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Edgar Huff

United States Marine

Edgar R. Huff (December 2, 1919 – May 2, 1994) was the first African-American in the United States Marine Corps to be promoted to the rank of sergeant major. He served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and retired in 1972 after 30 years of service in the United States Marines.

So I'm sitting there in my office with about twenty-five yard of campaign ribbons, a bucket of battle stars, and each one of my sleeves look like a zebra. Ain't no way in hell a man could not know I was the sergeant major. When the gunny walked in, he stopped and looked at me as though he saw a ghost. He said, "Are you the sergeant major?" I said, "Well, Gunny, you are familiar with the rank structure, aren't you?" He said, "You not the one I talked to last night, are you?" "Why sure I am. Sit down."
But I never let any of those things make me prejudiced right back. Especially in combat. Especially in Vietnam. I am the sergeant major. I take care of all my men, black and white.

Quotes

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  • I says, "Is that right?" "Yes, sir, Sergeant Major. And I'd rather sleep on the parade ground under a flagpole than to sleep with a goddamn black nigger." So, I says, "Well, I can take care of you tonight. Tomorrow, I'll assign you to your permanent quarters. I make it a practice to do everything I can especially for my staff NCOs." So I arranged for this gunny to have the VIP quarters that night in the staff NCO club. The next morning I told my driver to go down to supply and draw out half a tent, five tent pegs, and one pole. I said, "You know one Marine don't rate but half a tent." So I'm sitting there in my office with about twenty-five yard of campaign ribbons, a bucket of battle stars, and each one of my sleeves look like a zebra. Ain't no way in hell a man could not know I was the sergeant major. When the gunny walked in, he stopped and looked at me as though he saw a ghost. He said, "Are you the sergeant major?" I said, "Well, Gunny, you are familiar with the rank structure, aren't you?" He said, "You not the one I talked to last night, are you?" "Why sure I am. Sit down." I made him drink some coffee, and the cup was rattlin' like it was a rattlesnake. Then I drove him out to the parade grounds up to the flagpole, and said, "Here is your quarters. Now you pitch your lean-to on the flagpole like you requested." And it was raining like hell. When I came back, the tent was running full of water. I said, "Get this tent trenched out like it's supposed to be. You're ruining government property." Then he said, "I'll stay with that fella." I told him he would have to get this black sergeant to agree and bring him to my office. Well, it was all right with the sergeant, and the gunny moved in. In about three weeks, I went down to the club and this black sergeant had a white woman, and the gunny had a black woman. Having the best time you ever saw. And a few months later, the gunny and the black woman was married. They live up here near me now and got two children. Doing real fine.
    • As quoted in First Black Marines: Vanguard of a Legacy (1995) by Fred deClouet, p. 32-33
  • But I never let any of those things make me prejudiced right back. Especially in combat. Especially in Vietnam. I am the sergeant major. I take care of all my men, black and white.
    • Edgar Huff, as quoted in First Black Marines: Vanguard of a Legacy (1995) by Fred deClouet, p. 33

Quotes about Huff

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  • Initially the recruits were trained by white officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) but citing a desire to have blacks train blacks, the Marines quickly singled out several exceptional black recruits to serve as NCO drill instructors. In January 1943, Edgar R. Huff became the first black NCO as a private first class. In February, Gilbert H. “Hashmark” Johnson, a 19-year veteran of the Army and Navy, became the first Drill Sergeant. By May 1943, all training at Montford Point was done by black sergeants and drill instructors (DIs), with Johnson as chief DI. Both Johnson and Huff would be renowned throughout the entire Marine Corps for their demanding training and exceptional leadership abilities.
  • Edgar R. Huff enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1942 and underwent training at the new Montford Point Camp. "I wanted to be a Marine," he said years later, "because I had always heard that the Marine Corps was the toughest outfit going, and I felt I was the toughest going, so I wanted to be a member of the best organization." His toughness and physical strength had served him well while a crane rigger for the Republic Steel Company in Alabama City, near his home town of Gadsden, Alabama.
    Huff reported for duty at a time when the Montford Point operation desperately needed forceful and intelligent African-Americans, with or without previous military experience, to take over from the white noncommissioned officers of the Special Enlisted Staff. Since he possessed the very qualities that the Marine Corps was seeking, he attended a drill instructor's course, served briefly as an assistant to two white drill instructors, took over a platoon of his own, and soon assumed responsibility for all the DIs at Montford Point. He made platoon sergeant in September 1943, gunnery sergeant in November of that year, and in June 1944 became first sergeant of a malaria control detachment at Montford Point. He went overseas six months later as the first sergeant of the 5th Depot Company — the second wartime unit with that designation — served on Saipan, saw combat on Okinawa, and took part in the occupation of North China.
    Discharged from the Marine Corps when the war ended, he spent a few months as a civilian and then reenlisted. He saw service in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During his second tour of duty in Vietnam, he was Sergeant Major, III Marine Amphibious Force, the principal Marine Corps command in Southeast Asia. He retired in 1972 while Sergeant Major, Marine Corps Air Station, New River, North Carolina, and died in May 1994.
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