 It is not a by accident that my wife Bonnie and I are here tonight. We have been looking forward to this since we were invited to this months and months and months ago. It's part of a strategic effort to write some things that need to be righted in our core, and I'll talk a little bit about that later on in my remarks. I'm traveling with my wife of 41 years, Bonnie. She's been through every deployment. She's been through every deployment, every move. We just recently moved into the home of the Commandants about six weeks ago. I took the job in October, but the old girl needed a little bit of reconstruction, and then the house needed some work too. I'm not doing very well here, am I? No, the home of the Commandants needed about eight months of hard work on the structure of the house. We just moved in about six weeks ago, and I think that's our... How many moves is that? 29th move in 41 years of being a Marine. I thought it was actually pretty easy. I would go to work in the Pentagon, and I'd come home at night, and I'd walk in the house, and the furniture was in there, the clothes were in there, and I'd look at Bonnie, and I'd say, see this isn't that bad, is it? You can imagine what I ate for dinner that night. But we're here to recognize and honor the, I guess, celebrate the 46th anniversary of the Modfer Point Marine Association, and I'm thrilled to be a part of this whole event tonight. First of all, for the Atlanta chapter, you hit it completely out of the ballpark. You have, thank you. I typically do not kind of read my remarks. I spend a fair amount of time, in fact, I spend a lot of time on what I'm thinking about, what I wanted to say tonight, and I don't want to miss the mark here tonight. So I'm going to do something I typically don't, and I'm going to refer to my notes as I go through my remarks, because I don't want to miss, I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to tell you what's on my heart, and tell you where the Marine Corps is headed, and talk about our gratitude of our rich legacy of the Modfer Point Marines. This year also marks the 69th anniversary of the first African-Americans who entered our corps at Modfer Point, North Carolina. While some of these men chose to be pioneers, mind-listing, others joined to simply serve their country. Collectively, they established a tradition of sacrifice and duty that continues today in the thousands of Black Marine officers and enlisted men and women who wear the eagle, globe, and anchor. Today, our corps is more diverse than it ever has been in any time of our history. At stations and bases here in the United States and overseas, at sea on board amphibious ships and in combat zones such as the helmet province of Afghanistan, African-American Marines serve with distinction and with honor. I want to thank the many honored guests, elected officials, general officers, and Marines who made their way to Atlanta for the annual convention and this evening's festivities. Every year the Modfer Point Marine Association does their fabulous job, and tonight is no exception. I'm very grateful for Jim for your leadership as a president. It's unusual, it's my understanding that it's Jim's. It's the association's first time to ever actually have an active duty Marine as your president. Thank you to the countless. Thank you to the great effort by the rest of the board. None of this would have been possible without the faithfulness and fidelity of the board members, the local here in Atlanta, as well as the board members from all across this country. I met Marines from all across this nation tonight in your various chapters. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause one more time for all who have put on this wonderful evening of celebration and remembrance. Thank you. A little over two weeks ago we honored the pioneering black generals, admirals, and senior executives, officials of the Department of the Navy at the Pentagon. It was a wonderful tribute to African-American leadership. Many of you in the audience tonight were there that morning. Afterwards, we ceremonially cut the ribbon on a marvelous display that now permanently resides on the fourth deck of the Pentagon's A-ring. As I sat on the stage that day, I looked out into the audience and reflected on the past seven decades. I thought of where we'd been and I thought of where we're headed. I was reminded of the many successes of our Marine Corps senior leaders assembled on that warm morning, all of whom I count as close friends. Names such as Major General Charlie Bolden, now the director of NASA, and a former space shuttle commander. Major General Cliff Stanley, currently serving as an undersecretary defense in the Pentagon. Then there was Lieutenant General Frank Peterson sitting on the front row, the first black Marine aviator, and the first black general officer in our Corps. Talk about a pioneer. Major General Gary Cooper, former assistant secretary of the Air Force, an ambassador to Jamaica, and the first African-American to command an infantry unit in combat. Lieutenant General Walt Gaskin, the deputy chairman to NATO's military committee, former commander of all Marine forces in Iraq, and the first black officer to command a Marine division and the first black officer to command the follow-me division and the second Marine division. Lieutenant General Willie Williams, the chief of the Marine Corps staff, a good friend and one of the finest officers I know. And lastly, Major General Ron Bailey, the current commanding general of the Blue Diamond, the mighty first Marine division. These men, all of them general officers, will measure of their many successes to the legacy of those Marines who began it all at Monford Point. During the tribute ceremony that I referred to earlier, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus described the Navy's Golden Thirteen, the first African-Americans to attend naval recruit officers training. They made me think about the Marine Corps' own trailblazers, officers like Frederick C. Branch, the first black officer in our Corps, who prior to completing OCS have been a graduate of Monford Point. Similar to the Navy's Golden Thirteen, the Marine Corps had special men about whom many of you may not know, but whose legacy is as equally important to the rich history of African-Americans in service to country and to its core of Marines. During the Revolutionary War, there were 13 black men who served in the Continental Marines. While we can find the names of only a few, one of them, Isaac Walker, was recruited by none other than our first Marine recruiter, Captain Robert Mullen. Captain Mullen was one of the founding officers of the Continental Marines. His family ran Ton Tavern, the famous public house and restaurant in Colonial Philadelphia, recognized by all Marines today as the birthplace of our Corps. Turned the clock forward with me to 1941. It's then that President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802. Establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission, thus opening all services to African-Americans. Similar to Isaac Walker during the Revolutionary War, a whole new crop of daring men stepped forth in the modern area, leaving their families and their communities across America to join in World War II's struggle. Men came from the North and from the South. From all walks of life, they came for different reasons. Some wanted the challenge of simply being a Marine. Some wanted to earn a living, but all came to protect and serve their country honorably. Men like Hashmark Johnson, John Pridgen, and George Jackson had prior service in the military. They simply wanted to be a Marine. Others like Charles Anderson and Charles Simmons were college graduates. Some of them had never experienced segregation before. They didn't believe what they'd heard until they experienced it at places like Union Station in Washington, D.C. or the bus station on the way to Jacksonville, North Carolina. Others discovered that some levels of discrimination went away when they wore the Marine uniform and when white Marines stood by their side to get them a seat on a bus or a meal at a restaurant. But all of them had one thing in common about their entry and training into the Marine Corps. They all went through Montford Point, and it was the beginning and it was hard. On a rugged and heavily forested five-and-a-half acre site, the underwent training at a camp made of wooden huts. They braved a variety of threats, everything from the swagger sticks of drill instructors to the snakes, the bears, and the mosquitoes in that uninhabited, God-forsaken portion off the New River. Like white recruits who were training at Parris Island in San Diego, many of the first black recruits who came to Montford Point arrived with skills they'd learned in the trades. Some had college. They were looked upon to build the camps and be trained as drill instructors for follow-on groups and classes. They were challenged harder than their white counterparts who joined the Corps in the 40s. They became the first legends of Montford Point. Their names included Eger Huff, Hashmark Johnson, and Tony Goslow. For years, excuse me, for seven years from 1942 to 1949, 20,000 young black men departed Montford Point as United States Marines. Their story and struggle for equality and acceptance in the Corps did not end when they left Montford Point. It really had just begun. They weren't allowed to become infantrymen or serve in other mainstream military occupational specialties. Rather, most were assigned to the segregated 51st and 52nd defense battalions or reported for duty in steward units to serve meals to white officers. The two defense battalions were largely gun batteries in anti-aircraft artillery outfits. Although skilled in their gunnery and well-led, these two defense battalions largely saw no action in the Marshall Islands and in Guam where they deployed to the Pacific. Decisions that greatly disappointed the Marines who were viewed with the same warrior ethos as their white counterparts. It's ironic, but the Marines from Montford Point who saw the most action in World War II were those that were assigned to segregation, ammunition, and depot companies, many of whom I met this evening. Units whose jobs were to spread supplies to the front lines engaged in combat with the Japanese during the island-hopping campaign. To resupply the front lines, these men often had to fight their way all the way to the front. And then to carry back wounded, wounded white Marines to the rear for medical care. The Marines of Montford Point demonstrated their mettle during vicious and bloody fighting in places like Saipan and on Okinawa. Their courage under fire and fidelity to their fellow Marines, regardless of skin color, began to erode the cruel and false generational stereotypes within the Corps that blacks could not and would not fight in the face of danger. And in 1944, General Alexander Vandegriffe, then Commandant, Medal of Honor recipient and hero of Guadalcanal, who had observed the courage of black Marines in hand-to-hand combat on the island of Saipan, made this famous statement. The experiment with Negro Marines is over. They are Marines, period. You should know that General Vandegriffe's oil portrait as a commandant resides on the bottom floor of the home of the commandants in a very special place, and he was put there for that reason alone. The close of World War II and the dawning of integration within the services during the 50s saw African-American Marines serving alongside and in many cases in charge of white Marines. Their courage now unquestioned. They were being awarded Silver Stars, Bronze Stars, and Navy Crosses for Combat Valor in Korea and at Pusan and elsewhere. In Vietnam, there was no shortage of heroic acts. In fact, five medals of honor were awarded to African-American Marines, all of them for selfless acts to save others' lives, not just black lives or white lives, but marine lives. The stories of the Marines from Montford Point are clearly some of the richest history of our Corps. A legacy handed down through generations that has been woven into the fabric and the very soul of our Corps. A legacy that has earned its rightful place in our story 236-year history. To that end, I want to mention a couple of the initiatives that we have started at Headquarters Marine Corps. First, I'm reviewing the books on the story and struggle of Montford Point Marines, ones like The Marines of Montford Point by Melton McLaurin, that sits on my nightstand. By next month's anniversary of Montford Point, I will add the very best of these books to the combatants' reading list. These books will be a must-read for all Marines of all backgrounds. Also on August 26 at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., the 69th anniversary of the first recruits arriving at Montford Point, we are rolling out the red carpet for those who trained and became Marines on that hallowed ground. We have a weekend of recognition and grand events planned, capstoneed by the legendary evening parade at 8th and I, where these iconic men will be all our official guests of honor. These Montford pointers and the ones who have passed are equally as important to the history of the Marine Corps as the Tuskegee Airmen are to the Air Force and the Buffalo Soldiers are to the United States Army. As such, we are working aggressively with the legislators on Capitol Hill to confer the Congressional Gold Medal this year on the Montford Point Marines for their service to the United States from World War II to the Vietnam era, forever anchoring their role in the history of our nation's great military. Representative Corinne Brown of Florida has recently introduced a bill in the House and Senator Kay Hagan from North Carolina intends to introduce a companion bill in the Senate this coming week. While they are providing staunch support to this award, I need your help to urge all legislators in Washington to move quickly in making this Congressional Gold Medal a reality. It's long overdue and we need to quit admiring this oversight and make this happen. Ladies and gentlemen, I need your help with this. Additionally, this is important. We are going to anchor the rich history of Montford Point at our entry-level training facilities all through our resident and non-resident schools. Every Marine from private to general will know the history of those men who crossed the threshold to fight not only the enemy they were soon to know overseas, but to the enemy of racism and segregation in their own country. Finally, we are creating a video that will document the story of the Marines at Montford Point. This will be a lasting tribute to remember the almost 20,000 Marines who went through Montford Point. The Marine Corps is better today because of the legacy of service of our African-American Marines. From those who served in the Revolutionary War to the Marines of Montford Point to those forward deployed and engaged in combat right now in the toughest part of Southern Afghanistan. We honor the men of Montford Point who won acclaim on the islands of the Pacific and those who fought so valiantly in Korea and in the jungles of Vietnam. My promise to you this evening is that your story will not be forgotten. It will take its rightful place and will be forever anchored in the rich history of the United States Marine Corps. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your kindness. God bless you, God bless the United States Marine Corps and Semper Fidelis.