Corporal Lawrence Diggs
Today's featured Marine is Corporal Lawrence Diggs.
In 1942 Camp Montford Point was opened and young African American men began filtering through for recruit training to join the United States Marine Corps. Approximately 20,000 African American recruits went through Montford Point from 1942 to 1949. At that time, the Marine Corps was segregated and African American recruits were not allowed to train with white recruits. Although African American recruits trained at a different location than other recruits, their training was just as challenging. Montford Point was the birthplace of some of the toughest and most brave Marines in the history of the Marine Corps.
Among these tough Marines was Cpl. Lawrence "Larry" Diggs. Mr. Diggs happens to live near the MarineParents.com corporate office in Columbia, MO and our staff has had the honor of meeting and working with him. Born in Mississippi and raised in Chicago, Diggs was drafted into the military in May 1942 and was one of the first African Americans recruited by the Marine Corps.
