Black Marine's WWII service honored 80 years later
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Sherman Kinney, Jr. is being posthumously recognized at TQL Stadium on Saturday. Photos: Courtesy of Laura Kinney-Porter
Over eight decades after 18-year-old Sherman Kinney, Jr. left home to serve his country in a segregated Marine Corps, his family will accept a Congressional Gold Medal on his behalf.
Why it matters: The Cincinnati native went on to become a businessman, public servant and civic leader, but his military service was not honored in his lifetime.
Driving the news: Kinney will be posthumously recognized Saturday during Hamilton County Veterans Appreciation Day at TQL Stadium.
Flashback: He was among the first Black men admitted into the U.S. Marine Corps, training at segregated Camp Montford Point in North Carolina.
- Nearly 20,000 Black Marines trained there between 1942 and 1949, serving a country that did not yet afford them equal rights.
- Congress collectively awarded the Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal for their sacrifice and service.
What she's saying: Granddaughter Laura Kinney-Porter grew up knowing her grandfather had served in World War II, but didn't know the significance of where he served.
- She began researching about a year ago and located over 140 pages of records from the National Archives — enlistment documents, assignments, photographs and even letters his mother wrote while her teenage son was away serving.
- "Our family knew that Sherman served in the Marines during World War II, but we didn't fully understand the significance of his service as a Montford Point Marine," Kinney-Porter tells Axios.
- The records, she says, offer a window into what he experienced as a young Black Marine during segregation — and helped her see differently the life he built afterward.
Back in Cincinnati, Kinney founded S.K. Janitorial Service, advocated for minority-owned businesses and worked in state and city government.
- His service continued through the Cincinnati NAACP, neighborhood organizations, Big Brothers, youth athletics, the City of Cincinnati and efforts supporting Black entrepreneurs and young people.
- Kinney and his wife, Mattie Bell Kinney, a civil rights leader and community advocate, raised their family in North Avondale.
- Their home became a gathering place for family, neighbors, young people and civic and civil rights leaders.
The bottom line: Generations after Kinney put on a Marine uniform, his family is helping ensure the significance of his service — to his country and to Cincinnati — is no longer overlooked.
- "Through this process," Kinney-Porter says, "I realized that Sherman deserved his own flowers."