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LEFT: PHOTOGRAPH BY ROGER SMITH, PHOTOQUEST/GETTY IMAGES; RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE CPL. KRIS DABERKOE, DVIDS
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The few, the proud: What was it like being one of the first Black recruits into the U.S. Marines, the last of America’s military services to desegregate? The vast majority of those Black recruits “never saw a Black officer, never saw anyone who looked like them in position of authority,” says Marine vet Joe Geeter, who is fighting for America to recognize the first 20,000 Black Marines. (Above left, Howard P. Perry, the first African American to enlist in the Marines; right, Staff Sgt. Timerlate Kirven and Cpl. Samuel J. Love, Sr. received Purple Hearts for their service during the 1944 Battle of Saipan.)
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