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VFW to show video of presentation
YOUNGSTOWN
Veterans of Foreign Wars Donald Lockett Post 6488 is showing a video of the presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to Montford Point Marines.
The public is invited to view the video at a 1 p.m. luncheon Saturday at the post home at 2065 Coitsville-Hubbard Road.
The first African-American Marines, also known as the Montford Point Marines, received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor for distinguished achievements and contributions, on June 27 during a ceremony at the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C.
Some 20,000 Montford Point Marines went to a segregated boot-camp between 1942 and 1949 at Montford Point, N.C., adjacent to Camp Lejeune, and served in all-black units afterward during World War II.
Post 6488 was ahead of the curve in recognizing Montford Point Marines when in 2010 it honored posthumously Atty. L. Steven Robinson, former Warren City prosecutor and a Montford Point graduate.
“We are very proud to have honored Robinson, one of our own, and that we did it two years ago,” said Herman Adams, Post 6488 program chairman.
A native of Pittsburgh, Robinson enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 and was assigned to the 5th Marine Division. He participated in four major campaigns in the Pacific Theater, including the Battle of Iwo Jima, achieved the rank of gunnery sergeant, and received numerous decorations, including two Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantry Badge. He was inducted into the Montford Point Marines Hall of Fame in 1999.
Also, Robert Little of Youngstown, deceased, was a Montford Point Marine and a charter member of Post 6488. He participated in the Battle of Saipan in the Mariana Islands in the South Pacific during World War II, Adams said.