NO MORE. HERE'S ABC'S T.J. HOLMES. >> THIS BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPH, MY HANDSOME GRANDFATHER, PRIVATE MAURICE BURNS, VERY HANDSOME GENTLEMAN. >> Reporter: MALLORY BERGER ALWAYS KNEW HER LATE GRANDFATHER WAS A U.S. VETERAN, BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL LAST YEAR SHE LEARNED ABOUT HIS HISTORIC LEGACY. >> SOMETHING LED ME TO BELIEVE, YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK PAPA WAS A MONFORD POINTER. >> Reporter: THE PONFORD POINT MARINES, THE COUNTRY'S FIRST BLACK MARINES. UNTIL 1942, BLACK MEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO JOIN THE CORPS. >> THEY WERE THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST AND THE TOUGHEST, AND I SAID, THAT'S ME. >> Reporter: AN ESTIMATED 20,000 STRONG. BUT THE U.S. MILITARY FAILED TO KEEP RECORDS FOR ALL BUT 2,000 OF THEM. THAT'S 18,000 PIONEERING AMERICAN HEROES NEARLY FORGOTTEN. UNTIL NOW. >> I USED TO BE OFFENDED WHEN I WOULD READ ABOUT THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN AND THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS. I SAID, THEY'RE ALL RECOGNIZED, I DON'T SEE NO BLACK MARINES. THAT USED TO BOTHER ME. >> Reporter: BERGER AND MANY OTHERS ARE ON A MISSION TO FIND THE REMAINING LIVING MONFORD POINT MARINES AND THE FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED. THEIR STORY, ONE OF ADVERSITY. THOSE FIRST MARINES SEGREGATED FROM WHITE COUNTERPARTS, FACING BRUTAL DISCRIMINATION DURING TRAIN ASKING DEPLOYMENT. >> ONCE YOU CAME IN THAT GATE, YOU FORGOT ABOUT YOUR NAME. YOU WERE EITHER "BOY" OR [ BLEEP ]. >> THE IDEA WAS FRUSTRATE YOU SO MUCH YOU'D QUIT AND GO HOME, OR STAY IN. >> Reporter: 20,000 STAYED. MANY DEPLOYED TO COMBAT MISSIONS DURING WORLD WAR II. >> PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, HE SAYS, "MEN, YOU HAVE BROKEN RECORDS THAT THE WHITE MARINES HAVE HAD FOR YEARS, SEND THEM OVERSEAS." >> Reporter: IN 2011, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, AWARDING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL COLLECTIVELY TO THE MONFORD POINT MARINES. >> VERY EMOTIONAL DAY. TO BE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, RECOGNIZED. >> Reporter: AND THIS YEAR, ON THE 80th ANNIVERSARY, FIVE ORIGINAL MEMBERS AND 11 FAMILIES OF DECEASED MONFORD POINTERS RECEIVED REPLICAS OF THAT CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. >> I STOOD ON THE SHOULDERS OF MY GRANDFATHER. TO SEE THEM, TO SEE THE ONES THAT ARE STILL HERE, IT IS JUST LIKE REACHING BACK IN HISTORY, KNOWING I CAME FROM THAT. I CAME FROM THEM. AND IT'S UTTERLY AMAZING. >> SO IT READS "FOR OUTSTANDING PERSEVERANCE AND COURAGE THAT INSPIRED SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE MARINE CORPS." >> IF I COULD SAY ANYTHING TO MY GRANDFATHER TODAY -- WE DID IT. WE DID IT. >> OUR THANKS TO T.J. "OUR AMERICA: MISSION