During a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Marine Corps awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to more than 20,000 Marines who entered service at Montford Point – a facility of Camp Lejeune – near Jacksonville, N.C. Montford Point was the only place for African Americans to receive basic training 1942-49.

At least two Aggies, John Thompson and Fleetwood Howell, were among those honored.

“It was very exciting and a long time overdue,” Thompson said. “We were glad we got the recognition.”

Thompson and his wife, Christina, along with Howell’s widow, Alice, and thousands of others attended the ceremony on June 27.

These men solidified their place in American history by becoming some of the nation’s first Black Marines. The men endured less than stellar conditions during boot camp and discrimination all in service of their country.

“We didn’t live in barracks, we stayed in huts,” Thompson recalled. “They were heated by a stove in the middle of the floor. The showers were all the way at the end of the hut and there were no bathrooms at all in the huts. We had to go down to the end of the road to use the bathrooms.”

Both Thompson and Howell joined the Marines in 1943, served in the Asian Pacific during World War II and were discharged in 1946. Howell’s daughter Artenia Boyce said her father didn’t really speak about his time in the Marine Corps but she knows he would have been proud to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“I hate that he passed before he got the award,” Boyce said. “It would have been something that he would have cherished and he would like to have known that the Montford Point Marines were honored for their time.”

Thompson said it was an honor for him and his comrades to receive their awards from Black officers.

“Imagine all these generals saying ‘Yes, sir’ to me. I wanted to tell them that I should be saying “Yes, sir” to them. I’m just a peon,” Thompson said with a laugh.

During Thompson and Howell’s time in the Marines, Black officers were nonexistent.

“About six months before I got my discharge, one black guy was promoted to 2nd Lt. then I heard they put him on inactive duty,” Thompson said.

Other than the recognition and respect the Marines received, the best part about Thompson’s journey to Washington, D.C. was reconnecting with an old friend.

“We had an individual photo session and I looked at the profile of a guy near me and thought he looked familiar,” Thompson shared.

“We caught eyes and knew who each other were. I had not seen or heard from him since we were discharged. We started talking together and two hours later, we were still together – it was glorious.”

His friend now lives in Los Angeles and during that weekend, they exchanged phone numbers. The two have been keeping in touch and their wives have even begun to correspond.

Continuing their parallel paths, Howell and Thompson both entered North Carolina A&T State University upon their discharge.

Howell enrolled in N.C. A&T where he earned a tailoring certificate and later took a job working in the bookstore. His wife, Alice, worked in the campus dry cleaners until they both retired.

“He liked being in the educational part of it and working with students,” Boyce said of her father.

Howell passed away in March, just three months short of receiving his Congressional Gold Medal.

Thompson followed a different route to A&T that included a stop at a technical school to learn radio servicing and electronics repair.

“I intended to open up a repair shop but that didn’t work out too well,” he said.

The Kannapolis native came to A&T on the G.I. Bill until his money ran out and he later worked to pay his way through school. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial education and later took a job with the Greensboro Public Schools where he worked until retirement in 1991.

“Since then I have enjoyed retirement and I’m enjoying good health,” he said. “People say I don’t act my age, I don’t feel my age either. I’ve been blessed.”