BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SR 69|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SR 69
Author: Glazer (D), Hall (D), Huff (R), and Mitchell (D)
Introduced:3/15/16
Vote: Majority
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 4/12/16
AYES: Nielsen, Hueso, Allen, Nguyen, Roth
SUBJECT: The Port Chicago Disaster
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution 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.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1) 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 nearby town of Port Chicago.
2) 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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Page 2
3) 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.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) After the incident, many surviving African American sailors
were transferred to 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 clean up and rebuild the base.
7) Many of the men were in 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.
8) Captain Merrill T. Kline, Officer-in-Charge of Port Chicago,
publicly praised the African American enlisted men and stated
that "the men displayed creditable coolness and bravery under
those emergency conditions."
9) 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.
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10) After the disaster, the preparation of Mare
Island for the arrival of African American sailors included
moving white sailors' barracks away from the loading area to
be clear of ships being loaded in case of another explosion.
11) 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.
12) 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 proceeding, 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 United States Navy; this was
the largest mass mutiny trial in the United States to this
day.
13) After a massive outcry, in January, 1946, 47 of
the sailors were released from prison and "exiled" for one
year overseas before returning to their families.
14) In a 1994 investigation, the 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."
15) In the 1994 investigation, the 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.
16) Congress reduced the death benefit to those
killed in Port Chicago from $5,000 (normal amount) to $3,000,
merely because they were African American.
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17) In many cases, families of sailors killed in
the disaster were never told they were entitled to
consideration for the death of their relative.
18) In 2010, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine
Memorial site was designated as part of the National Park
Service.
19) 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.
This resolution urges the President and the Congress of the
United States:
1) To restore honor to, and rectify mistreatment by the
military of, sailors unjustly blamed for and convicted of
mutiny after the Port Chicago disaster.
2) To provide for full exoneration of those wrongfully
court-martialed and to have their military records cleared of
any wrongdoing or discharge references other than honorable,
for all these sailors, whether still alive or deceased.
Related/Prior Legislation
AJR 33 (Bonilla, 2016) urges recognition that the trial and
conviction of the 50 African American sailors of the Navy for
mutiny regarding the Port Chicago incident were wrongfully
pursued due to racial prejudice, and urges the Congress to
exonerate those sailors to further aid in healing the racial
divide that continues in the United States. The resolution is
pending action in the Assembly.
SJR 21 (Wright, Resolution Chapter 47, Statutes of 2010)
memorialized Congress and the President to vindicate the sailors
unjustly blamed for and convicted of mutiny following the Port
Chicago disaster, and to rectify any related mistreatment.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/13/16)
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
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/13/16)
None received
Prepared by:Wade Cooper Teasdale / V.A. / (916) 651-1503
4/15/16 14:10:36
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