Dr. Cameron McCoy—A Contested Legacy: War and the Men of Montford Point

Discover the stories of the Montford Point Marines and their impact on the U.S. Marine Corps and American history. This program takes place at the Eisenhower NHS Speakers’ Tent.

1945 saw African American Marines serving in combat in the Pacific Theater of World War II, helping pave the way for desegregation of the Marine Corps and the US Armed Forces. These Marines—men who trained at Montford Point, North Carolina—began a complex and often overlooked legacy of Black Marines from World War II into the present day. Join Dr. Cameron McCoy to explore the Montford Point Marines and their role in Black military service, a story that is often contested, undermined, and sidelined in the memory of the Marine Corps and in American military history.