Black WWII unit hailed at event in Youngstown

February 17, 2019 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Ina R. Madison became highly emotional when she handled her late husband’s military outfit for the first time in several decades.

“My husband’s uniform was in a plastic cover for 40 years, and I kept it in my closet. I haven’t looked at this uniform for maybe 35 years or more. I haven’t physically touched that uniform until this morning,” Madison said while processing the complicated array of emotions she felt about having lost her husband, Ernest Madison, who died March 26, 1996, at age 47.

From 1968 to 1971, he served in the Marines, beginning with basic training at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and saw three tours of duty, including to Okinawa during the Vietnam War, where his proficiency in clerical work, typing and other related skills was in high demand, Ina recalled. His duties also were to process the bodies of soldiers flown back after they were killed in combat, she continued.

Her husband’s neatly pressed 51-year-old dress blues, and a picture of Camp Lejeune, served as backdrops for a Black History Month program Saturday at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St., on the South Side, to honor the Montford Point Marines.

They were the first black Marines able to serve in World War II after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order barring segregation in the military. As a result, more than 20,000 black men from all walks of life trained at Camp Montford Point and Camp Lejeune near Jacksonville, N.C., between 1942 and 1949, noted Madison, who helped New Bethel’s Computer Lab students conduct online, archival and other research for a film on the Marines, which was shown during Saturday’s gathering.

Instructing the project was Dr. Francois Pale, who teaches computer classes for students of all ages in the area.

“No blacks were allowed in the Marines until 167 years after the American Revolution,” Madison noted.

The film featured a series of interviews with men, some of whom had served in the Montford Point regiment and others who lauded the Marines’ achievements, valor and patriotism as they fought to protect a country that still subjected them to racism, segregation and ostracism.

Before the film was shown, Delmus Stubbs, a Mahoning County Veterans Service Center community-outreach worker, talked about the Buffalo Soldiers, an all-black cavalry regiment that formed Sept. 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., largely to protect settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains and railroad crews that traveled through the Great Plains.

Specifically, he mentioned Cathay Williams, a black domestic worker who experienced military life firsthand before enlisting in the 38th U.S. Infantry in November 1866. Since women were forbidden to serve as soldiers, Williams, a house slave freed by Union soldiers, adopted a pseudonym and disguised herself as a man, he noted.

Stubbs also urged current veterans who have served their country to be vigilant about ensuring they receive the benefits they’re entitled to.

“You vets out here have paid the price,” he added.

Sgt. Heidi Hudson, a Boardman-based Army recruiter who enlisted in the military in February 1990, told the audience of several dozen she wants more young people to be aware that the Reserves offers college scholarships, free tuition, leadership skills training and other benefits.

The East High School graduate added she wants youngsters to “multiply themselves,” meaning to take part in community outreach efforts and better realize the potential they have to make positive impacts on the world.

Making additional remarks was the Rev. Kenneth L. Simon, New Bethel’s pastor, and Nate Walker, a service center service officer.

Also available during the program were pamphlets and booklets that provided resources for veterans regarding health and wellness, education and employment, legal services, benefits, financial options, housing and assistance with utility payments.

For more information, call the Mahoning County Veterans Service Center at 330-740-2450.