BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Jim Nielsen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SR 69 Hearing Date: 4/12/16
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|Author: |Glazer |
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|Version: |3/15/16 |
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|Urgency: | |Fiscal: | |
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|Consultant:|Wade Teasdale |
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Subject: The Port Chicago Disaster
DESCRIPTION
Summary:
Urges the President and the Congress of the United States to
exonerate, clear the records of, restore honor to, and rectify
federal military mistreatment of African-American sailors
unjustly convicted of mutiny regarding the 1944 Port Chicago
disaster.
COMMENT
1)Joint Authors : Senators Glazer, Hall, Huff and Mitchell.
2)Legislative Findings :
a) On the night of July 17, 1944, two transport vessels
loading ammunition at the Port Chicago naval base on the
Sacramento River in California were suddenly engulfed in a
gigantic explosion, the incredible blast of which wrecked
the naval base and heavily damaged the town of Port
Chicago, located 1.5 miles away.
b) Everyone on the pier and aboard the two ships was killed
instantly-some 320 American naval personnel, 200 of whom
were African American enlisted men; and another 390
military and civilian personnel were injured, including 226
African American enlisted men.
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c) The two ships and the large loading pier were totally
annihilated and an estimated $12,000,000 in property damage
was caused by the huge blast.
d) This disaster accounted for nearly one-fifth of all
African American naval casualties during the whole of World
War II and was the worst home-front disaster of the war.
e) The specific cause of the explosion was never officially
established by a Court of Inquiry, in effect clearing the
officers-in-charge of any responsibility and, insofar as
any human cause was invoked, laying the burden of blame on
the shoulders of the African American enlisted men who died
in the explosion.
f) Following the incident, many surviving African American
sailors were transferred to nearby Camp Shoemaker where
they remained until July 31, 1944, when two of the
divisions were transferred to naval barracks near Mare
Island and another division returned to Port Chicago to
help with cleaning up and rebuilding the base
g) Many of these men were in a state of shock, troubled by
the vivid memory of the horrible explosion; however, they
were provided no psychiatric counseling or medical
screening, except for those who were obviously physically
injured; none of the men, even those who had been
hospitalized with injuries, were granted survivor leaves to
visit their families before being reassigned to regular
duties; and none of these survivors were called to testify
at the Court of Inquiry
h) Captain Merrill T. Kline, Officer-in-Charge of Port
Chicago, issued a statement praising the African American
enlisted men and stating that "the men displayed creditable
coolness and bravery under those emergency conditions
i) After the disaster, white sailors were given 30 days'
leave to visit their families-according to survivors, this
was the standard for sailors involved in a disaster-while
only African American sailors were ordered back to work the
next day to clean and remove human remains
j) After the disaster, the preparation of Mare Island for
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the arrival of African American sailors included moving
white sailors' barracks away from the loading area in order
to be clear of the ships being loaded in case of another
explosion.
aa) The survivors and new personnel who later
were ordered to return to loading ammunition expressed
their opposition, citing the possibility of another
explosion; the first confrontation occurred on August 9,
1944, when 328 men from three divisions were ordered out to
the loading pier; the great majority of the men balked, and
eventually 258 were arrested and confined for three days on
a large barge tethered to the pier.
bb) Fifty of these men were selected as the
ringleaders and charged with mutiny, and on October 24,
1944, after only 80 minutes of a military court, all 50 men
were found guilty of mutiny-l0 were sentenced to 15 years
in prison, 24 sentenced to 12 years, 11 sentenced to 10
years, and 5 sentenced to 8 years; and all were to be
dishonorably discharged from the Navy; this was the largest
mass mutiny trial in the United States to this day.
cc) After a massive outcry the next year, in
January, 1946, 47 of the Port Chicago men were released
from prison and "exiled" for one year overseas before
returning to their families.
dd) In a 1994 investigation, the United States
Navy stated that "there is no doubt that racial prejudice
was responsible for the posting of only African American
enlisted personnel to loading divisions at Port Chicago"
ee) In the 1994 investigation, the United States
Navy, prompted by Members of Congress, admitted that the
routine assignment of only African American enlisted
personnel to manual labor was clearly motivated by race.
ff) The United States Congress reduced the death
benefit to those killed in Port Chicago from $5,000, the
normal amount given, to $3,000, simply because the sailors
were African American.
gg) In many cases, families of sailors killed in
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the disaster were never told they were entitled to
consideration for the death of their relative.
hh) In 2010, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine
Memorial site was designated as part of the National Park
Service
ii) Despite the gross injustice faced by these
sailors, only one of the men charged with mutiny was given
a pardon by President Clinton in 1998.
3)Resolves :
a) The Senate of California urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to restore honor to, and
rectify the mistreatment by the United States Military of,
any sailors who were unjustly blamed for and convicted of
mutiny after the Port Chicago disaster.
b) The Senate of California urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to provide for the full
exoneration of all those who were wrongfully
court-martialed and having the military records of those
involved cleared of any wrongdoing or discharge references
that were other than honorable, regardless of whether those
sailors are alive or deceased.
3)Related/Prior Legislation :
AJR 33 (Bonilla & Thurmond, 2016) urges recognition that the
trial and conviction of the 50 African American sailors of the
United States Navy for mutiny regarding the Port Chicago
incident were wrongfully pursued because of racial prejudice,
and urges the Congress of the United States to publicly
exonerate those sailors in order to further aid in healing the
racial divide that continues to exist in the United States.
(Pending, Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)
SJR 21 (Wright, Res. Chapter 47, Statutes of 2010)
Memorializes Congress and the President of the United States
to act to vindicate the sailors unjustly blamed for, and the
sailors convicted of mutiny following, the Port Chicago
disaster, and to rectify any mistreatment by the military of
those sailors.
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support:
American G.I. Forum of California
American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veteran Council
Military Officers Association of America - California Council of
Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of American - California State Council
Oppose: None on file
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