Col. Herbert L. Brewer and the United States Marine Corps: A Man of Many Firsts

Using extensive interviews with Colonel Herbert L. Brewer and other African American Marines, this article chronicles the life of the first African American to ascend to the rank of Major, Lt. Colonel as well as Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Brewer enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after it was forced to accept Blacks. This article traces Brewer’s infatuation with the Marine Corps as a child to his enlistment after high school to his war time experience in WWII and his rise through the lily white ranks of arguably the most racist branch of the United States military.