Camp Gilbert H. Johnson is a satellite camp of

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, and its ...

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the 14th-largest city in North Carolina. Jacksonville is the county seat and most populous commun ...

and home to the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools (MCCSSS), where various support military occupational specialties such as administration, supply,

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, finance, Navy corpsman and motor transport maintenance are trained. Camp Johnson is situated on Montford Point, the site of recruit training for the first

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to serve in the Marine Corps, known as "Montford Point Marines".

Mission

The purpose of the camp is to conduct formal resident training for officers and enlisted personnel in the occupational fields of logistics, motor transport, personnel administration, supply, and financial management (accounting and disbursing), as well as to conduct instructional management and combat water survival swim training. In addition to training Marines, Camp Johnson also houses the Field Medical Training Battalion, which trains corpsmen and religious program specialists of the Navy. The commanding officer of MCCSSS also serves as the area commander of Camp Johnson and provides administrative support to various tenant commands.

History

When President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

signed

Executive Order 8802 Executive Order 8802 was signed by President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry. It also set up the Fair Employment Practice Committ ...

, blacks were, for the first time, permitted to join the Marine Corps. Between 1942 and 1949, the camp at Montford Point was a recruit depot for black recruits, training 20,000 African Americans during that period. One of the first African Americans to enlist in the Marine Corps was Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson, who became a

drill instructor A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors. Australia Austr ...

. Johnson served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, ultimately receiving the rank of Sergeant Major. In 1948, by Executive Order 9981, President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

ordered the military to integrate. In 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp Gilbert H. Johnson. Camp Johnson became the home of the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools. In 2007, a documentary entitled ''The Montford Point Marine Project'' was released, honoring the black Marines who trained at Montford Point.

Montford Point Marines Museum

Camp Johnson is home to the Montford Point Marines Museum. The museum is located in the East Wing of building M101. The museum houses items and pictures of the camp during its years as a boot camp.

Memorials

Outside the gate of Camp Johnson stands a tribute to Marines, soldiers, and sailors who gave their lives trying to keep the peace in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The

Beirut Memorial The Beirut Memorial is a memorial to the 241 American peacekeepers—220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers—killed in the October 23, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. It is located outside the gate of Camp Gilbert H. Joh ...

is the site of an annual commemoration of the October

1983 Beirut barracks bombing Early on a Sunday morning, October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese ...

, when 241 Marines, sailors, and soldiers were killed. The camp is home to a "

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

" memorial, and a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

memorial. The "9/11" memorial features a beam salvaged from the tower wreckage. The memorial area is used for many ceremonies, from promotions to retirements. The recently built Vietnam Memorial consists of many thick glass panes erected from the ground in a circular shape. Each pane of glass is etched with the names of all the service men and women who gave their lives during the Vietnam War. In the center of the memorial is a large water fountain. Directly across the street is the North Carolina Veterans Cemetery. This cemetery is the resting place of many Marine veterans. Funerals with

military honors A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

are done on site. Funeral details are provided by the personnel of MCCSSS, Camp Johnson, and neighboring units.

References

External links

*
Montford Point Marines Museum
* * {{coord, 34.7357, -77.4072, region:US-NC_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Onslow County, North Carolina Jacksonville, North Carolina Military installations in North Carolina