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Historic MCBCL

"True to Life" - Undergoing training in maneuvers staged at the Naval Medical Field Service School, Camp Lejeune NC, to ready themselves for duty under fire, Navy hospital corpsmen attended to a "casualty" on the beachhead. Morphine has been "injected." Note the used syrette on the sand in the left foreground and while one corpsman bandages the wound, another opens a folding stretcher. In the background another corpsman hastens by on the double quick with a stretcher."Life Saver" - An artist's study of one of the hospital corpsmen learning battlefield duties at the Navy's Medical Field Service School at Camp Lejeune.A study of one of the Navy's "battlefield Samaritans" made during training at the Medical Field Service School at Camp Lejeune.Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Lance Corporal Norma J. Buffin works as an illustrator at Camp Lejeune's training aids library (1969)Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps started enlisting Negroes on June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 Negro volunteers began their training 3 months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, NC. The first Negro to enlist was Howard P. Perry shown here. 1941-1945 periodA trio of recruits in training to take their places as fighting Leathernecks in the U.S. Marine Corps, run the rugged obstacle course at Camp Lejeune, NC [Montford Point Camp]. The Marine recruits have shown such excellent results in their aptitudes and leadership capacities that an expanded Navy recruiting program is now underway. April 1943Photograph of Three Marine Corps Women Reservists, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. October 16, 1943Married Officers' Quarters, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Circa 1945"Any 'Boat' in an Emergency" - Though not as easily handled as boats, rubber life rafts serve admirably to transport wounded from beach to ship where the shore is too shallow for craft with deeper draught. This one is used in maneuvers at Camp Lejeune. "Out of the Firing Line" - Training at the Naval Medical Field Service School at Camp Lejeune to administer rapid and efficient first aid to Marine wounded, hospital corpsmen find one of their most difficult and dangerous duties will be removal of casualties from the battlefield. These corpsmen move a "wounded" man across the sandy dunes of a practice beachhead, carefully low to avoid enemy fire"Corpsman at Rest" - Relaxing after an exhausting maneuver at the Navy's Medical Field Service School at Camp Lejeune this hospital corpsman waits the call to the next "action." "Mercy Jeep" - Addition of a superstructure and a word of caution to the drivers transforms a jeep into an ambulance. Usually driven at top speed on the front, they are piloted more carefully when transporting wounded. This one was portrayed at Camp Lejeune. "First Aid to the Fallen" - Accompanying the first wave of troops to the beach, Navy hospital corpsmen in training at Camp Lejeune "inject" morphine and affix a tag to one of the "casualties" of the landing operations. "Battlefield of the Samaritans" - While one Navy hospital corpsman bandages the wounded arm of a "casualty" another holds a lighted cigarette to his mouth during maneuvers at Camp Lejeune. "Doctors Train Too" - A group of officers in the Navy Medical Corps undergo training at the Naval Medical Field Service School, Camp Lejeune to adapt themselves to front line conditions. These men conduct an "operation" by flashlight in a shack duplicating the rough " surgical room" set up in a shack at Guadalcanal during the seizure of the Solomons."Ready for Duty" - In training at Camp Lejeune, a Navy corpsman poses for this portrait wearing his full field kit and toting his stretcher. Inside the kits are many of the latest aids for treating the wounded."This Way to Recovery" - While his comrades keep up a steady fire to discourage enemy marksmen, a Navy hospital corpsman drags a "casualty" to comparative safety in a foxhole. This is one of the grimly realistic portraits drawn at Camp Lejeune where Navy corpsmen are in training. "One Way to the Rear" - Navy corpsman in training at Camp Lejeune are taught numerous methods of moving casualties to the rear of the front lines, but they are encouraged to rely on their own ingenuity if know methods fail. Finding a "casualty" unconscious or unable to cling to him, this corpsman tied the wounded man's hands around his own neck, straddled his way back from the battlefront.
Marching new recruits to the Quartermasters for uniforms, March 1943.Men of the 51st Defense Battalion, the first combat unit trained at Montford Point, waiting to be called to rifle practice on the rifle range, March 1943.Recruits were taught to fire from several positions. Here they fire from a prone position, March 1943.Although an impressive ceremonial position, firing from a standing position on the battlefield carried the risk of exposure to enemy fire and loss of accuracy, March 1943.Men of the 51st learning demolition skills, February 1945.Some members of the 51st also trained with light tanks, March 1943.Men of the 51st Defense Battalion also trained with large field pieces. In this photo they operate a 155 millimeter howitzer, March 1943.51st New Recruits, Montford Point Marines, Boot Camp and Training, March 1943.Training on a Stuart Light Tank with mounted 37 millimeter antiaircraft gun, March 1943.Machine guns on the battlefield quickly drew enemy fire, resulting in a short battlefield life span for the average machine gunner, March 1943.The machine gun provided rapid fire and easily covered a 180 degree field of fire, March 1943.Firing the fixed position 90 Millimeter antiaircraft gun, March 1943.The 155 millimeter howitzer gave the battalion a formidable long range weapon, March 1943.Practice in bayonet drills prepared recruits for engaging the enemy in close quarters, March 1943.Boot camp for all Montford Point recruits included plenty of close order drill, March 1943.Checking to see if new boots will fit, March 1943.Dress parades were part of the Montford Point routine. This photograph is not dated. Firing from a seated position, March 1943.The rifle with fixed bayonet became a deadly weapon in close quarters when used skillfully, March 1943.Inspections by the base’s officers were an integral part of the Montford Point experience, March 1943.Here Col. Samuel Woods, Montford Point’s first commanding officer, checks to see that a recruit has a clean weapon, March 1943.
The lounge of the Women's Reserve barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, circa 1944.The laundry room of the Women Reserve barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, circa 1944.Women Marines around sign, circa 1944. Three Women Marines pose around a sign at Camp Lejeune that reads "U.S.M.C. Bus Stop." The women wear olive-drab work overalls, men's work jackets, and "daisy mae" fatigue hats. Nina Johnson Wiglesworth Papers Collection (WV0132.6.008), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC.Women Marines basic training class, 1944 - Group photo of a Women Marines basic training class at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in early 1944. All of the women wear the Women Marines winter service uniform and winter service hat. Marian Gold Krugman Papers Collection (WV0354.6.002), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC Women Marines platoon, 1944 - Group photo of the "simple six," members of Mary McLeod Roger's boot camp platoon at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in spring of 1944. Marines (standing left to right) Frances Stir, Jeanne Sincerbeaux, Mary McLeod, Rosemary Keeleher, Marcia Moore, and Anne Condon all wear the white short-sleeved summer uniform and spruce green garrison cap. Mary McLeod Rogers Papers Collection (WV0134.6.004), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC.The sleeping quarters of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, circa 1944. Nina Johnson Wiglesworth Papers Collection (WV0132.6.003), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC.Women Reserve barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, circa 1944.- Nina Johnson Wiglesworth Papers Collection (WV0132.6.007), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC.The bathroom of the Women's Reserve barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, circa 1944. - Nina Johnson Wiglesworth Papers Collection (WV0132.6.004), Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC