George T. Brown to receive posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor

When Hempstead educator and school board trustee Olga Brown-Young saw a program about the Montford Point Marines on television late last January, she realized that her father, George T. Brown, had been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor by former President Barack Obama 12 years before, in 2011.

Like most of the 20,000 Black men who underwent training as Marines at Montford Point, North Carolina, during the years 1942-1949, Brown, who was Long Island’s first Black high school dean, had no idea that the medal had been conferred, not only on him, but on every one of his fellow warriors.

The Montford Point Marines not only fought honorably for their country. They also fought the obstinate racism that inhabited the U.S. military. Though former President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed Executive Order 8802 in 1942, which opened the opportunity for Black soldiers to become Marines, Black men were barred from training at Parris Island in South Carolina by the bitterly prejudiced governor of that state.

The determined men were sent to a dilapidated location infested with bears and snakes. They had to build their own housing and, initially, train under biased White drill sergeants. But they overcame all the difficulties.

And now, Marine veteran Kelly Atkinson, the vice president of the Northern Region of the Montford Point Marines Veterans Association, intends to make sure that every one of those men, or their families, will receive the replica of the medal to which they are entitled.

“We’ve given out three thousand medals,” Atkinson said, “so we’re looking for 17 thousand Montford Point Marines or their families so they can be awarded.”

Atkinson became a Marine in 1981. He trained at Parris Island. During his years of training and active service, he never heard of Montford Point.

“In 1974, Montford Point Camp was renamed Camp Johnson,” Atkinson said, “in honor of Gilbert ‘Hashmark’ Johnson, one of the first Black drill instructors at Montford Point. His nickname was ‘Hashmark’ because he had more service stripes than rank stripes. Prior to the Marine Corps, he had served six years in the Army, nine years in the Navy, and then completed 17 years in the Marine Corps.”

Atkinson said that the Marines did not start publicly teaching recruits about Montford Point until 2011. Atkinson himself first heard of it after around 1993, after he joined the reserves. In 1994, he attended the Montford Point Marines Association Birthday Ball at Antun’s in Jamaica.

“It was the first time I went to a Marine Corps ball where I was not in the minority,” said Atkinson. He joined the New York chapter of the national association, and in 2020, co-founded the New Jersey chapter.

Through the decades, he spoke about Montford Point for schools and organizations. At the Town of Hempstead Black History Month celebration on Feb. 24, 2023, hosted by Deputy Supervisor Dorothy Goosby, he was a guest speaker.

Brown-Young attended the program. She heard Atkinson speak. She had already tried to contact the relevant officials in Washington, D.C., to pursue her father’s medal, but without result.

“Olga Brown approached me and said her father was a Montford Point Marine,” said Atkinson. “We took it from there.”

“He told me what I needed to do, what paperwork I needed,” said Brown-Young.

Not only will the ceremony at Hempstead High on Nov. 9 put the medal into the hands of Brown-Young, her brother Glenn, and her sister Bimini, but the family will see a portion of Hempstead High School posthumously dedicated in the name of George T. Brown on Nov. 14, honoring his years as a beloved dean there, 1970-1990.

“He was tough, but he was fair,” said Brown-Young, “and he always believed that no matter how hard it is, no matter how tough the road, if you stay focused, you can be successful.”

Brown-Young herself had a career as a journalist for CNN prior to becoming a Hempstead educator. She occupied her father’s office during her own stint as a Hempstead High School dean.

Her father died in 2017. But the incredible work of overcoming that began at Montford Point informed the success of his own life, and the lives of others.

“Those men were sent to Montford Point to fail,” said Atkinson. “But today I stand on their shoulders because they did not fail.”

“Failure was not an option to my father,” said Brown-Young.

Atkinson commented that making public the reality of the nation’s first Black Marines might make some people uncomfortable. But he views the revelations as a healthy process.

“When you bring out the history,” Atkinson said, “you allow the nation to heal and move forward.”

Anyone wishing to contact the National Montford Point Marine Association can email president@montfordpointmarines.org.