212583 Cpl. Thomas Strickland Turner United States Marine Corps Montford Point Marines from:Devon, PA Thomas Strickland Turner Sr. was a corporal during World War II in the Montford Point Marines - the first African Americans to serve in the Marine Corps.
After enlisting in the Marines in 1943, he was among about 20,000 African American Marines who served furing World War II, according to the Marines' website. African Americans were not able to enlist until 1941, when the Fair Employment Act prohibited federal agencies from discriminating based on race or ethnicity.
Despite being allowed to serve, however, African Americans marine trained separately from whites from 1942 until 1949, at a substandard boot camp in Montford Point, NC. In 2011 Congress voted unanimously to award the Congressional God Medal to the Montford Point Marines.
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