CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, Maj. Gen. Ronald Bailey, will honor west coast Montford Point Marines by awarding them Congressional Gold Medals here, Aug. 14, 2012.

The Marines were the first African Americans to enlist when the Marine Corps was opened to African Americans during World War II. They entered recruit training between the years of 1942 and 1949 at Montford Point, now named Camp Johnson.

Approximately 20,000 African-Americans went to recruit training at Montford Point during World War II. President Harry S Truman deactivated Montford Point in 1949 following desegregation.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the nation’s highest civilian award.

A live broadcast of the ceremony will be available via webcast at the following link: http://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/2534. For those media outlets who cannot attend or would like to record the live video feed, please refer to technical instructions below in order to receive the broadcast.

MEDIA COORDINATING INSTRUCTIONS: Media interested in covering this event must call the 1st Marine Division Public Affairs Office at (760) 725-8766, or e-mail at 1MARDIV_PAO@usmc.mil, and RSVP no later than 1:00 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. Members of the media who have RSVP’d will meet at Camp Pendleton’s SAN LUIS REY GATE no later than 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012.

Live HD/SD Video instructions:

Galaxy 17 Service
Located @ 91 degrees west
Transponder: C21
Downlink Frequency: 4133.6150 Horizontal Carrier type: MPEG-4, DVB-S2
Modulation: 8PSK
Symbol Rate: 6.960
FEC: 5/6
Pilot: On
Network ID: 620
SD1 is service channel #1
SD2 is service channel #2
HD is service channel #8
Technical Operations Center 678-421-6690 DVIDS Switchboard 678-421-6612

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