Port Chicago 50
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Surname/tag: black_heritage
See also: Space:Port Chicago Disaster, 17 Jul 1944
On July 17, 1944, a tragic explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine at Port Chicago, California, killed 320 sailors and civilians and injured 390 more. Roughly two-thirds of the victims were African-Americans.
The following month, hundreds of servicemen (many transported from Port Chicago) refused to load munitions at the nearby Mare Island Naval Shipyard due to safety concerns following the explosion. After three days of detention in the brig, 50 African-American servicemen continued to refuse to load munitions. In September the "Port Chicago 50" were charged with disobeying orders and making a mutiny, which carried penalties up to death.
All 50 were found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor followed by dishonorable discharge. The other 208 servicemen who initially refused to load munitions lost three months of pay.
However, 47 of the Port Chicago 50 were released in 1946 after the end of the war, and most were granted "discharges under honorable conduct." One member of the group, Freddie Meeks, received a Presidential pardon (1999).
Members of the Port Chicago 50
(Link pages when created, include in-line research notes)
William E. Banks (b. 1924)
Arnett Baugh (b. 1925)
Morris Berry (b. 1924, here but unsure if still living)
Martin A. Bordenave (b. 1925, history interview, from New Orleans, unsure if still living)
Robert L. Burnage
Charles L. David, Jr
George W. Diamond
Kenneth C. Dixon
Julius Dixon
John H. Dunn
Melvin W. Ellis
William Fleece
James Floyd
Ernest J. Gaines
John L. Gipson
Charles C. Gray
Ollie L. Green
Harry E. Grimes
Herbert Davis
Frank L. Henry
Richard W. Hill
Theodore King
Perry L. Knox
William H. Lock
Miller Matthews
Augustus P. Mayor
Howard McGee
Lloyd McKinney
Alphonso McPherson
Cecil Miller
Edward Saunders
Joseph R. Small
William C. Suber
Edward L. Waldrop
Charles S. Widemon
Albert Williams, Jr.
Research Sources
76th anniversary story with list of names
Dr. Robert Allen Port Chicago Papers
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USBH Project leaders: please let me know if I'm doing something sideways!
Thanks! Emma