by Jim Junot
Virginia Union University
Sports Information Director

There is a road in North Carolina which is steeped in forgotten history.

The road's entrance is marked by a small shack which houses two guards.  It winds gently through the grass-covered grounds before ending  at an artillery encampment.

The road is at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and it stands in mute testimony to a man who gave his life, not on the field of battle, but rather in breaking down barriers on his own road to equality.

It is Fraser Road, and the man for whom it was christened was Gil "Pickles" Fraser, the captain of the 1939 Virginia Union University basketball "Dream Team." 

But Fraser isn't honored for his basketball prowess, as great as it might have been. 

Fraser, rather, was a Montford Point Marine, and on August 20, 1943, he made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, becoming the first African-American to give his life for his country while wearing the uniform of the United States Marine Corps.

This is his story.

Gilbert Fraser, Jr.,  was born on September 24, 1913, in New York City.  He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and then attended City College of New York before landing at VUU.

How or why he became known as "Pickles" has been lost to history.

"I'm not really sure why he was called that," said Roland McDaniel, the only surviving member of the 1939 VUU basketball team.  "But he was the one who brought the ball up the court every time we had it."

Fraser entered Virginia Union University in 1936, having been recruited by the legendary Henry Hucles, who coached VUU teams for more than 30 years.  Hucles recruited heavily from the New York City area, having been a New Yorker himself.

During his four years as a VUU starter, Fraser led VUU to a 60-13 record.  When Fraser entered Virginia Union University as a freshman in 1936, the Panthers were barely a .500 basketball team (9-6).

By the time he graduated in 1940, the Panthers were the mythical National Champions and boasted a 23-2 record, and Fraser was the captain of the team.  VUU's .920 winning percentage in 1939-40 is second only to the 1984-85 VUU team's .969 winning percentage.

Fraser's career-high in scoring came when he scored 21 points against Hampton in 1938.  Fraser averaged over 10 point per game for the Panthers that season, in an era when basketball teams averaged 40 points per game.

In short, Fraser accounted for 25% of the Panthers' total offense.

As a junior in 1938-39, Fraser received his only acknowledgement from the CIAA.  He was named to the Second-Team All-CIAA Team as selected by the Afro-American Newspaper.

After college, Fraser went on to live in Washington, D.C. , and worked for the Federal Government.  He continued to play basketball, this time with the professional DC Recs.

On June 30, 1942, Fraser enrolled in the United States Marine Corps, becoming one of the first Montford Point Marines.

The Marines were the last branch of the U.S. military to be integrated, being forced to desegregate when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 on June 25, 1941.  Recruiting for the "Montford Marines" began on June 1, 1942, and Fraser enlisted on June 30, 1942.

African-American recruits were not allowed to enter the main base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., unless accompanied by a white Marine, so the Marines created Camp Montford Point, a section of the main camp divided by railroad tracks, on July 26, 1941.

"To put (Fraser's) service in perspective, Gilbert was one of the first Montford Point Marines, arriving on September 19, 1942, almost one month prior to Edgar Huff (first African-American Sergeant Major) and Gilbert 'Hashmark' Johnson (first African-American Drill Instructor); notable company indeed," wrote Lt. Colonel L.J. Kimball.

Fraser was first assigned to Battery A of the 51st composite defense for boot camp, and both he and Huff were transferred to the 155mm Gun Battery where they served together until Huff was selected for Drill Instructor School.

Fraser became one of the first African-American non-commissioned officers in the Marine, reaching the rank of corporal.

"By all accounts, Fraser was a superb Marine, well liked and respected," wrote Kimball.  "He was the star pitcher for Montford Point's baseball team and was recommended for promotion to sergeant."

In August of 1943, Fraser's unit for preparing for deployment overseas, and the unit was undergoing training for the "Wet-Net," the way Marines disembark from a ship to a landing craft.  A 362-foot mock-up of an attack transport had been set up for training on dry land. 

"For whatever reason, the details may never be known, Corporal Fraser, totally weighted with individual weapon and combat equipment, fell from the mock-up, struck the landing craft, and was fatally injured," wrote Kimball.

On August 20, 1943, Gilbert "Pickles" Fraser was dead at age 29.

That night, Fraser's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Floyd A. Stephenson, wrote this letter to Fraser's widow, Alma:

"He was a good Marine and well thought of by officers and enlisted men alike.  He was diligent and dependable in his duties and was about to be promoted to sergeant.  He will be greatly missed in the heavy artillery battery in which he served, on the athletic field where he so gloriously distinguished himself and in the battalion as a whole.  Your husband met his death while engaged in prescribed tactical operations.  No man ever more truly gave his life in the service of his country."

The following day, Stephenson issued a commemorative order, announcing that a new road, leading from the Montford Point Camp to the base artillery activity would be officially named "Fraser Road."

Gilbert was buried in Long Island National Cemetery in New York.  His gravestone reads "CPL US MARINE CORPS."

Through time, the name of Fraser Road became forgotten about.  The road signs disappeared, Fraser's name vanished from the maps, and people around the area began to reference the road as its original designation "Florence Road."

In 2007, however, L.J. Kimball, Historian at the Museum of the Marine in Jacksonville, N.C., set out to right the wrong.  He researched the history of the road, and found the order changing the name from "Florence Road" to "Fraser Road."

On June 22, 2007, during a ceremony rededicating Camp Johnson in the name of the Montford Point Marines, Kimball, flanked by a new street sign and a picture of Fraser, restored the name Fraser Road.

Perhaps Kimball summed it up best in his speech at the ceremony.

"We will ensure that the road again will serve as a constant reminder to the Marines that train here to go in harm's way, of the sacrifice not only of Corporal Gilbert Fraser, but of all the black Marines of his generation who called Montford Point home, and endured great adversity in the service of a now-grateful nation."

NOTE:  Gilbert "Pickles" Fraser was inducted into the Virginia Union University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.