Political Quotes

“It is a special and high honor to be in this Chamber of the people's House to honor, to remember, and to pay respectful tribute to a most remarkable American, a true patriot, and one of the finest marines I have ever known, Master Gunnery Sergeant Jimmy Hargrove. He was a dear friend of mine and my family. Jimmy was enlisted. He was an enlisted marine. This is my father, Ike; he is also an enlisted marine. He is doing great at the age of 91. He is an Iwo Jima veteran. There is something about enlisted marines, when we meet each other, we often ask, ``Are you a Parris Island marine?'' I was. If you are a Parris Island marine, you usually give the other alternative, which is this. You say, ``Or are you a Hollywood marine?'' That is, did you go through boot camp in San Diego? Well, that question applies to virtually all enlisted marines, but there are some whom that question really doesn't apply to because the answer is neither Parris Island nor San Diego, but it is a different place they went to boot camp, Montford Point, North Carolina. From 1942 to 1949, 20,000 young African American men, young Black men from across our country like Jimmy, didn't go to Parris Island or San Diego. He went to Montford Point, and that is where he endured the training that defines, shapes, and molds young men and women now into marines--fully segregated units. These marines have gone on to fight in our Nation's battles. Jimmy, for example, fought in Korea and then Vietnam.…”