Latest News from MCB Camp Lejeune

Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune doing its part for Haiti

Lance Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, Marine Corps Base

A muffled voice resonates through a layer of rubble and rock, crying for help as frantic hands work to unearth the source.  A ray of light reveals the trapped victim, and emerging from it comes a hand clothed in blue and black, two dark serpents twisting on a shield upon it.

Doctors are the staff behind the tip of the spear and are just as expeditionary as any unit.  In one form or another, from a cardiologist to a battlefield corpsman, aid is always a shout away.  Those at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune are no different as evidenced by their recent actions in support of the Haiti relief efforts.

“So far 1,500 medical personnel from the East Coast have left in support of the Haiti disaster relief,” said Navy Capt. Gerard R. Cox, commanding officer of NHCL.  “We ourselves have recently sent 15 hospital personnel with another 10 on the way.”

To date NHCL has deployed orthopedic doctors, anesthesiologists, pediatric practitioners and culinary specialists to name a few.  Cox says that the selection process for personnel to be sent down isn't made by the hospital, but by an on-scene observer who then sends medical personnel requests to the states.

“Navy Medicine East tasks the naval hospitals which fall under its command to send certain types of medical personnel, and we then chose the most qualified,” said Cox.  “Right now we are sending down personnel with trauma resuscitation and surgical skills due to the type of injuries sustained.”

Personnel from Navy Medicine – East are flown to the USNS Comfort, second Mercy Class Hospital Ship of the U.S. Navy, or sent to Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, Cuba, to prepare for possible Haitian refugee intake.

“Depending on the operations, some corpsmen and doctors will set up fleet hospitals on shore,” said Chief Petty Officer Brian McGee, chief hospital corpsman for NHCL.  “In this sort of situation the medical personnel have to be flexible to meet the needs of the injured and treat them wherever they need to be.”

While medical personnel are deploying to Haiti, no equipment is taken with them; the USNS Comfort, which is basically a hospital in itself, carried all necessary equipment to treat patients on board after being flown in from shore.

With a total of 47 NHCL personnel deployed to regions throughout the world, there is a greater impact than that to the individual's family; that of those they treat back home.

“What most people don't realize is that this is their shore duty which isn't intended to be deployable,” said McGee.  “So when the hospital loses personnel to deployments, the rest of the hospital has to take on extra time and cases to make up for it, and that is what can make the hospital push back appointment dates.”

McGee says that while it may hinder stateside services, the doctors, nurses and corpsmen of the country's naval hospitals will never turn down a mission; a way will always be found to fulfill duties at home as well as overseas.

“Hospital personnel always maintain a high sense of readiness; this is the kind of thing we train for,” said Cox.  “We are here to alleviate human suffering and we will aid those anywhere who have no other resources to turn to.”

 

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Corps celebrates African-American History Month

Lance Cpl. Damany S. Coleman, Marine Corps Base

Former President John F. Kennedy once said, “All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”

Despite the fact that the Bill of Rights guaranteed equal rights for all Americans, equality was not always practiced.  It has been noted that even though prejudice and segregation were still happening in the United States at the time, African-Americans received greater opportunities, June 25, 1941.

That is when former President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order, which barred government agencies and federal contractors from refusing employment based on race, creed and color.

This was the first presidential order regarding race since the Reconstruction Era.

Segregation and discrimination have become relics of the past in military communities, allowing any qualified man or woman of any race to serve in almost any occupation and rank.

The Department of Defense observes February as African-American History Month.

In 1942, the first waves of African-American recruits who wanted to join the Marine Corps were trained aboard Montford Point, N.C., now known as Camp Gilbert H. Johnson.

More than 20,000 African-American Marine recruits trained at Montford Point over the course of seven years from 1942 to 1949.  Many of them served in support units and saw combat in the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Camp Johnson was named in remembrance of the late Sgt. Maj. Gilbert “Hashmark” Johnson, a Montford Point drill instructor and one of the first African-Americans to join the Corps.

Johnson began his military career in 1923 by joining United States Army.  After his second enlistment, he got out of the Army to join the Navy for another nine years.  During the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Johnson served as a steward on the USS Wyoming.

Johnson was among the first African-American men to be trained as Marine Corps drill instructors.  He remained in the Marine Corps for 17 years.

His extensive careers in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps earned Johnson his nickname from all of the service stripes, or hashmarks, that he wore for his 32 years of combined service.

During 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued another executive order concerning discrimination in the armed forces.  This order, in turn, deactivated Montford Point as a segregated training facility.

African-American recruits then began training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depots Parris Island, N.C. and San Diego, Calif.

Today, the historical site is now home to the Marine Corps Combat Service Support School and the Staff Noncommissioned Officers Academy.

To bring awareness to the history behind the Montford Point Marines, the original Montford Point mess hall was transformed into the Montford Point Marines Museum in 2001.

This was a physical show of gratitude for the blood, sweat and tears that black recruits shed at the camp, said Louise Greggs, museum curator.

“It's just a delightful thing to talk to these guys,” said Greggs.  “But there were times when whether you were in uniform or not, African-Americans couldn't go into certain places.”

The museum now holds artifacts, documents, photographs and personal materials that gives its visitors a different point of view about the first African-Americans who earned the title of Marine.

Greggs reaches out to the community and attempts to find more local Montford Point Marines to build upon their history.

“The (Montford Point Marines) themselves give us a lot of information and accounts of what went on,” said Greggs.  “Ninety percent of (the museum) is from the men themselves.”

Initially, the Montford Point Marines weren't meant to serve in battle, and typically served as administration for support units.

Marines such as Johnson and his brother-in-law, Sgt. Maj. Edgar R. Huff, field sergeant major of recruit training at Montford Point, paved the way for the African-American Marines of today.

They proved any Montford Point Marine, regardless of ethnic background, could become faster, stronger and better through training and education as well as those from the recruiting depots in San Diego and Parris Island.

“The mindset (of the Marines) was that blacks and whites couldn't mix even though they wanted to fight for the same country,” said Greggs.  “This museum is for the Marine Corps history… American history, which just so happened to include a group of African-Americans.  Some of these men would have college educations, they would be nurses, have their own businesses… professional men.  But they gave it all up.  They just wanted to be Marines.”

Almost three decades later, Jerry Maeweather, who now works at the museum, joined the Marine Corps after training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in 1978.  Maeweather had no knowledge of Montford Point.

“They didn't teach us about Montford Point,” said Maeweather.  “(When I was in the Marine Corps) you could still tell there was some prejudice, but it has changed a lot since then.  I believe we should know our history because it plays a big part.  Someone else struggled so we could get here.”

African-American History Month, as well as all other DoD observances, calls for equal opportunity in every aspect of the military and civilian work force.

Equal employment opportunity manager Gwen Hopkins works closely with EEO specialists Geri Haga and Linda Carpenter to see that units aboard Camp Lejeune and New River are in support of the various observances.

Equal opportunity advisers plan their unit's celebratory events, which lead up to a much larger celebration slated for September's multicultural day.

“Equal Opportunity Advisers are important because we can provide instructions, assistance, and advice on all EO matters,” said Gunnery Sgt. Kevin James, Marine Corps Installations East's equal opportunity adviser.  “Equal opportunity is such a big topic because just as the commandant of the Marine Corps' diversity policy stated, 'Each individual brings a set of qualities that add to our overall effectiveness.  It is the combination of all these individual qualities that make our Marine Corps the strongest in the world.'”

James' sole job is to provide equal opportunity for Marines, sailors and civil workers.  He said he is also well aware of who made it possible for these rights to be available today.

“The Montford Point Marines paved the way for African-Americans to serve within the Marine Corps,” said James.

 

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