While George Long drifted in and out of a coma this week, his daughter received word that the World War II veteran would soon receive one of the country’s highest honors.
That was, of course, if his health held out. He had been in a coma since Monday.
“I got so scared at one point. On Wednesday, my dad was still not eating, sitting up, talking, walking, and didn’t even know who I was,” said Long’s daughter, Felicia Hawkins who stayed by her father’s bedside this week.
That same day she was terrified, she learned that U.S. Sen. Thad Chochran would come to Vicksburg at 10 a.m. Aug. 7 to present her father with a Congressional Gold Medal for his service as one of the first black members of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Long, who the VA lists as 90, was among the first black members of the U.S. Marine Corps. He’s actually 87. In 1942, he lied about his age to join the military. He was just 16. He didn’t know what the Marine Corps was, but he needed a steady paycheck.
That quest for a job led Long to help break the color barrier of the U.S. Marine Corps as he was stationed at Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
As Long’s health appeared to continue to deteriorate, Hawkins would speak clearly in his ear about his long-awaited medal.
“Even when it seemed like he was coming out of it. I kept telling him ‘Daddy you’re about to get your medal,”’ Hawkins said.
On Friday, Long woke up. He talked with doctors and nurses, and was showing signs of major improvement, Hawkins said.
Again she told him about the medal. He almost couldn’t believe it.
“I told him that’s when you get it, and he just smiled,” Hawkins said. “He’s so excited.”
In 2012, the majority of the surviving Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the nation’s capital.
“He was unable to go to Washington, D.C.,” said fellow Marine veteran Wardell Wince, who began a project to bring Long’s medal to Mississippi.
Wince and Long’s family requested the medal be brought to Mississippi, but the VA couldn’t find Long in the records, his daughter said.
Eventually she found his military paperwork in the bottom of a closet. With the help of Air Force veteran Steven Houston, they contacted Cochran’s office
“This is one of those poignant moments to be able to recognize someone who served their country,” Houston said.
At Montford Point, all the ranking officers were white, but drill instructors including Sgt. Maj. Gilbert “Hashmark” Johnson were black, Long told The Vicksburg Post in 2012. Johnson was stern but fair, Long said.
Johnson was so influential that Montford Point was renamed in his honor in 1974, two years after his death.
The black Marines were trained, given menial tasks and not allowed to interact with white troops, Long said. During his time in the Marine Corps, the most responsibility he ever had was guarding Japanese prisoners of war after the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Most of Long’s work involved sweeping or cleaning.
“We were so segregated at that time that I wasn’t even recognized as a soldier,” Long said.