Borough native receives Congressional Gold Medal
“I’ve never seen 400 men cry together in happiness,” said Pughsley Lane, an Ambler native and member of the Montford Point Marines, who were recently honored by CongUHss IRU WKHLU sDFULfiFHs PDGH GuULng World War II.
The Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor given to a civilian, for their courage and service to their country at receptions at the Capitol and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which Lane said was “70 years” overdue.
Like the Tuskegee Airmen and the Buffalo Soldiers before them, the Montford Point Marines were an African-American regiment that dealt with overt racism and segregation and persevered despite a constant air of doubt over their abilities as soldiers.
Until 1942, the branches of the armed forces did not allow black men to serve. This quickly changed, however, after President Franklin Roosevelt agreed to require all forces to fully integrate, albeit in segregated units.
While white Marines were sent
to Paris Island or San Diego, Calif., for their basic training, between 1942 and 1949, 20,000 black men passed through the segregated Marine training camp located at Camp Lejeune, Montford Point, N.C., for theirs. Conditions at the camp were less than satisfactory, as recruits were given dilapidated, prefabricated, Depression-era huts used by the Civilian Conservation Corps to serve as barracks.
Lane recalled this as one of the toughest, most brutal experiences he’s had in his entire life. A graduate of Ambler High School in 1943, Lane shipped off to basic training that same year with his brother, Raymond. The two men even made an edition of the Ambler-Whitemarsh salley News, a publication that later merged with The Ambler Gazette.
For a lot of the men, it was the firVW WLPH WhHy wHrH DwDy IrRP home, Lane said, and “tears came GRwn WhH firVW FRuSOH RI nLJhWV.” A bond quickly formed among the men, so tight he said they wHrH “OLNH IDPLOy.”
Lane moved through the ranks and ended his time with the Marines with the rank of sergeant.
They soon proved to any naysayers that they were just as capable as their white counterparts and ultimately helped change the military’s philosophy to allow anyone to serve, regardless of race, creed, religion or national origin serve.
Afterwards, the Montford Point Marines, as they were soon referred to as, were shipped off to fiJhW VRPH RI WhH bORRGLHVW bDWWOHV RI WhH 3DFLfiF ThHDWHr, VuFh as Saipan, Guam Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo gima and Okinawa.
“If I had to do it again, I wRuOG,” LDnH VDLG, whR wLOO bH 90 years old in November. He added he felt his experience made D “PDn RuW RI D bRy,” bHFDuVH DW the time, the Marines were drafting men up to 62 years old and basic training taught men respect. He said the drill instructor would hit a recruit with the butt of his gun in the forehead if he felt so inclined.
At the Washington ceremonies this past gune, 400 surviving members of the Montford Point Marines reunited along with spouses and family members of those who had died. Lane said they were all so old, they didn’t recognize each other, but it didn’t matter because they soon began talking and teasing one another and it was a great experience to reunite after so many years.
Many members of Congress spoke and congratulated these men for their service and for their barrier-breaking achievements, while President Obama wrote a letter written to the Montford Points Marines thanking them for their service.
Lane said at one point, one man was in need of an oxygen tank that had been left at a hotel, and without hesitation, the Marines traveled 20 miles to get it for him.
He said the ceremony that took place at the Pentagon was outside and very hot, but they were constantly supplied with water and any other additional materials required. The experience, he said, moved so smoothly, it was “OLNH FORFNwRrN,” DnG “VR bHDuWLIuO” WhH wDy WhH 0DrLnHV WRRN care of them.