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Montford Point Marine and jazz legend posthumously honored with the Congressional Gold Medal

PRE News & Ideas
Published July 19, 2023 at 10:04 AM EDT
Left: Joe Wilder in United States Marine Corps Dress Blues Right: Joe Wilder at Montford Point Camp, LeJune, NC in 1945.
Photos courtesy of Joe Wilder
/
National Museum of American History
Left: Joe Wilder in United States Marine Corps Dress Blues Right: Joe Wilder at Montford Point Camp, LeJune, NC in 1945.

A Montford Point Marine and jazz legend was honored in New York with the Congressional Gold Medal.

American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Joe Wilder was recognized for his service and personal sacrifice during World War II.

Wilder died in 2014 at the age of 92. ABC7 in New York is reporting that his widow and daughter were presented with the medal -- one of the highest civilian honors.

Wilder enlisted in the Marines and was sent to Jacksonville, North Carolina, for training with the first Black men to become Marines -- known as the historic Montford Point Marines.

He was one of the first 1,000 African American men to train under the harsh conditions at the racially segregated base.

Joe Wilder performing with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.
Photograph by Hugh Talman
/
National Museum of American History
Joe Wilder performing with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Initially trained as a sharp shooter, Wilder was then moved to star trumpet soloist and then Marine Corps assistant band master -- the first African American to serve in that role.

Wilder’s first professional tour was before his military service, with Les Hite’s band in 1941. After the war, he recorded and toured with musicians that included Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Jimmie Lunceford and others.