The first African Americans to serve in the US Marine Corps held their annual dinner Sunday to celebrate their uniquely proud legacy. NY1's Erica Ferrari filed the following report.

The Montford Point Marines were among the many thousands who risked their lives in World War II, including at the battle of Iwo Jima.

Before battle, they were forced to attend boot camp at a segregated base at Montford Point, North Carolina.

Sunday in Queens Village, the New York metropolitan chapter of the Montford Point Marines held its annual dinner to celebrate the legacy of the brave veterans.

The US Marine Corps was the last branch of the US military to accept African Americans. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with a delegation of African-American leaders and agreed to full integration of the US Armed Forces. But desegregation of the military wasn't ordered until 1948.

"Although they were allowed in they were not allowed to train with their white counterparts," said James Maillard of the New York Chapter of Montford Marines.

"There were nearly 20,000 Marines that went through Montford Point from 1942 to 1949 Of those, less than 300 are alive," said Colonel Stephanie Smith of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Smith's father, Corporal Ernest Smith, is one of the remaining Montford Marines and was beaming with pride over the accomplishments of his daughter -- the highest-ranking African-American woman in the Marine Corps.

"I'm very proud," Smith said.

The achievements of the unsung heros are finally being recognized as they are now seeking the Congressional Gold Medal.

"Many people have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Triple Nickles. But the Montford Point marines are equally as deserving," Smith said.

"They fought for their country at a time when freedoms were denied of them. They put their lives on the line and suffered degradation, humiliation simply because of the color of their skins," said Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Terrance Holliday.

Almost seven decades later, most of the Montford Point Marines have passed away, but the surviving veterans say they are a part of African-American history that must be recognized.