Montford Point Retired Marine Henry B. Edwards Receives Congressional Gold Medal Award
NEW ORLEANS - More than eight decades after stepping forward to earn the title of United States Marine, Montford Point Marine Henry B. Edwards received recognition for a legacy that helped shape the Marine Corps for generations to come. Edwards, 97, was presented the Congressional Gold Medal by Maj. Gen. Douglas K. Clark, deputy commander, Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South, during a ceremony at Bethel Ame Church in New Orleans on Sept. 27, 2026.
Edwards was born March 28, 1929, in Chickasaw, Alabama. After graduating from Mobile County Training School in Plateau, Alabama, in 1946, Edwards enlisted in the Marine Corps that same year. His path took him to Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he was among the approximately 20,000 African American men who trained between 1942 and 1949, becoming part of a generation whose service helped break racial barriers within the Marine Corps.
After completing training, Edwards served overseas in Saipan and San Juan, before being honorably discharged in 1947. Though his time in uniform was brief, his commitment to public service continued for decades. In 1948, Edwards enrolled at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he pledged to the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, participated in the Honor Society Association and earned his degree in 1951.
Edwards later served as a supervisor at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, Alabama, an automotive repair instructor at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and as an automotive instructor at a vocational school back in Mobile. His career eventually led him to federal service with the U.S. Department of Labor, where his assignments took him to Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, before retiring in 1987.
His dedication to selfless service also extended into his community and church. Edwards spent years serving in leadership roles at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in New Orleans and within the Ninth Episcopal District, as well as at Pine Grove AME Church in Mobile. In 1953, Edwards married Irma Frye Edwards. Their family grew across generations, and the young Marine who once arrived at Montford Point became a father, grandfather and great-grandfather of five. Nearly seven decades later, Edwards stood before another generation of Marines as Clark presented him the Congressional Gold Medal.
“There will be no discrimination, prejudice or immoral conduct in my organization,” Clark said. “You are a legacy, and we all thank you for your selfless service and the path you paved for the Marines who followed.”
This recognition represents more than a single moment in Edward's lifetime. His story spans from Montford Point to federal employment, faith, family and decades of community service. Serving as a reminder of a legacy of service across a lifetime.
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