Henry Martindale, a determined young man born in Elkmont around the 1920s, is among members of a little-known group of black pioneers who will be honored posthumously for their service during Word War II. The U.S. Senate voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines of North Carolina, a group of former Navy mess attendants who had been drafted to cook for white Navy officers
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In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered the Marines to recruit 900 Negro trainees. This first batch of black trainees was recruited from among Navy mess attendants.The black soldiers were relegated to training at snake-infested, mosquito infested, segregated Montford Point, N.C. There, they were introduced to a grueling camp and learned everything, from hand-to-hand combat to supply accountability to coastal defense. In late 1942, the Marines selected black non-commissioned officers from among its more experienced mess attendants and recruits to train black Marines.
These black non-coms put the trainees through a boot camp that was even more grueling than what regular Marines endured in order to create what some called “undeniably qualified black leathernecks.”
In 1944, the Montford Point Marines shipped out to all parts of the Pacific and served on Saipan and joined other Marines in Iwo Jima. At the end of the war, the all-black 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions were disbanded and, four years later, the historic Montford Point Training Center that produced “super marines” was closed.
Henry Martindale’s Dedication
Henry Martindale always wanted to be the best at whatever he did. As a young man growing up in Elkmont, he saw things that said a black man should not aim too high. This did not deter young Henry, who believed he was destined to be a part of something great. He went to school at Elkmont Colored Elementary School. From the beginning, he was the type of student on whom the teacher could depend. He rarely missed a day of school. After school, he rushed home, along with his two brothers and one sister, to help his parents, Joe and Veronia, on the farm and in the cotton fields.
“He was very loyal to his parents,” said his niece, Bertha Caldwell. “Even after he moved away, he would always return to visit and help his mother and father.”
Henry was a kind, soft-spoken person, but his demeanor masked a fierce desire to be the best at whatever he did. He filled out and became a strong young man. After finishing school, he moved to Indianapolis to find a better work environment than the cotton fields of North Alabama could provide. On Aug. 28, 1943, he met his destiny. He joined the United States Marine Corps. This was a corps that had been exclusively white since 1798, and was engaged in battle against a determined Japanese enemy all across the Pacific.
Assigned to the legendary training center at Montford Point, Henry was trained by the legendary Sgt. Gilbert “Hashmark” Johnson. Hashmark, a 37-year-old former Navy cook, was the feared leader of Montford Point’s dreaded all-black drill instructor corps. Hailing from Mount Hebron, Ala., he led a group of instructors who were determined to make great Marines out of people whom the nation believed did not have the qualifications to be anything other than mess stewards. During 12 weeks in the summer of 1943, suffering from unbearable heat, a swampy climate and unforgiving boot-camp life, Henry was molded into a well-qualified “leatherneck.”
After boot camp, he boarded a troop ship and sailed to the Pacific Theater of Operations. He served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from September 1944 to March 1946. On March 26, 1946, Henry boarded another troop ship with his head held high, having endured all the Japanese could throw at him. On May 18, 1946, soft-spoken, kind- hearted, strong -minded Henry Martindale marched into the commander’s office at Montford Point, saluted and received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. Henry returned to Indianapolis, where he died in 2007.
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