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  • Clifford Cole shows his Congressional Gold Medal that he was honored with for his service as a Montford Point Marine. (Staff Photo/Calvin Adkins)

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July 5, 2012

Tarboro Montford Point Marine receives Congressional Gold Medal

CALVIN ADKINS THE DAILY SOUTHERNER

TARBORO — Tarboro resident Clifford Cole was one of approximately 400 Marines of Montford Point that received the Congressional Gold Medal at the United States Capital in Washington D.C on Thursday during a two-day event honoring the first African Americans to join the Marine Corps. The Corps was the last branch of the U.S. military to allow blacks to serve.

Approximately 20,000 African-American marines trained at Montford Point in Jacksonville N.C. The camp operated from 1942 to 1949. The Monford Point Marines served in some of the bloodiest struggles in World War II. Cole was not part of any combat action.

"The Tuskegee Airman got a lot of notierty for what they did, the Buffalo Soldiers who were black got a lot of notoriety for what they did," Cole said. "Then here was this large group of marines and nothing much was said about them until now. So this raises us up to the Tuskegge Airman and the Buffalo Soldiers."

William McDowell, who was selected to represent Montford Point, received the original medal on behalf of the roughly 400 Montford Point Marines in attendance. The medal, which is the highest civilian award in the nation, will be placed on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia.

During the second day of the event, the marines were given bronze replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal.

A current high ranking Marine Corps official personally placed a replica of the medal on each of the Montford Point Marines. For Cole, that was touching.

"That was impressive," Cole said. "It was impressive to see the big band drums, the bugles, the flags and the rifle. By the commandant himself. He would come to you and he would say something, 'Like thank you for your service.' When he came to me, I said, 'Sir do you mind if I rise.' He said sure, you can rise if you want.'

I stood a little bit taller than he was. He placed it around my neck and then he went to the next guy and then the next guy. That was kinda touching."

Cole, 82, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., quit school to join the marines in 1946. As a teenager from Brooklyn, he had not be subjected to discrimination until he was assigned to Montford Point.

"I knew about it but I had not been exposed to it," he said. "My next door neighbor was white — and Italian family — and Puerto Ricans kids lived in the neighborhood. We played ball and visited each other homes.

"(At Montford Point) we lived in a lousy part of the town where the old segregation patterns was still in play. When a black marine got on a bus and there was no seats we was suppose to get up and let them sit down. The military police was in town and the regular police was in town to make sure that we didn't stray into the white areas. The military police enforce the rules and regulation of segregation just like the city police. That was a culture shock."

Another shock for Cole was the living conditions he explained the marines were forced to live in. He described the barracks as run down buildings that were cold in the winter and hot in the summer. His drill instructor didn't make things better.   

"They were overzealous in trying to convert us to marines," Cole said. Those guys wanted us to be good strong marines. "I remember one in particular. His name was Cpl. Miles from New Jersey. He sort of took a liking to me. He would talk to me in a father like way. I remember him saying to me, 'When you get out of this marine  Brooklyn, I want you to go to college. That's what they used to call me. I asked him what college and he said, 'Shaw University.' That is what I did. Later I tried to find Cpl. Miles and tell him but I found out that he was killed in action."

Cole was honorable discharged in June 1947 after spending six months in service. He explained that he short tenure evolved around the was was over and the marine was offering honorable discharges to the servicemen who wanted to get out.

Six years later he was drafted again in the Army.

"I told them I had already served in the marines, but they didn't want to hear it," Coles said. "So I went back in service January 1953. I got out in July 1954. I used the time that I had in the marines to get out early. I wasn't a military man."

Although his time was shortly served in the army and the marines, there was no marine at the ceremony prouder than Cole as evidence of him asking the commandant to allow him to stand. He showed off his Congressional Gold Medal replica that was still in the clear package that it came in.

He said, "I'm not going to open it. I'm going to keep it for my family so that it can be passed down from generations to generations. I am proud of being a Montford Point Marine."

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