious fighting men from liberated Europe for well-earned leaves and reassignments. N.d. 208-NP-8WWW-10. These Coast Guardsmen, crew members of a Coast Guard combat cutter, help patrol sea lanes and protect convoys bound for the European battle zone. Left to right: Atwood Taylor, Steward's Mate first class; Richard U. Mitchell, Steward's Mate first class; R. E. Bird, Jr., Steward's Mate second class; Robert Woldon, Steward's Mate first class; Grover Taylor, Steward's Mate first class; [and] Jacob A. Lawrence, Steward's Mate second class, who is also the ship's artist. N.d. 208-NP-8LLL-1.
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