(solemn guitar music)
- He was the very first African-American
to receive the Medal of Honor.
He was in Vietnam.
Within two months of being there,
his unit was ambushed.
(machine gun firing)
And a grenade came through
and it landed within feet of him
and his fellow Marines.
^Most people would see a grenade rollin' in
^to their position and try to find a ways
^to run or to get away.
But not PFC Anderson.
What he did was he reached out,
grabbed the grenade, and brought it in
close to his body and he absorbed the blast.
And it ultimately saved the lives
of his fellow Marines.
He was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
(solemn guitar music)
This was during the 60s,
and to think that he was a young black man
who probably wasn't liked very much at home
because of the color of his skin,
who didn't care about anything else
except for those fellow Marines
that were around him.
(solemn guitar music)
We've had numerous other African-Americans
that received the Medal of Honor.
To know that the first
was part of the Corps tradition
makes me really proud to serve
in such a fine unit like this.
(solemn guitar music)