Friends of Port Chicago

Congressman George Miller’s legislation to improve management of the Port Chicago National Memorial in Concord, Calif., won approval by the House of Representatives on March 4, moving forward the effort to document and preserve the important events of the WWII historic site.

The Port Chicago National Memorial commemorates the worst home-front disaster of World War II. More than 300 sailors, most of whom were African American, died in a mysterious explosion while loading munitions on to ships bound for the Pacific front. A group of 50 African American sailors who refused to continue loading munitions after the explosion out of fear for their lives were later court-martialed.

“The massive explosion at Port Chicago more than 60 years ago and the events triggered by it helped lead to the desegregation of the U.S. Navy and represented a critical part of America’s civil rights movement,” said Rep. Miller, who represents the area of Port Chicago and has spearheaded congressional efforts for more than 15 years to ensure that the site is properly protected and recognized.

“While Congress already has ensured a memorial at Port Chicago, my new bill would provide further assurances to the sailors and their families that their stories will be preserved and that the site will be properly maintained for the benefit of present and future generations The new designation under this bill brings with it increased stature and, more importantly, the Park Service will be able to budget for the memorial’s needs.”

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WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. George Miller’s bill to improve management of the Port Chicago National Memorial in Concord, CA won the important backing of the National Park Service and key private organizations at a congressional hearing held Sept. 27 on the measure.

The Port Chicago National Memorial is a historic site that commemorates the worst home-front disaster of World War II. More than 300 sailors, most of whom were African American, died in a mysterious explosion while loading munitions on to ships bound for the Pacific front. A group of 50 African American sailors who refused to continue loading munitions after the explosion out of fear for their lives were later court-martialed.

Miller’s bill would increase the National Memorial’s accessibility, provide additional visitor services, and help preserve the site for the benefit of generations to come. “I greatly appreciate the important backing for my bill from the National Park Service, the Friends of Port Chicago, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the well respected individuals who testified today before Congress,” said Miller, who has a long legislative and advocacy track record on Port Chicago, working closely over the years with former sailors and their families who were affected by the explosion and its legal and political aftermath.

“This bill is about securing for future generations the ability to learn about, and learn from, the dramatic events that took place at Port Chicago over 60 years ago and that reverberated for years afterward, ushering in racial desegregation to the United States Navy.”

William D. Shaddox, from the National Park Service, Robert L. Allen, Ph.D., author of the complete history on Port Chicago and Eugene Sayles who was present at the Port Chicago tragedy all testified in strong favor of the bill.

William D. Shaddox, the acting Associate Director of Park Planning, Facilities and Lands for the National Park Serivce testified in support of the bill, saying that it would “provide for a designation that we believe is wholly appropriate for a national memorial that commemorates one of the most significant events that occurred on American soil during World War II.”

Dr. Robert Allen, an African-American historian who wrote The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History, and a Board Member of Friends of Port Chicago National Memorial, spoke of the importance of the site and the events that occurred there.

Dr. Allen said, “The magnitude of the Port Chicago explosion, and its cost in lives and destruction, were front-page news around the nation. But, in the midst of war, of course, new dramatic headlines quickly replace yesterday’s stories. Port Chicago soon faded from the news, and was in danger of being lost to memory. We need a national memorial so that the tragic story of Port Chicago is not forgotten, so that all those who served and died at Port Chicago are remembered and honored for their service to the nation.”

Eugene Sayles was a Seaman First Class at Port Chicago. He was present when thousands of tons of ammunition exploded on the night of July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine. He helped get injured men out of the barracks after the explosion and today he provided a personal perspective on the importance of what happened at the Naval base over 63 years ago.

The blasts instantly killed 320 sailors, wounded hundreds more, and damaged and destroyed merchant ships, the pier, a train, and the buildings of Port Chicago. Less than a month after the tragedy, three divisions were ordered to resume work at a new site a few miles away. Most of the men refused to continue their dangerous tasks until supervision, training, and working conditions were improved. In response, the Navy charged fifty men with conspiring to mutiny; all were convicted.

The majority of the men killed while handling ordinance at Port Chicago, and all of those convicted of mutiny, were African-American. Their courts martial had clear racial implications, and was a turning point in the nation’s history of a segregated military. Following the conviction, Thurgood Marshall, then a lawyer with the NAACP, took up the case. The Port Chicago disaster and its aftermath strongly influenced America’s move towards racial equality, including the Navy’s move toward desegregation in 1945, and President Truman’s 1948 Executive Order desegregating the Armed Forces and guaranteeing “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.”

The legislation, which Miller hopes will be marked up and sent to floor before the end of this Congressional session, directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial as a unit of the National Park System. In addition, when the site is determined to be excess to military needs, this new bill would transfer the property to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior.

In order to improve public access to the Memorial, the legislation authorizes the Interior Department to work with the City of Concord and the East Bay Regional Park District to establish and operate a facility for visitor orientation and parking, administrative offices, and curatorial storage for the Memorial. The bill also directs the Defense Department and the Interior Department to work together to repair storm damage to the site.

Congressman Miller has long championed the Port Chicago issue. He worked for over a decade in Congress on behalf of Port Chicago sailors and their families to preserve the historic site. His legislation in 1992 first designated the site of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine as a national memorial, and his subsequent efforts led to the pardon of one of the Port Chicago sailors. Since 1992, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial has been managed by the National Park Service to remind Americans of the contributions made by the Port Chicago sailors.

Bill would make site of WWII explosion into a national park

By JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press
7/20/2007

SAN FRANCISCO—The site of a World War II explosion that killed 320 people—more than 200 of them black sailors—and sparked enough outrage about the treatment of the black survivors to fuel a movement to desegregate the military could become part of the National Park System under a new bill.

The measure, announced by U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., on Friday, would make Port Chicago Naval Magazine in the eastern San Francisco Bay eligible for federal funding to operate a visitor center, hire educational rangers and maintain aging facilities.

The base is currently affiliated with the national parks, but the new status would give the site increased visibility, Miller said of the bill, announced Thursday. A Saturday ceremony will commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the blast that crippled the West Coast’s main WWII port on the Pacific.

“The events of July 17, 1944 are so important to our nation’s military and racial history that more Americans ought to be able to learn from it, to visit the historic site, and to know that it will be properly maintained for generations to come,” said Miller.

It’s unclear what set off the blast that destroyed the two munitions ships anchored at the base, said Robert Allen, a University of California, Berkeley professor and author of “The Port Chicago Mutiny.”

“Anyone who was close enough to see what happened didn’t survive,” he said. “It was the worst home-front tragedy of World War II.”

It was night, and the dark sky turned bright with the white-hot blaze of more than 5,000 tons of explosives going off at once, said retired sailor Percy Robinson, 82.

Robinson had been in the barracks. The flash made him turn to the windows. A fraction of a second later, a formidable blast of air blew the glass panes into the room. He raised his left arm to protect his eyes, but the rest of his face and upper body was cut so badly that a friend he ran into out side the crumbling building didn’t recognize him, Robinson said.

“But they patched me up and told me to get back to work. I could walk, so I could work,” he said.

Most of the dead—202 men—were black sailors who loaded heavy bombs, ammunitions and other explosives onto ships. They worked with no formal training in handling hazardous materials, and under all white officers, said Allen.

Besides the hard labor, they suffered the indignities of living in a segregated environment. Blacks were not allowed to use the restrooms on the ships they loaded and couldn’t rise to officer ranks, Allen said.

When the explosion scattered body parts among the wreckage, white survivors who asked for a month leave were granted the time off. The black seamen were ordered to clean up the debris, said Allen.

The blast heaped anger on men already frustrated by these circumstances. In response, 258 ammunition loaders, all of them black, defied orders to return to work in the same unsafe conditions, Robinson said.

The Navy responded by imprisoning all 258 men for three days on a barge on San Pablo Bay that was outfitted to hold 75 people, said Allen. The sailors were told that if they didn’t obey orders, they’d be charged with mutiny, which carries a death sentence during wartime.

“They said we got back to work or got shot by a firing squad for mutiny,” said Robinson. “Those were the choices they gave us.”

All but 50 men backed down. The 50 withstood a monthlong military trial, and were found guilty by the white officers in charge after an 80-minute deliberation, said Allen. The sailors got 15 years in federal prison.

Thurgood Marshall, then a lawyer with the NAACP, had watched the trial and started a campaign asking the public to write to the Navy protesting the injustice, Allen said.

“A massive public response began to develop to this situation—hundreds of letters, thousands of names on petitions,” said the historian. “The Navy needed to make some kind of response. They began desegregating right there at Port Chicago.”

First the Navy introduced white munitions loaders at the base. By the end of 1945, they’d desegregated their training facilities. In 1946 the Port Chicago 50, as the men were known, were pardoned in a general amnesty. They had to serve parole—but now they did so on ships that were already desegregated, Allen said.

In 1948, President Truman issued an order desegregating all the Armed Forces.

“Once the Navy got started, it opened the door for other services to fall in line,” said Allen.

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On the Net:

National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/poch/

Naval Historical Center—search for “Port Chicago”: http://www.history.navy.mil

Rep. George Miller: http://www.house.gov/georgemiller

National Park Conservation Association: http://www.npca.org