or
the phenomenon advanced by the Norfolk _Journal and Guide_ would be
repeated by civil rights spokesmen on numerous occasions in the era
before integration. The paper declared that veterans remembered their
wartime experiences and were convinced that the same distasteful
practices would be continued after the war.[10-15] Marine Corps officials
advanced different reasons. The Montford Point commander attributed
slow enlistment rates to a general postwar letdown and lack of
publicity, explaining that Montford Point "had an excellent athletic
program, good chow and comfortable barracks." A staff member of the
Division of Plans and Policies later prepared a lengthy analysis of
the treatment the Marine Corps had received in the black press. He
charged that the press had presented a distorted picture of conditions
faced by blacks that had "agitated" the men and turned them against
reenlistment. He recommended a public relations campaign at Montford
Point to improve the corps' image.[10-16] But this analysis missed the
point, for while the black press might influence civilians, it could
hardly instruct Marine veterans. Probably more than any other factor,
the wartime treatment of black marines explained the failure of the
corps to attract qualified, let alone gifted, Negroes to its postwar
junior enlisted ranks.

[Footnote 10-15: Norfolk _Journal and Guide_, May 4,
1946. See also Murray, _Negro Yearbook_, 1949 pp.
272-73. On the general accuracy of the press
charges, see Shaw and Donnelly, _Blacks in the
Marine Corps_, pp. 47-51.]

[Footnote 10-16: CO, Montford Point, Press Conference
(ca. 1 May 47), quoted in Div of Plans and Policies
Staff Report, "Rescinding Ltr of Instruction #421,"
MC files; unsigned, untitled Memo written in the
Division of Plans and Policies on black marines and
the black press (ca. Aug 55).]

Considering the critical shortages, temporarily and "undesirably" made
up for by white marines, and the "leisurely" rate at which black
reservists were reenlisting, General Thomas recommended in May 1946
that the corps recruit some 1,120 Negroes from civilian sources. This,
he explained to the commandant, would accelerate black enlistment but
still save some spaces for black reservists.[10-17] The comman