Charles Cargile “C. C.” Hall was born in Madison, Georgia in 1925. He was drafted in 1943 and enlisted with the Marines at Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina, among the first African-Americans to serve in the Corps. His World War II service included stints at Guam and Hawaii and he was honorably discharged in 1946. After the war, he received a degree from Savannah State and went on to receive a Masters Degree from Columbia University in New York.
He came to Fitzgerald to teach at Monitor High School after completing his education, and he never left. Working a side job at Riggs Funeral Home to supplement his teaching salary, he eventually became a partner. When Mr. Riggs died in 1959, Hall became the sole owner and renamed it Hall’s Funeral Home. The business remains successful today, though at 99 years old Mr. Hall isn’t involved in day to day operations. Throughout the years, he has also been actively involved in civil rights issues.
In 2012 Mr. Hall and other surviving Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Obama. He has been a respected businessman in Fitzgerald for over 65 years and has received numerous honors for his service. Part of Monitor Drive was even renamed C. C. Hall Honorary Drive in tribute.
Thanks to my father for getting this photograph.
Salute to Mr. C. Hall. For his service to the Fitzgerald/Ben Hill community and for his service to America in the segregated Marine Corp as a Montford Point Marine. I was born in Fitzgerald and spent most summers and holidays there until adulthood. He once told my nephew and myself…”you look good…act like you look…Sage advice that has remained with me since. That was during the time of my grand daddies passing back in the early 2000s and we had just finishing viewing him.
Thank you for your service Mr. Hall. You are truly an inspiration to so many. You always worked for what you wanted and were a success at it. God Bless you sir.
A life well lived, and an inspiration to many. From small-town Madison, GA, to Savannah to NY, then back to small-town Fitzgerald: Life would not have been east in those days, particularly for a young black man. He illustrates the principle that “Success is 2% Inspiration and 98% Perspiration. His students were lucky to have him as their teacher, and Fitzgerald that he made his home there.
Thanks Brian! Great information on so many levels. I wonder if he’s holding a Marine hat.