Cosmas Eaglin was one of the first 300 Black men to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1942 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered all branches of the military could not discriminate based on race. (North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs)
WASHINGTON — Cosmas D. Eaglin, one of the first Black men to break the color barrier in the Marine Corps in the 1940s and one of the service’s oldest surviving veterans, has died at 108, officials said.
“We owe so much to the brave men and women who have served our armed services and we honor Cosmas Eaglin’s service and memory today,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. “I am grateful for Mr. Eaglin’s dedication and service to our country.”
Eaglin was a veteran of three American wars between the 1940s and 1960s and was one of the first 300 Black recruits to enter the Marines after President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 ordered military service open to people of all races. The first group of Black troops, who were assigned to train at Montford Point near Camp LeJeune in North Carolina, became known as the Montford Point Marines.
After enlisting in the Marine Corps, Eaglin served for two years in the Pacific Theater in the Solomon Islands during World War II. He left the Marines after WWII, but later joined the Army and became a paratrooper during the Korean War in the early 1950s. He also served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
“Eaglin leaves a legacy of commitment, integrity and lifelong service,” said Walter Gaskin, a retired Marine lieutenant general and secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “His life changed the world for the better and we are forever grateful for all the sacrifices he and his family have made for freedom and equality.”
While Roosevelt’s order opened the military to Black service members, full integration didn’t happen until President Harry S. Truman fully desegregated the armed forces in 1948. As a result, the Montford Point Marines had to train separately from white troops at their Jacksonville, N.C., camp. Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, who was then commandant of the Marine Corps, vehemently opposed allowing Black Americans into military service at the time.
“He endured unimaginable obstacles in the segregated Marine Corps,” Gaskin said of Eaglin. “I will always remember and admire his strength, resilience, and we honor his service to our country with appreciation for the inspiration he instilled in all of us.”
Cooper said: “He and his fellow Montford Point Marines defended our freedom against fascism in World War II and set an example at home that helped lead the progress toward racial equality that our country has made over the last 80 years.”
Born in 1915, Eaglin was also one of the oldest living Marine veterans at the time of his death in Fayetteville, N.C., on Aug. 15. He is survived by his wife Elaine, five children, several grandchildren and a dozen great-grandchildren, according to the North Carolina Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.
Almost 20,000 Black servicemen eventually became part of the Montford Point Marines between their formation in 1942 and deactivation in 1949, according to the Montford Point Marines Association. In 2011, President Barack Obama signed a law awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines for outstanding perseverance and courage that inspired social change in the Marine Corps. The medal is the highest civilian honor in the United States along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In January, the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs honored Eaglin for his historic service with a certificate of appreciation and a commemorative coin.
A funeral Mass for Eaglin will be held next week and he will be buried at a veterans cemetery in southeastern North Carolina, near Fayetteville.
