Funeral for Montford Point Marine to be held Wednesday | News

Parris Island, SC- People will gather in the Lowcountry Wednesday to say goodbye to a Montford Point Marine. 

The funeral for Lasalle Vaughn will be held Sept. 26. at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Recruit Chapel. Vaughn, a retired Marine Staff Sergeant, died Sunday in Bethesda, Maryland. He was among a group of the Montford Point Marines recently honored with a congressional gold medal for their service.

Montford Point was the first black marine unit that integrated with the Marine Corps back in 1942. Between 1942 and 1949, approximately 20,000 African-American Marines received basic training at Montford Point outside of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 

Funeral services for Vaughn will begin at 10:30 a.m. Members of the Parris Island Marine Corps Band are scheduled to perform I'll Take the Marines, a 1997 song by Vernon Bernard Harris, inspired by a song Vaughn wrote describing his experiences as one of the first African-American Marines to train at Montford Point.

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