The:
“No blacks on this side of town,”
Was the similar messages in Mississippi back in '67 when I arrived at Meridian Naval Air Station Meridian Miss. and related to the black brothers stationed with us on the base and not only to the locals! Still not getting their due for serving the Country not only in WWII but Korea and Vietnam, where I would serve my last year of four, was growing, same still for the racist minds of today but at least not as openly shown, or is it (?)!
Add in, from then to today, the hispanics and whether yet citizens of as well as the rest of the immigrants who join and serve this country!
June 27, 2012 - Soon after finishing boot camp at Montford Point in 1949, John Phoenix joined other new Marines on a visit to nearby Jacksonville, N.C. Dressed in their newly pressed khaki uniforms, they proudly strolled off the train. They’d taken only a few steps when they were confronted by a large sign.
The roughly 10- by 8-foot, black and white billboard with big block letters clarified any misconceptions the new Marines might have. The color of their uniforms didn’t supersede the color of their skin.
“No blacks on this side of town,” it read.
The reception wasn’t much warmer at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., where the 19-year-old high school track star and other black recruits were placed in a segregated camp. They were trained harder and worked longer hours than their white counterparts. Phoenix never once met a black officer.
“We went through hell and brimstone at Montford Point,” he said. “It was no playpen there.”
Phoenix, who’s now 83, served 22 years in the Marines, including combat in Korea and Vietnam, before retiring and settling in Burlington, N.C. He never really got over those feelings of not being fully a part of the Corps. Until now. read more>>>
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