In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, established a presidential directive, Executive Order 8802, allowing African Americans an opportunity to be recruited into the United States Marine Corps. These African American recruits were not sent to the traditional boot camps located at Marine Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina and San Diego, California; instead, these African American recruits were segregated - experiencing basic training at Montford Point Camp, New River, North Carolina. Approximately twenty thousand (20,000) African American men received basic training at Montford Point Camp from August 26, 1942 to October 19, 1949.

Twenty years after World War II, in the summer of 1965, an enterprising group of Marine veterans residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including Montford Point Marines: Master Sergeant Brooks E. Gray and the late Civil Rights Leader, Attorney Cecil B. Moore, who at that time was the President of the largest Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and later became a Philadelphia City Councilman, developed and planned a national reunion for the ‘Men of Montford Point’. The overwhelming response led to the establishment of the Montford Point Marine Association, Inc. (MPMA) which was chartered in Philadelphia, sixteen (16) years after the closure of Montford Point Camp.

The National Montford Point Marine Association, Inc. is a nonprofit Veteran 501(c) (3) organization, established to perpetuate the legacy of the first African Americans who entered the United States Marine Corps. from 1942 to 1949 at Montford Point Camp, New River, North Carolina. The purpose of the Association is to support educational assistance, veterans programs, and community service. The Association works to improve the social conditions of our veterans, local families, youth and the growing population of senior citizen’s.

Today, the National Montford Point Marine Association, Inc., proudly boasts thirty-six (36) active Chapters throughout the United States, and a large number of Members-at-Large nationwide. Throughout the year, the Association is busy with activities that create camaraderie, goodwill, and esprit de corps, both locally and nationally. We support all Veterans in a time of need.