Right to Fight

When World War II erupted, over 2.5 million black men registered for the draft and one million served as draftees or volunteers in all of the branches of the Armed Forces during conflict. In June of 1942, the United States Marine Corps began admitting black recruits for the first time since the American Revolution. The men received their training at a segregated camp in Montford Point, North Carolina. More than 19,000 African-American Marines passed through Montford Point during World War II, and almost 13,000 were assigned to overseas defense battalions or combat support companies. Right to Fight is snapshot of their journey.