| Marines in World War II Commemorative Series |
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THE RIGHT TO FIGHT: African-American Marines in World War II by Bernard C. Nalty Sources Three books contain narratives of varying lengths that recount the history of African-American Marines in World War II. Perry E. Fischer, a veteran of the 8th Marine Ammunition Company, and Brooks E. Gray, who was a member of the 51st Defense Battalion, have written Blacks and Whites Together Through Hell: U. S. Marines in World War II (Turlock, California: Millsmont Publishing, 1993). In his Defense Studies: Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 (Washington: Center of Military History, 1981), Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., devotes part of one chapter to the black Marines of World War II. The most detailed account of the Montford Point Marines may be found in Henry I. Shaw, Jr., and Ralph W. Donnelly's Blacks in the Marine Corps (Washington: History and Museums Division, Headquarters U. S. Marine Corps, 1975, reprinted 1988). Many of the directives, memoranda, and reports dealing with the topic of African-Americans in the Marine Corps during World War II appear in Volume 6 of Blacks in the United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents (Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 1977), edited by Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., and Bernard C. Nalty. 
The Marine Corps Oral History Collection includes a number of interviews that deal with the recruitment, training, and employment of African-American Marines during World War II, grouped together under the title "Black Marines." The Marine Corps Personal Papers collection includes accounts of wartime service by black veterans. Henry I. Shaw, Jr., co-author of Blacks in the Marine Corps, commented on this manuscript, as did Joseph H. Carpenter, who is National Historian of the Montford Point Marine Association.
Bernard C. Nalty, a civilian member of the Marine Corps history program from October 1956 to September 1961, collaborated with Henry I. Shaw, Jr. and Edwin T. Turnbladh on Central Pacific Drive, volume three of History of Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Together with Morris J. MacGregor, he edited the 13-volume series Blacks in the United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents and its one-volume abridgement, Blacks in the Military: Essential Documents. His other works include Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military.
THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in the World War II era, is published for the education and training of Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., as a part of the U.S. Department of Defense observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war. Editorial costs of preparing this pamphlet have been defrayed in part by a grant from the Marine Corps Historical Foundation.
DIRECTOR OF MARINE CORPS HISTORY AND MUSEUMS GENERAL EDITOR, CARTOGRAPHIC CONSULTANT EDITING AND DESIGN SECTION, HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION Marine Corps Historical Center 1995 PCN 190 003132 00
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