Marion Meredith Beal was born in October 1922 in Jefferson, Texas. He had a small family. He was the only child for a while. When he was five, they moved to Marshall, Texas. He went through high school there. He graduated from Bishop College [Annotator's Note: historically Black college; relocated to Dallas, Texas in 1962] in Marshall. During high school, he attended the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, D.C. [Annotator's Note: World Scout Jamboree; event organized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement]. It was the most outstanding event for him at that time. After graduating from Bishop, he moved to Washington, D.C. and went to work for the Veterans Administration as a clerk-typist. While there, he attended American University for a short while. He was then drafted. He volunteered for the Marine Corps. Two or three of them were chosen for the Marines out of about 50. He went to Montford Point Camp, Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He does not know why he was chosen over others. His mother and father taught school. For the first few years of his life, his mother taught him. There was segregation but by there being so many professional people there was not as much as might have been elsewhere. It was a small town. They did have segregated counters and were not so strict. There were several Black establishments like doctors, movie theater, hotels, and restaurants. He did not experience much until he was out of school. After graduating from college, he went to South Texas and worked around Houston. Shortly after that, he went to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1942. He does not recall where he was when he heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was in college at the time. He did not think much about it.

Marion Meredith Beal felt the Marine Corps was an unusually strong outfit. Not many of his race were in the service and he wanted to be part of expanding it. He went to Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina] for boot camp. It was most unusual. He left Washington, D.C. by train. When they reached North Carolina, a lot of Marines got on who were already at the camp. They got to camp at dawn. They got uniforms but no caps. The troops were going to breakfast. The boots [Annotator's Note: "boots" is a nickname for raw Marine recruits or Marines who just completed boot camp training] were on the end of a long line. When he got to the mess hall, he was assigned to a platoon. There were 32 men per platoon with one Drill Instructor. They went to the rifle range and Beal made rifleman. Sometimes they would march all the way into the Atlantic [Annotator's Note: Atlantic Ocean] up to their waists. Beal was chosen as Honor Man of his platoon, voted on by his peers. The last week of training was on the rifle range. He was assigned to a recruit depot but that was changed to the classification section. He performed clerk-typist duties for a couple of years. He was then transferred to Montford Point Camp Headquarters as Chief Clerk. Some men had duties to represent their groups, such as MPs [Annotator's Note: military police]. They would have to stand duty overnight. Beal was in charge of that. He was also in charge of the barracks. Prior to his discharge, he was assigned to Marine Corps Headquarters as a clerk in Arlington, Virginia. He was discharged there.

Marine Corps boot camp was hard, hard, and harder for Marion Meredith Beal. They would have unannounced D.I. [Annotator's Note: Drill Instructor] visits. They would be told to hit the sack, which meant get in bed, or hit the deck which meant get out of bed and stand at attention. This went on day and night. They would go on heavy marching order hikes with full pack and rifle. When you first got your rifle, you carried it everywhere, even to bed. In boot camp, they trotted everywhere you went, with your rifle. Those were some of the hardest things. Sometimes punishment was just seeing someone else being punished. He would write his family about his day by day. There was not much time to write though. Beal was under White officers. At Camp Headquarters he was under a Sergeant Major and a Colonel. Most of the time those men were not extraordinarily unbearable. Most of them were not from Southern states and were tolerant. The ones from Western states were more reasonable. They were all military and so were the Blacks. The strictness of the Marine Corps pays off in the right character. He got furloughs [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] off base and would go into town. Weekends were free. He went into Jacksonville [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, North Carolina] sometimes. He went to New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] once; Washington, D.C.; Durham, North Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina with his friends. He was in uniform. He was never confronted by anyone in any mean way. Some men would try to say they were in the Corps, but Beal always knew better. It was comical.

Marion Meredith Beal had a desk right next to the desk of Hashmark Johnson [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Sergeant Major Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson]. Johnson had been in both the Army and the Navy before the Marine Corps. He was a huge fellow and was strictly military. Beal admired him for it even though he could be a little overbearing. Johnson could not drive, so Beal drove him around. Johnson was amusing and he and another Sergeant Major named Huff [Annotator's Note: likely US Marine Corps Sergeant Major Edgar R. Huff] were characters. They were strong, military men. The food at Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina] was okay. Beal remembers eating horse meat once but they were told beforehand. It was tough. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Beal what is the first thing that comes to mind when he thinks of Montford Point now.] The ridiculous training at boot camp. They went around for about a week with no cover, or hat, rain or shine. It was raining. Their haircuts took about 60 seconds. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Beal if there was ever conversation among the men about wanting to go and fight in the war.] Beal does not recall anybody expressing any thoughts about going or not going. They all realized that if sent, they had to go. He does not recall anyone begging to go or begging not to go.

It was raining one day on base [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina]. Their mattresses had been put outside to air out. Marion Meredith Beal started throwing the mattresses in the windows of the bathrooms. A man came outside and said Sergeant Johnson [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Sergeant Major Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson] wanted to see him. He told the man to tell him he would be there in a few minutes. Another man came out shortly and said the same thing. Beal said the same thing. He went back and was told that when he was given a duty, he was supposed to assign it to his inferiors. He had no bad experiences in service other than odd things like fire drills at night. His parents thought it was great he was a Marine. He had a younger brother. They were proud of it. It was joyous to see them after the war ended. [Annotator's Note: There is a break in the tape. Beal is answering an unheard question when it resumes.] During his childhood there was nothing spectacular. School was a few blocks from his house. By the time he reached his last year in college, he sold made-to-measure clothes door-to-door.

Marion Meredith Beal believes that he and his peers [Annotator's Note: Montford Point Marines] were the beginnings of the modern Civil Rights movement. More so than either the Army or the Navy, their boot camp was more stringent. The training routine was extraordinary. By having been in Montford Point Camp [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina] with Black enlisted men and Caucasian officers was not a good thing. He did not like that. He remembers the first Black man who became the first officer, Frederick Branch [Annotator's Note: Captain Frederick Clinton Branch, first Black officer of the United States Marine Corps]. Beal qualified for Officer Candidate School. When he applied, he was told they could not afford to lose him. The next barrier was the unwritten rule that if you had not had overseas service, you could not go to the school. He also qualified to go to the school at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, but the Officer in Charge would not let him attend. Those are sour notes. He does feel that his service helped pave the way for others. Beal thinks that World War 2 should be focused on in school. A lot of younger kids do not understand the freedoms they have. They do not realize the importance of having the ability to change things worldwide. He feels good about receiving the Congressional Gold Medal [Annotator’s Note: awarded to Montford Point Marines on 27 June 2012]. He was offered something similar and was worried about attending because he is somewhat disabled. His message to future generations would be that one thing for young men, he would suggest the Boy Scouts. He was a Scout Master and started his own troop. He built it from five to 35 boys. That training helps young fellows learn to cook, do laundry, and other things. They pick up habits that do them well in life. He attended the World Jamboree [Annotator's Note: World Scout Jamboree; event organized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement] in Washington, D.C. when he was in high school. He will never forget it. With that experience, he feels the men would not be on the streets like they are now. The Marine Corps influenced the rest of his life.