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World War II Honoree

World War II Veteran

John Franklin Gray

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Mobile, Alabama

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

Branch Seal
Activity During WWII

He was one of the first African-Americans accepted into the U.S. Marine Corps. He went through a separate Marine Corps boot camp for black recruits at Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in the spring of 1943. African-Americans who went through boot camp in the Marines between 1942 and 1949 were known as the 'Montford Point Marines'. He served with a segregated unit for 19 months in the Pacific Theater of Operations.