Corporal Joe Blain Morton was described by his family, friends and anyone who met him as a special person. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Morton’s service in the Montford Point Marines was honored in a Congressional Gold Medal service, with his children accepting the medal on behalf of their father, who passed away on Jan. 19, 1983.

“Just being there and seeing the other Marines there, there was a gentleman there who was (over 100) years old, which would put him at the age my father would be. So I could kind of look at him and see what my father would look like. I had tears that were just continuously flooding off my chin, it was like the floodgates opened,” said Judy Carelock, Morton’s eldest daughter.

The Montford Point Marines were the first Black unit to serve in the Marine Corps during World War II. Black Americans were enlisted into the Marines at the direction of a 1942 executive order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the aim being to have extra service members during the war followed by returning to an all-white Marine Corps afterwards. However, the Montford Point Marines’ performance during the war changed that expectation.

Morton was born in Salisbury, where he was raised along with his only sister.

Before World War II, Black men were legally allowed, though strongly discouraged, to serve in either the Army or Navy. Carelock said that when Morton came of age in 1941, he originally planned on joining the Army, but when he arrived at the recruiter’s office to enlist, a Marine recruiter called out, “Hey boy, do you want to be a Marine?” and convinced him to try to join the Marine Corps, said Carelock. Morton was not accepted his first time trying to enlist, but Carelock said he came back the next year and successfully enlisted.

After his enlistment, Morton trained at Montford Point, the basic training site for Black Marines that was located close to the all-white Camp LeJeune. The story of his service in World War II was compiled and turned into a biography for the family by Mallorie Berger, who has worked with the National Montford Point Marine Association since learning that her own grandfather was a Montford Point Marine.

“The Montford Point Marines did not talk about their service, and I know most men and women who served don’t talk about that. But for Montford Marines, it was another level of secrecy because of the difficulty of their experience. They were traumatized, some would say there was a level of abuse that they endured, so most of their families know the civilian lives, but they don’t know their military journey,” said Berger.

Morton was assigned to the Mighty 51st Defense Battalion, the first Black unit in the Marine Corps. The unit was eventually sent to Camp Elliot in San Diego for further training before being deployed to the Pacific Theatre. Morton was stationed at the Engebi Island in the Eniwetok Atoll.

“Once he was overseas, he was transferred to the heavy anti-aircraft group (as a) heavy anti-aircraft fire controlman. What he had to do was, he had to set up, operate and maintain guns used in heavy anti-air traffic control guns,” said Berger.

While serving overseas, Morton’s only sister died. Berger said that an article in the Salisbury Evening Post told the story of Morton coming home to attend the funeral of his sister, who died at 15. While home, Morton was supported by family, friends and four other service members from the area, only one of whom was also a Marine.

Morton would be stationed on Engebi Island for the entirety of the war, before he returned home in January of 1946. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in March of 1946.

Morton returned home to Salisbury, where he married the “love of his life” Patti Fisher, said Berger. The couple would have six children, Judy, Joe Jr., Juanita, Larry, Gary and Andre.

While in Salisbury, Morton worked with the Stein family at the Rowan Manufacturing Company, said Carelock, while Patti worked with the Wallace family at the Wallace Building, now known as the Plaza.

Eventually the family moved to New Jersey, and many of Morton’s children and other family members still live in the area.

Carelock said that, because she was the oldest sibling and there was a nine-year gap between her and the next child, Morton told her much more about his time in the Marines than her brothers and sisters.

“There are six of us, and I guess the more kids he continued to have, the less time he had to talk about it,” said Carelock.

Because of that difference, Carelock said that her sister was surprised when a family friend, whose father was a Montford Point Marine, spoke about learning of her own family’s history and mentioned that Morton’s service might have made him a Montford Point Marine.

“My sister called me to find out what years, and that’s when we found out he was a Montford Marine. I’m the elder, so there were so many things that my father had talked to me about, that they weren’t really aware of,” said Carelock.

The family was then connected with Berger, who helped them research Morton’s service and become eligible for the reception of the Gold Medal.

The Montford Point Marines were awarded the joint Congressional Gold Medal in 2012 at the direction of former President Barack Obama. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor awarded to individuals, groups or organizations that have made significant impacts on the United States society. Berger said that at the original ceremony for the awards, there were only 400 Marines who received duplicates.

She was inspired to begin research after learning that her own grandfather, Pvt. Maurice L. Burns Sr., was a Montford Pointer. She found photographs that he had kept of himself and his fellow Marines, and she said that she originally began by trying to track them down.

One of the main issues that she and others encountered was the fact that the Marine Corps leadership was forced to integrate, so the military did not keep particularly close records of the Black Marines.

During her work, she worked with Disney on a documentary that aired on the ABC Channel. Between that and her work with the National Montford Point Marines Association Philadelphia Chapter President Joe Geeter III, Berger said that she has been involved with the recognition of over 400 Marines.

Anyone who believes that they may have a connection with the Montford Point Marines or who wants to learn more about the association can contact Berger at mallorie1908@gmail.com or 305-323-1467.

Nowadays, the total of officially recognized Montford Point Marines stands at approximately 2,500.

However, the Wall of Stars at the former Montford Point Camp shows the work to be done. The wall contains no names of Marines, symbolizing the fact that no complete roster has ever been found. There are only 20,000 stars on the monument, one for every Montford Point Marine that was believed to have served in World War II.