MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In Milledgeville on Saturday, a Montford Point Marine was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal Award.
The Montford Point Marines were the first Black Americans to enlist in the U.S. Marines after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the fair employment practices commission in June 1941.
Approximately, 20,000 Black Marines trained at Camp Montford Point from 1942-1949, and to date only about 3000 of those Marines have been located to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Georgia Military College (GMC) held a special ceremony to posthumously honor the Reverend Horace Ray Sr. for his personal sacrifice and service while serving the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Montford Point.
"No matter if he served in the Marine Corps one year or thirty years, he exemplified that in his everyday life, and the type of character and the type of person he was," Ray Shinholster said.
Ray enlisted in the Marine Corps in early 1940. He was honorably discharged from Camp Montford Point in February 1946.
He later went on to be a pastor at St. Mary Baptist Church for over 20 years.
He also served on the City of Milledgeville's Zoning Appeals Board and was a member of the GMC Board of Trustees for five years.
A press release describes Ray as " a pillar of the community" and "beloved by so many."
In 2004, his family donated their previous home to GMC where it was later converted into a field house at Couch Field.
GMC honored Ray by naming it the Horace Ray Field House.
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