DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A 91-year-old Ohio man has been recognized for his World War II service with a
Congressional Gold Medal.JohnLee Cooper was one of about 20,000 African-American recruits trained tobecome
Marines at Montford Point, N.C., adjacent to Camp Lejeune,between 1942 and 1949.Like the Tuskegee Airmen,
the MontfordPoint Marines served in segregated units separate from their whitecounterparts. After boot camp,
Cooper was sent to the Pacific theaterduring the war."It means everything to me," Cooper said
Monday atthe Hospice of Dayton, where the ceremony was held. "I thought maybethey had forgotten about
me."Cooper heard a presidential proclamation and congressional and mayoral letters read during the
ceremony in his honor.Cooper’snephew, W. Roger Smith, maneuvered through federal bureaucracy for ayear and a
half to get his uncle the honor, The Dayton Daily Newsreported (http://bit.ly/19K3xbS )."I almost teared up because
I knew he wanted it," Smith said. "Whenever I mentioned it, he would brighten up."CharlesH.
Stallard, president of the Louisville, Ky., chapter of the MontfordPoint Marines, said the group is
important to black history and standsas a symbol of men willing to give their lives for a country
thatdiscriminated against them in the 1940s."If people don’t know about the history, it’s just going to
fade away," said Stallard, a former Marine who is a Vietnam veteran.InJune 2012 at a Washington
ceremony, about 400 surviving Montford PointMarines were presented with a bronze replica of the
Congressional GoldMedal acknowledging their contributions during World War II.The Montford Point Marines
Association doesn’t know how many of the World War II-era Marines are still living.___Information from:
Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.comCopyright 2013
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