Transcript for the Piece Audio version of The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History

HOST INTRO:

On July 17th, 1944, a massive explosion flattened the Port Chicago Navel Weapons Depot near San Francisco and shook the entire Bay Area. Some people thought it was an earthquake. Others feared an enemy attack. It was neither. The source of the blast was two "Liberty" ships that were docked at Port Chicago. One of the ships was fully loaded with ammunition. The other was in the process of being loaded. They both exploded with the force of nuclear bombs that would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a year later.

320 men were killed, 390 injured. A majority of the casualties were African-American sailors who had the job of loading ammunition onto the ships at Port Chicago.

The United States Navy was never able to determine the cause of the explosion but a Navy Court of Inquiry indirectly blamed the black sailors.

The court concluded, quote, "The colored enlisted personnel are neither temperamentally nor intellectually capable of handling high explosives." End quote.

Shortly after the explosion, the black munitions loaders who survived were transferred to a nearby base and ordered back to work. Shaken by the death of their workmates and afraid that another explosion might occur, 50 men refused. They were all court martialed, convicted of mutiny and sentenced to up to 15 years of hard labor.

When the war ended, their sentences were suspended as part of a general amnesty. The men returned to civilian life and most tried to put what happened at Port Chicago behind them.

There have been efforts to clear the names of the Port Chicago 50, all unsuccessful. The Navy has made it a policy not to discuss the Port Chicago case except to say that it stands by a three page statement released in January of 1994. That statement, which followed a review of the case ordered by Congress, said, quote, "racial discrimination did play a part in the assignment of African-American sailors to load ammunition (at Port Chicago), and that African-American sailors were subjected to segregated living and working conditions." End quote.

However, the Navy refused to exonerate the sailors concluding that, quote, "racial prejudice and discrimination played no part in the court martial convictions or sentences, and that there was nothing unfair or unjust in the final outcome of any of the Port Chicago court martials." End quote.

All the officers at Port Chicago and all seven members of the Navy court martial were white. None of them is alive today. The only living history of Port Chicago are the black sailors.

You are about to hear from five of them; Albert Williams, Freddie Meeks, Joseph Small, Percy Robinson and Robert Routh (rhymes with mouth). They are all in their early to mid 70's, and one of them, Percy Robinson, is a little hard to understand at times because of throat surgery, unrelated to Port Chicago.

This is their story ...of what happened July 17th, 1944... and what has happened since. It was produced by Dan Collison.

Tape

The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History was produced by Dan Collison and edited by Gary Covino for Long Haul Productions. Special thanks to Albert Williams, Freddie Meeks, Joseph Small, Percy Robinson and Robert Routh.

Since the story was first broadcast, Joseph Small, Albert Williams and Freddie Meeks have died. In 1999, three years before his death and 55 years after the mutiny trial, President Clinton pardoned Freddie Meeks.