Leon D. Bryant

Leon Bryant was born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina in April of 1925. His African-American family subsequently moved to Montclair, New Jersey. On December 7, 1941, Bryant was a high school student listening to the radio broadcast of the Giants vs. Redskins football game when the news broke about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had only recently graduated from high school when he was drafted in 1943. Bryant reported to the Montclair Draft board, where he was examined and questioned to determine which branch of service he would be assigned to. During the process, a Marine recruiter approached him and said: “You’re going with me. You’re what we’re looking for in the Marine Corps.”

A childhood best friend of Bryant’s, Archie, who Bryant said was like a brother to him, had elected to serve in the Marine Corps, which was exciting for both, as they thought they might serve together. This was not possible, however, as Archie was white, and the American military was segregated. While some African Americans had served in the Marine Corps during the American Revolution, when the service was reconstituted in 1798, enlisting anyone but white men was forbidden.

Major General Thomas Holcomb, the Marine Corps commander at the outset of World War II, resisted suggestions to accept black recruits, but when directly ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, he recruited a Marine “seacoast defense battalion” composed of African Americans and including Bryant, who never saw color as something that divided him and Archie, until they joined the military and were segregated. Even though they were separated, they remained friends after the war. Archie was Bryant’s best man at his wedding.

Bryant recalled that white Marine recruits were sent to Parris Island and black recruits to Montford Point for basic training. He noted that blacks knew very well what segregation was, but New York and New Jersey boys did not expect it in the service. During training, segregation was most visible when it came to housing, as blacks were quartered in tents and whites were staying in Quonset huts. Bryant saw no black Drill Sergeants at Montford Point, although that changed as the war went on.

Bryant was not trained for anything other than infantry skills; and, on the completion of his basic training course, he was classified as a skilled marksman. He carried the M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 caliber. Bryant noted that other African American Marines were put on permanent kitchen duty. As the war progressed, more of them were recruited and sent to the Pacific in support roles. They were occasionally involved in combat, and their conduct was superior.

Bryant was deployed in November of 1943, as his unit was a part of the first group of black Marines to go overseas from Montford Point. The ship convoy they traveled in set sail towards what he thought would be California, but after passing through the Panama Canal, began to head toward Hawaii. He recalled a moment where his ship got separated from the convoy and had to zigzag because of two Japanese submarines in the area.

Bryant recalled that life on the ship was fine. There was no segregation, and he felt it was quite an enjoyable experience. After his unit arrived at Pearl Harbor late at night, it was assigned to Camp Catlin on Oahu. The black Marines became a tourist attraction the following morning, when white soldiers who heard they had landed wanted to see them and were, frankly, in shock. The white soldiers thought they could take advantage of the black Marines and push them around, but Bryant noted that they soon learned that would not go over well, both from the black Marines and their white officers.

While Bryant was in Oahu, he was promoted to corporal, and tried out for Special Services as a basketball player. He was one of two African Americans who applied, but neither was picked for the team. Fortunately, a captain who knew them from New Jersey got them transferred and on the Fleet Marine Force basketball team. The team was assigned to play all over the Pacific, a task Bryant loved as he loved basketball, but also because the team received special treatment, which is the reason why some whites did not want black men on the team to begin with. They flew all over the Pacific and played all year. “That was our assignment.” 

Bryant played in basketball games from Oahu to the Philippines and Australia. “Wherever we went to, we had special treatment, special passes…” He thought every place he went to was memorable. Bryant recalled his initial experience in Australia as unpleasant, however. He recalled that: “It was worse than the United States as far as black is concerned.” The other basketball team didn’t want to play against two black men.