outlast me. I would stand there and take the punishment as long as
he could give it. And I knew that nature would call him one way
the punishment, but nothing rough.
By the way, Montford Point was taken from a black family
because they needed a space. They named it after a former
commandant in 1942, otherwise it was New River. It became
Montford Point New River.
Corporal Pack: I got off the bus at Montford Point and I said,
good Lord, what did I get into?
I ran every day of the week and drilled. If you made a mistake
on drill, there was a water tank up the road and the Sergeant
would say “take off,” which meant you’d have to run up the hill
and run around there until he would tell you to come back. It
never happened to me.
Being left handed, I had to shoot right handed which was a little
complicated, but I managed.
After that, we came back to the base. We got liberty. I didn’t
go out on liberty, because growing up in Ohio, I knew about
segregation. I just stayed on the base rather than go out in town
and get somebody in trouble.
Where did you serve after your time at Montford Point?
Ambassador Britton: I went into Schools Company, learning
how to do clerical work. We went overseas on the third of July,
1944. It was a 33 day trip. We went through the Panama Canal
eight months. My work was in administration and keeping records
the military at that time was doing what they call the United
States Armed Forces Institute and they sent out multiple books on
all types of subjects. I was able to get a hold of those books and
to me. I was fortunate to live with three medical corpsman. That
22 | February 2020 | Real Hero Report
was a new experience for me. They started using big words like
acetylsalicylic acid, which is aspirin.
They had me and I was constantly learning from them.
Life for me overseas was an education. I followed the United
Nations because I began to read about something called the Anglo
American Caribbean Commission. I followed the formation of
that body.
By April 1945, we were transferred from Guadalcanal to
Hawaii. That is when we were at sea and found out that President
Roosevelt had died.
Corporal Pack: I was assigned to the 20th Depot Company. We
went to the Hawaiian Islands, including Maui. We then boarded
the USS Pierce and didn’t know where we were going. We went
to the Marshall Islands. Just before D-Day, we were on Saipan,
The function of our depot company was supplies, in and out.
I was lucky because I worked with electricians from New York,
but the other guys unloaded ships. My dad had taught me a lot
of things and so I was lucky that I didn’t have to go down and
unload ships.
Were you in combat or ever in danger?
Ambassador Britton: The only incident where we might have
been in danger is when a ship blew up on the island of Banica,
across. We had to jump under our tent houses to avoid that. I ran
into a fella later on who had been asleep in his bunk at the time
his ship blew up. He said that he was in the water for almost a
day and that he was in the hospital for about seven years. He lost
multiple limbs.
Corporal Pack: We were shot at couple of times. At night, they
were always coming in. That is why we had black outs at night
with no lights on. We’d say, “Here comes Washing Machine
Charlie.”
Continued from previous page
gunners.” Ca. February 1944. 26-G-321. (Photo courtesy of the National
Archives)
“First African
American
Marines
decorated by the
famed Second
Marine Division
somewhere in
to right) Staff
Sgt Timerlate
Kirven...and
Cpl. Samuel
J. Love, Sr...
They received
Purple Hearts for
wounds received
in the Battle
of Saipan...”
N.d. 208-NP-
10SSSS-1. (Photo
by the National
Archives)