Cameron Art Museum screens short film on Montford Point Marines

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The Cameron Art Museum partnered with Fox Wilmington to screen the short film Our America: Mission Montford Point on Thursday night.

The Disney-produced film chronicles the story of the first African Americans to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune. The new recruits trained at Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville from August 1942 until September 1949.

After the screening, a cross-generational panel discussion was held, which featured an original Montford Point Marine, Vietnam and Gulf War veterans.

“They paved the way for us. And today at boot camp, the history of the demand for Marines is taught to new trainees and new and dark things. And it’s great to see them getting more and more recognition of their own total history in store,” Abdul Shereef, a veteran, said.

The featured panelists included:

• F.M. Hooper - Montford Point Marine
• Sergeant Curtis Carlton – Gulf War
• Staff Sergeant Larry Farrior – Lebanon/Beirut
• Corporal Hubert Reaves – Vietnam
• Sergeant Cary Godwin - Vietnam
• Lt. Col Dianne Jinwright - United States Air Force (Ret.)

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