213485 Pvt. Lucius H. Snowten United States Marine Corps Montford Marines from:Philadelphia, PA Lucius H. Snowten was a member of the Montford Marines, the first African Americans to break the color line in that branch of the armed forces.
He served in the Marines from Jan. 21, 1944, to Feb. 14, 1946, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of private first class.
He had enlisted following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive order in 1941 allowing black soldiers to serve in the armed forces.
But while white soldiers trained at traditional boot camp facilities in Parris Island, S.C., and San Diego, the black Marines were separately trained at Montford Point Camp in North Carolina.
The lodging was huts made of corrugated metal on land infested with snakes and mosquitoes. They had green huts with no toilets. They had to walk up the street for the toilet. There was no running water.
On Nov. 23, 2011, President Obama signed a bill bestowing the Congressional Gold Medal on the Marines as a group for their World War II service. The medal was presented June 27 and 28, 2012, in Washington.
Lucius told relatives that becoming one of the first African American Marines was a tough challenge, and that the congressional honor was "something he never thought would happen in his lifetime."
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