Chicagoan part of distinguished group known as the Montford Point Marines

Chicagoan John Vanoy is part of a distinguished group of men known as the Montford Point Marines, who broke barriers in the United States Marine Corps.

"I was drafted but I didn't volunteer," Vanoy said.

He was one of about 20,000 Black men who trained at Camp Montford Point from 1942 until 1949, the year the camp was decommissioned.

The all-Black, North Carolina-based unit was established in 1942 following an executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt prohibiting racial discrimination in the defense industry and in government.

"I went in 1943 and I was overseas in April of 1944," he said.

For Vanoy, making history wasn't top of mind.