Posted:
July 6, 2017
By Joseph Gelhaus
Chief Engineer, USNS Montford Point
On June 29, 2017, the crew of the USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1) presented their depiction of the ship for which the Montford Point Marines are the namesake to the American Memorial Park Museum, National Park Service, on Saipan to honor the memory of those first Montford Point Marines who were killed in action in the Battle of Saipan on June 15, 1944, becoming the first African American Marines to die in service to their country.
The USNS Montford Point was named to honor all 20,000 Montford Point Marines who trained at Montford Point Camp, a segregated facility adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C. established in 1942. The Montford Point Marines endured harsh conditions and were not allowed on Camp Lejeune Base without being accompanied by a white officer. For the first two years (1942-1943), they were placed under a trial period by the Marine Corps in security duties on Hawaii and other conquered areas, such as the island of Tarawa, after the regular U.S. Marine infantry regiments departed. The Marine Corps scheduled them for full combat participation for the June 15, 1944 invasion of Saipan as part of the 7th Field Depot. They were in three Marine Depot Companies - the 18th, 19th and 20th - where they manhandled cargo, including ammunition, from the supply ships onto landing craft and then distributed it to the combat units ashore, as well as the 3rd Marine Ammunition Company.
Three of the four companies landed on Saipan in the fourth wave ashore, which was around 1400 on June 15, 1944. The 18th Marine Depot Company came ashore with the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division on Yellow 1 Beach and immediately began unloading vital supplies in waist deep water to support the 23rd Marine Regiment ashore. They set up security duties, repulsed numerous Japanese infiltrators and kept snipers at bay while loading wounded back onto landing craft bound for hospital ships. The 19th Marine Depot Company was held in reserve while the 20th Marine Depot Company came ashore supporting the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division, which was under heavy fire on the Yellow 2 Beaches all morning long from entrenched Japanese positions and enemy weapons from Agingan Point, shooting north straight down the beach into the right flank of the 25th Marines, resulting in hundreds of casualties. It was here that 20th Marine Depot Company Montford Point Marine, PFC Kenneth J. Tibbs, from Columbus, Ohio, suffered fatal gunshot wounds at approximately 1500 on Yellow 2 Beach and died that day, making him the first Montford Point Marine to die in combat for his country. Around the same time, PFC Leroy Seals of the 3rd Marine Ammunition Company, supporting the 8th Marines of the 2nd Marine Division, was also hit by gunfire and died of his wounds the next day. Pvt. George G. Sheppard was also killed in the brutal first days of fighting on the beaches of Saipan.
The after action reports from Saipan on the accomplishments of the 7th Field Depot combat support companies impressed the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. Alexander Vandergrift. He declared the trial period for the Montford Point Marines was over. "They are Marines, period!"
Time Magazine Pacific War Correspondent Robert Sherrod wrote the Montford Point Marines, under fire for the first time, "have rated a universal 4.0 on Saipan - earning the Navy's highest possible rating."
In 2012, the surviving Montford Point Marines were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by the 112th Congress.
The presentation of the depiction of the USNS Montford Point to the American Memorial Park Museum on June 29 was covered by Saipan media.
"Every crew member who was part of the delivery crew of Montford Point got a copy of this drawing. We just want to make sure that the museum will have it, too," said USNS Montford Point Captain Kurt Kleinschmidt in a report published by Marianas Variety.
In return, a relief print was made of the names of the Montford Point Marines inscribed on the memorial monument. "We will have it framed and sent back to North Carolina so that they can display it at the Montford Point Museum," Kleinschmidt said.
The Montford Point Marines saw combat action for the first time and suffered their first casualties on Saipan, said Kleinschmidt, who during the presentation at the museum and in an interview afterward, also discussed the other operational roles of Montford Point companies during the war, the segregated conditions in which they trained and served, and the steps taken to honor their service to our nation and their success in bringing social change to the Marine Corps.
Michael O'Kelley, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457, said the Montford Point Marines on Saipan helped defeat a Japanese counterattack, and in the process, silenced an enemy machine gun, Marianas Variety reported.
The USNS Montford Point is part of Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Force and is assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three in the Western Pacific. The ship is operated for MSC by Ocean Ships, Inc. and is manned in all licensed positions by members of American Maritime Officers.
Crew of USNS Montford Point honors Montford Point Marines with presentation to American Memorial Park Museum on Saipan
By Joseph Gelhaus
Chief Engineer, USNS Montford Point
On June 29, 2017, the crew of the USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1) presented their depiction of the ship for which the Montford Point Marines are the namesake to the American Memorial Park Museum, National Park Service, on Saipan to honor the memory of those first Montford Point Marines who were killed in action in the Battle of Saipan on June 15, 1944, becoming the first African American Marines to die in service to their country.
The USNS Montford Point was named to honor all 20,000 Montford Point Marines who trained at Montford Point Camp, a segregated facility adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C. established in 1942. The Montford Point Marines endured harsh conditions and were not allowed on Camp Lejeune Base without being accompanied by a white officer. For the first two years (1942-1943), they were placed under a trial period by the Marine Corps in security duties on Hawaii and other conquered areas, such as the island of Tarawa, after the regular U.S. Marine infantry regiments departed. The Marine Corps scheduled them for full combat participation for the June 15, 1944 invasion of Saipan as part of the 7th Field Depot. They were in three Marine Depot Companies - the 18th, 19th and 20th - where they manhandled cargo, including ammunition, from the supply ships onto landing craft and then distributed it to the combat units ashore, as well as the 3rd Marine Ammunition Company.
Three of the four companies landed on Saipan in the fourth wave ashore, which was around 1400 on June 15, 1944. The 18th Marine Depot Company came ashore with the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division on Yellow 1 Beach and immediately began unloading vital supplies in waist deep water to support the 23rd Marine Regiment ashore. They set up security duties, repulsed numerous Japanese infiltrators and kept snipers at bay while loading wounded back onto landing craft bound for hospital ships. The 19th Marine Depot Company was held in reserve while the 20th Marine Depot Company came ashore supporting the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division, which was under heavy fire on the Yellow 2 Beaches all morning long from entrenched Japanese positions and enemy weapons from Agingan Point, shooting north straight down the beach into the right flank of the 25th Marines, resulting in hundreds of casualties. It was here that 20th Marine Depot Company Montford Point Marine, PFC Kenneth J. Tibbs, from Columbus, Ohio, suffered fatal gunshot wounds at approximately 1500 on Yellow 2 Beach and died that day, making him the first Montford Point Marine to die in combat for his country. Around the same time, PFC Leroy Seals of the 3rd Marine Ammunition Company, supporting the 8th Marines of the 2nd Marine Division, was also hit by gunfire and died of his wounds the next day. Pvt. George G. Sheppard was also killed in the brutal first days of fighting on the beaches of Saipan.
The after action reports from Saipan on the accomplishments of the 7th Field Depot combat support companies impressed the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. Alexander Vandergrift. He declared the trial period for the Montford Point Marines was over. "They are Marines, period!"
Time Magazine Pacific War Correspondent Robert Sherrod wrote the Montford Point Marines, under fire for the first time, "have rated a universal 4.0 on Saipan - earning the Navy's highest possible rating."
In 2012, the surviving Montford Point Marines were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by the 112th Congress.
The presentation of the depiction of the USNS Montford Point to the American Memorial Park Museum on June 29 was covered by Saipan media.
"Every crew member who was part of the delivery crew of Montford Point got a copy of this drawing. We just want to make sure that the museum will have it, too," said USNS Montford Point Captain Kurt Kleinschmidt in a report published by Marianas Variety.
In return, a relief print was made of the names of the Montford Point Marines inscribed on the memorial monument. "We will have it framed and sent back to North Carolina so that they can display it at the Montford Point Museum," Kleinschmidt said.
The Montford Point Marines saw combat action for the first time and suffered their first casualties on Saipan, said Kleinschmidt, who during the presentation at the museum and in an interview afterward, also discussed the other operational roles of Montford Point companies during the war, the segregated conditions in which they trained and served, and the steps taken to honor their service to our nation and their success in bringing social change to the Marine Corps.
Michael O'Kelley, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457, said the Montford Point Marines on Saipan helped defeat a Japanese counterattack, and in the process, silenced an enemy machine gun, Marianas Variety reported.
The USNS Montford Point is part of Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Force and is assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three in the Western Pacific. The ship is operated for MSC by Ocean Ships, Inc. and is manned in all licensed positions by members of American Maritime Officers.
American Maritime Officers members Captain Kurt Kleinschmidt and Chief Engineer Joseph Gelhaus present a depiction of the USNS Montford Point to the American Memorial Park Museum on Saipan, here with Saipan VFW Post 3457 Commander Mike O'Kelley and National Park Service Superintendent for American Memorial Park, Saipan, Paul Scolari. Photos by First Assistant Engineer Mike Long
USNS Montford Point Captain Kurt Kleinschmidt and Chief Engineer Joseph Gelhaus make a relief print of the names of the Montford Point Marines killed in action on Saipan.
The USNS Montford Point sits at anchor in June off the beaches of the landing of the Battle of Saipan in 1944.