Mount Pleasant native, U.S. Marine to receive posthumous Congressional Gold Medal

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – One of the nation’s highest civilian honors will be posthumously bestowed upon a former U.S. Marine during a ceremony in Charleston next month.

The family of Alonzo H. Rouse, a member of the Montford Point Marines, will accept the Congressional Gold Medal on his behalf during a gala hosted by the National Montford Point Marine Association Chapter 47.

President Barack Obama signed legislation in November 2011 to collectively honor the nation’s first African Americans to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps in recognition of their “dedicated service” during World War II.

African Americans were not allowed to serve in the Marine Corps before 1941, but the onset of WWII and the need for more servicemembers led President Franklin Roosevelt to issue an executive order in June that barred discriminatory practices in the defense industry.

That executive order paved the way for the first African Americans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Nearly 20,000 recruits were trained at Camp Montford Point, North Carolina from 1942 to 1949, according to the Charleston chapter.

“Every aspect of their training was segregated from their white counterparts,” officials said. “They were housed in prefabricated huts and railroad tracks separated white residents from the training camp. They were only permitted on the main base of Camp Lejeune if they were escorted by a white Marine.”

The camp was decommissioned in September 1949.

Rouse, a Mount Pleasant native, began training at Camp Montford Point in April 1946. He served in Guam and Korea and was stationed at Camp Pendleton and Base Barstow, California. He retired from Air Station Beaufort as a Gunnery Sergeant in 1964.

After leaving the military, Rouse became an avid fisherman and hunter and opened a chicken farm in the 1970s. He and his late wife, Virginia, had nine children, according to the Charleston chapter.

The medal will be presented to Rouse’s family during an event scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 26 at The Citadel’s Buyer Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m.

More information on how to attend can be found here.