New TV ad highlights black Marine successes

[unhappycamper]

Montford Point Marines are seen tackling an obstacle course in this image from the Corps' new recruiting ad.


New TV ad highlights black Marine successes
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 5, 2009 20:51:35 EST

The Corps has released a new recruiting TV commercial, focusing on historic firsts by two retired black Marine officers in conjunction with Black History Month.

The accomplishments of retired Lt. Gen. Frank Peterson, the first black pilot and three-star general in the Corps, and retired Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden Jr., the first black Marine to become an astronaut, are featured in the 30-second spot.

Called “Living a Legacy of Leadership,” the ad shows black and white photographs of the two Marines in their early and later years in the Corps. Their names are not said explicitly during narration, but the history of black Marines is quickly outlined, beginning with those who served at Montford Point, a now-closed, segregated boot camp aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., where about 20,000 black men became Marines from 1942 to 1949.

“Montford Point was the first proving ground for many African-American Marines,” the narrator says in the ad, as old photographs of black Marines appear. “The Marine Corps values of honor, courage and commitment define their path to be first. Their determination to go to the highest level and beyond is proof their legacies will last.

“What will your legacy be?” the narrator concludes, as a photograph of a junior Marine in dress blues and pulling a sword flashes across the screen.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/02/marine_recruitingad_020509w/%2e