[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2447 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.2447
One Hundred Twelfth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the fifth day of January, two thousand and eleven
An Act
To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued
Executive Order No. 8802 establishing the Fair Employment Practices
Commission and opening the doors for the very first African-
Americans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
(2) The first Black Marine recruits were trained at Camp
Montford Point, near the New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
(3) On August 26, 1942, Howard P. Perry of Charlotte, North
Carolina, was the first Black private to set foot on Montford
Point.
(4) During April 1943 the first African-American Marine Drill
Instructors took over as the senior Drill Instructors of the eight
platoons then in training; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th
(Thomas Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert H.
Johnson), 20th (Arnold R. Bostic), 21st (Mortimer A. Cox), 22nd
(Edgar R. Davis, Jr.), and 23rd (George A. Jackson).
(5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Company and the 36th
Depot Company landed on the island of Iwo Jima on D-Day, February
19, 1945.
(6) The largest number of Black Marines to serve in combat
during World War II took part in the seizure of Okinawa in the
Ryuku Islands with some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action during
the campaign.
(7) On November 10, 1945, the first African-American Marine,
Frederick C. Branch, was commissioned as a second lieutenant at the
Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.
(8) Overall 19,168 Blacks served in the Marine Corps in World
War II.
(9) An enterprising group of men, including original Montford
Pointer Master Sergeant Brooks E. Gray, planned a reunion of the
Men of Montford Point, and on September 15, 1965, approximately 400
Montford Point Marines gathered at the Adelphi Hotel in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to lay the foundation for the Montford
Point Marine Association Inc., 16 years after the closure of
Montford Point as a training facility for Black recruits.
(10) Organized as a non-military, nonprofit entity, the
Montford Point Marine Association's main mission is to preserve the
legacy of the first Black Marines.
(11) Today the Montford Point Marine Association has 36
chapters throughout the United States.
(12) Many of these first Black Marines stayed in the Marine
Corps like Sergeant Major Edgar R. Huff.
(13) Sergeant Major Huff was one of the very first recruits
aboard Montford Point.
(14) Sergeant Major Huff was also the first African-American
Sergeant Major and the first African-American Marine to retire with
30 years of service which included combat in three major wars,
World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
(15) During the Tet Offensive, Sergeant Major Huff was awarded
the Bronze Star Medal with combat ``V'' for valor for saving the
life of his radio operator.
(16) Another original Montford Pointer who saw extensive combat
action in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War was Sergeant
Major Louis Roundtree.
(17) Sergeant Major Roundtree was awarded the Silver Star
Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Hearts, and numerous
other personal and unit awards for his service during these
conflicts.
(18) On April 19, 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp Johnson
after legendary Montford Pointer Sergeant Major Gilbert
``Hashmark'' Johnson.
(19) The Montford Point Marine Association has several
memorials in place to perpetuate the memory of the first African-
American Marines and their accomplishments, including--
(A) the Montford Point Marine Association Edgar R. Huff
Memorial Scholarship which is offered annually through the
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation;
(B) the Montford Point Museum located aboard Camp Johnson
(Montford Point) in Jacksonville, North Carolina;
(C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consolidated Academic
Instruction Facility named in honor of original Montford
Pointer and the Montford Point Marine Corps Association founder
Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray. This facility was dedicated on 15
April 2005 aboard Camp Johnson, North Carolina; and
(D) during July of 1997 Branch Hall, a building within the
Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, was named in
honor of Captain Frederick Branch.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold
medal of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Marines,
collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to
their country.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
Secretary.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal
struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National medals for purposes
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an
amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals
authorized under section 2.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.