# @Palestine Independent School District on Facebook

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/1685891366879124/posts/1503341848467411
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69640797-Palestine-Independent-School-District-facebook
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/dec5a0eb41.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-14T14:50:11.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Palestine Independent School District (@139582189397805) — https://gondola.cc/139582189397805

## Caption

Did you know the first black Marine to serve after the American Revolutionary War was born in Palestine, TX. On February 5, 1916, Alfred Masters was born to Joel and Lettia Masters in Palestine, TX. His father died five months later and his mother moved the family to Oklahoma. He attended Langston University. After graduating became a civilian employee at the Army Supply Depot.

On June 1,1942, at 12:01 a.m., Masters became the first African American to be sworn in the U.S Marine Corps since the American Revolution. He was sworn in at a post office in Oklahoma City. His recruitment training took place at Montford Point in North Carolina. Montford Point was a segregated training facility for African American Marines from 1942-1949.

He was assigned to Battery A of the Fifty-first Composite Defense Battalion. He served in the Fifty-second Defense Battalion and during WWII deployed to Majuro, Marshall Islands, and Guam, Marianas Islands. He rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant at the time the 2nd highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, equivalent to Gunnery Sergeant in the 1940s.

After serving in the Marines, Masters taught agriculture in Oklahoma City. He eventually moved to Vado, New Mexico, to farm his own property. On June 16, 1975, Masters died in Anthony, New Mexico. He was buried at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso, Texas. 

In 2011, President Barack Obama signed a law to award all the Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal. On June 27, 2012, Masters was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

From 1776 to 1777, Black American Marines served in the American Revolutionary War, but from 1798 to 1942, the USMC followed a racially discriminatory policy of denying African Americans the opportunity to serve as Marines.

#Blackhistory #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory #BlackHistoryMonth

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## Tags

blackhistorymonth, blackhistoryisamericanhistory, blackhistory

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