Negro Marines prepare for action. 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 three 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, North Carolina. Photo shows raw recruits ("boots") getting their equipment upon joining the Marines