Eugene McNeil Sr. was one of Atmore’s most innovative businessmen

Just a few weeks ago, Cpl. Eugene McNeil Sr. was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for his service in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) during World War II.

The Atmore native was a member of the Montford Point Marines, the USMC’s first black recruits. He and his brothers in arms not only played a significant role in overcoming barriers thrown up by Japanese troops on numerous islands and atolls in the Pacific Ocean, they also swung the first hammer in breaking down racial barriers in the U.S. military.

The entire Montford Point unit (named because they trained at Montford Point, N.C., just a few miles from Camp Lajeune, where white marines were trained) was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2012. President Barack Obama was the driving force behind awarding an individual medal to each of the 20,000 men who trained at the segregated base before federal law mandated that black recruits get the same training, at the same training sites, as whites.

One of the major factors in that was the performance of the unit, which fought at Peleliu, one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific campaign, as well as on Okinawa and other Japanese-held real estate. According to the World War II Museum website, the black soldiers were able to retake a Japanese airfield at Peleliu, where several white Marines were pinned down by vicious enemy fire.

McNeil’s war record is impressive enough, but his only living son said it was his father’s business acumen and drive that would become his most-lasting legacy.

“I remember when he opened his store on Carver Avenue,” said James McNeil, youngest of five children born to Cpl. McNeil and Ollie Montgomery McNeil and one of only two still living. “I went to work at the store for $7 a day. I couldn’t play basketball like the other boys. But he was a smart businessman and he instilled a lot in me while I was working at the store.”

One of the lessons he learned was to not put all your eggs in one basket, said James, who owns several rental properties and is involved in other commercial ventures.

“He opened McNeil Grocery,” remembered the family’s youngest member. “You could buy your groceries, but you could also get your car washed, your oil changed, a tire changed or a new battery. He even had a walk-in meat cooler, and people would come from Pensacola (Fla.) to buy meat from him.”

That wasn’t all McNeil’s offered.

“He sold cars, too,” laughed James. “Some people said he was Walmart before there was a Walmart, and I guess he was. It was just like Walmart; he was one of the first to put several different businesses in one location like that.”

James said his father was passionate about two things – business, and service to his country. The second thing caused him to delay both his education and his debut as a more than capable business operator.

“Daddy went to Escambia County Training School,” he explained. “He left school in the 10th grade (1943) and enlisted in the Marines. When the war was over, he came back and finished his education. That was awesome.”

He noted, also, that his father’s lifetime desire to become a successful business owner never waned, not even when he was overseas.

“He had a business mind,” said James. “He looked like and talked like a businessman. He always had a pen in his pocket, and a notepad. They say he even wanted to start a store while he was still over there (in the Pacific Theater). When he opened McNeil’s here in Atmore, he wanted to get as close to downtown as he could. He just knew business.”

The 2022 Atmore Area Hall of Fame inductee and his sister, Atmore City Council District 3 representative Eunice Johnson, agreed that their father taught them by example to care for others.

“I am so blessed to have been raised and inspired by my father, who taught us moral values,” said Eunice.

“He helped a lot of people here in Atmore,” said James. “If a person had no money or no gas, he would give them money or gas. I learned that from him. In a lot of ways, I’m just like him.”

Both siblings attended the August 30 ceremony at which the medal was awarded by officials of the Mobile Chapter of the National Montford Point Marine Association, as did the former Marine’s sister, Minnie Parker.