Finally honored
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 11, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/ALAN CAMPBELL
Cassie Taylor hugs retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Johnny B. Young on Saturday as U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Thomas H.P. Carroll looks on during the Montford Point Marines Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the HGDC Community Crisis Center. Taylor accepted the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her late husband, retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Oscar Harris.
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News-Argus/ALAN CAMPBELL
The bronze replica of the Montford Point Marines Congressional Gold Medal awarded to retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Oscar Harris on Saturday at the HGDC Community Crisis Center
Marine Sgt. Oscar Harris was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Saturday for his service with the Montford Point Marines during World War II.
The medal is the highest award that can be given to a civilian.
The Montford Point Marines, so called for their segregated training site at Montford Point near Jacksonville, were the first black men to serve in the Marine Corps.
Numbering nearly 20,000, the men were not formally recognized as Marines even while they served and died in some of the bloodiest conflicts of the Pacific theatre. Only in 1949, when President Harry Truman signed executive order 9981 which desegregated the American military, were the men even legally considered Marines.
It was not until 2012, when Congress authorized the Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded to every member of the Montford Point Marines, that the men were honored for their service. Like the vast majority of the men being recognized, Harris was not in attendance, having passed away in 1984. All together, around 430 Marines and family members actually received the awards seven decades after their service.
Instead, Harris' wife, Cassie Taylor, accepted the award for him four years later. The delay stemmed in part from the fact that Mrs. Taylor never even knew the story of the Montford Marines despite being married to one. She only learned of it after visiting the home of Thomas Carroll, of the Montford Point Marine Association, who informed her of the gravity of what her husband had been a part of.
Mrs. Taylor said that Harris was "a very humble man," which was a large part of why she'd never known of his accomplishments.
"Oscar was a very loving man, and a good husband," she said with a smile. "I don't know why the other lady let him go, but I was glad."
John Young, president of the Camp Lejeune Montford Point Marine Association, said that the impact of men like Harris cannot be overstated.
"These men just wanted the right to fight for a country that didn't want to fight for them." he said. "They changed the course of our nation, and they changed the world."¬