[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            DEDICATION OF THE PT. CHICAGO NATIONAL MEMORIAL

                                 ______


                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 19, 1994

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday, 400 
Americans gathered at the site of the worst domestic loss of life 
during World War II to dedicate the Port Chicago National Memorial. 
Those who gathered in Concord, CA, on the 50th anniversary of that 
great tragedy included the survivors of the blast, relatives of those 
who perished, representatives of military and veterans' organizations, 
and many others who came to pay tribute to all those who served, and to 
those who died, at Port Chicago.
  Congress chose to make Pt. Chicago a national monument because this 
little-known place and the obscure catastrophe that occurred there 
because the event, and subsequent events, have great historical 
significance. They demonstrate the home-front impacts of war, and the 
sacrifice of those who served not in the Pacific or the Atlantic, but 
here at home, as well. And the work stoppage that followed the 
explosion, and the resulting trials, help illuminate the legal and 
moral imperfections in our own history.
  The passage of a half century has not lessened the shame of those 
wrongly prosecuted, and the passage of time does not diminish the 
necessity of our setting the record right. There was no mutiny. As one 
of the convicted men said recently, ``We had no weapons, we had no 
pens, we only had ourselves,'' and by themselves, they challenged the 
segregated and racist policies that subjected them to unequal and 
unfair treatment at the hands of white officialdom.
  As we mark the 50th anniversary of this event, I would hope that 
President Clinton will respond to the pleas from the Congress, from the 
survivors, and from the relatives of those who gave their lives at Pt. 
Chicago, and expunge from history the wrongful convictions that have 
followed these men for their entire lives. I am submitting to the 
Record at this time my remarks as delivered at the dedication ceremony, 
and would urge that those who feel similarly motivated by them, join in 
requesting the President to take this action.

            Dedication of the Port Chicago National Memorial

       Mr. [Glenn] Fuller [of the National Parks Service, the 
     Master of Ceremonies], Rev. Sumpter, Admiral Sareeram, 
     Captain Lanning, Director [Roger] Kennedy [of the National 
     Parks Service], Mr. [Morris] Soublet a survivor of the 
     explosion], and all those present here today who served, or 
     are related to those who served at Port Chicago. Today is a 
     special day for all of us.
       Fifty years ago today, as the eyes of the world were 
     trained on the gallant sacrifice of Allied soldiers in 
     Normandy, an event of historic and tragic consequences took 
     place on the spot where we now gather.
       Here, at Port Chicago, as in Normandy, Americans were 
     engaged in the dangerous and essential activities of war.
       There were no Eisenhowers or Montgomerys here at Port 
     Chicago. Instead, there were hundreds of sailors--mostly 
     young black men fighting prejudice and racism, hoping to 
     serve in combat but instead laboring in anonymity.
       For them, there was no dramatic storming of the beaches, no 
     parachute drops into occupied French towns. Instead, they 
     performed the meticulous and tedious job of loading the 
     weapons of war.
       And yet at Port Chicago, as at Normandy, there was courage, 
     there was great danger, and there was death--320 deaths.
       More deaths, here at this spot 50 years ago, than at any 
     other place in America throughout the whole of World War II. 
     Another 390 were injured, many seriously. Much of the town 
     was severely damaged, and the explosion was so horrific that 
     many throughout the Bay Area assumed it was either a Japanese 
     attack or an earthquake.
       For decades, the sacrifice of the men of Port Chicago has 
     been virtually ignored in the historical record of World War 
     II. But with the research of Robert Allen, the documentaries 
     produced by several local television stations, and the 
     actions of the Congress in authorizing this Memorial, we have 
     rescued this dramatic and historic event from the back pages 
     of history, and we have begun to restore the dignity of the 
     men who served at this facility.
       I want to acknowledge the roles of several people who 
     encouraged and facilitated today's dedication ceremony: 
     Congressman Ron Dellums and Pete Stark, who have joined me in 
     every effort to elevate the historic importance of this place 
     and these brave men; Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne 
     Feinstein who, with my other colleagues, have joined me in 
     calling on the president to purge the records of those 
     survivors erroneously and outrageously charged with mutiny, 
     Ray Murray of the National Park Service who expedited 
     construction of the Memorial; John Garcia of Congressman' 
     Stark's staff, who has played a steadfast role in getting 
     this story the attention it deserves; and Lori Sonken and 
     John Lawrence of the staff of the Committee on Natural 
     Resources who performed the staff work to move the 
     legislation.
       In addition, I want to thank Congressman Sid Yates, 
     chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, who 
     made sure we had the money to complete this project in time 
     for the 50th anniversary.
       For most Americans, Port Chicago is an unknown incident. 
     For many who know of the catastrophe, it was a disastrous 
     explosion that killed and disabled nearly 700 brave 
     Americans.
       But Port Chicago was more than an explosion. It was more 
     than a disaster. It is more than the stuff of local legend.
       Today, Port Chicago becomes a National Monument. And that 
     designation not only acknowledges and honors the hundreds who 
     died here, and whose names are forever enshrined on these 
     stones. Fifty years after that terrible night, it also 
     salutes all those who served here and who sacrificed on 
     behalf of the war effort.
       The explosion did not end the Port Chicago story.
       The subsequent work stoppage, the prosecution of black 
     sailors, and the punishment meted out to several dozen 
     sailors are also indelible chapters in the Port Chicago story 
     that helped focus attention on one of the great ironies of 
     our own national history: while we were fighting to end 
     genocide around the world, we had not yet resolved to attack 
     racial prejudice and discrimination here at home.
       Port Chicago helped light the way to the end of segregation 
     in the U.S. military. Discrimination based on race became 
     intolerable after the facts of the working conditions, the 
     explosions, the subsequent courts martial and punishment 
     became well known.
       Yet today, 50 years after the fact, some survivors of the 
     explosion carry not only the memories of that terrible night, 
     not only the tragic recollection of friends and colleagues 
     blown away in that cataclysmic explosion; they still bear 
     their own scars--real and symbolic--from that experience, 
     scars born of a system that sanctioned two different 
     standards of military conduct and military justice.
       In 1948, we put that segregated system behind us. Today, it 
     is time to put the legacy of that system of racial 
     discrimination behind us as well.
       The Secretary of the Navy admits that race played a major 
     role in the decision to assign only black sailors to the 
     dangerous task of loading munitions. No one disputes the 
     inadequate training they received; no one disputes the racism 
     of the assertions that black sailors lacked the intelligence 
     to be trained for the job; no one disputes that the decision 
     to send the black sailors back to the loading operations 
     without recuperative time was racial.
       Events that flow from a tainted origin are, by their 
     nature, tainted. The courts martial were wrong because they 
     were the direct outcome of a system and of orders that were 
     inherently discriminatory in their nature.
       It has taken us half a century to understand and appreciate 
     what the men who served here at Port Chicago--black and 
     white, officer and sailor--did for their country. It took an 
     Act of Congress to recognize the sacrifice made here on July 
     17, 1994.
       Now, as we mark nearly fifty years since the end of that 
     greatest of wars, and as we close the most war-ravaged 
     century in human history, we should commemorate this event 
     not only with the Memorial we dedicate here today, but also 
     by removing the blight on the records of those who served and 
     sacrificed at Port Chicago. Senators Boxer and Feinstein, 
     Congressmen Dellums, Stark and myself have asked President 
     Clinton to expunge the record of those convictions, and on 
     this anniversary, we are hopeful he will take that action 
     soon.
       With the dedication of the Port Chicago National Memorial, 
     a major event in the history of World War II has taken its 
     rightful place in the history of that great conflict. This 
     Memorial serves to remind us, and future generations, of the 
     total national dedication to winning the war against fascism 
     in our mid-century.
       It commemorates how a tiny town was converted into a major 
     munitions shipping facility; how ordinary citizens became 
     extraordinary warriors; and how death, destruction and valor 
     in defense of liberty were found not only on the beaches of 
     Okinawa or in the deserts of North Africa, but on the banks 
     of the Sacramento River as well. It has taken fifty years to 
     achieve this recognition, but today, we confer that honor on 
     this place and those who served.
       Port Chicago shows us that not all the sacrifice was 
     abroad, and reminds us that not all the national monuments 
     need be in Washington, D.C. What made America strong in 1944, 
     and what makes her strong today, is her boundless dedication 
     to improving herself. Perhaps the Port Chicago National 
     Memorial will remind our citizens of the sacrifice of 
     millions of Americans in thousands of towns throughout this 
     nation on behalf of our nation in World War II.
       The dedication of this Memorial reminds us also that war, 
     however necessary and however noble, is a terrible force to 
     loose on mankind. It remind us, too, that when we decide to 
     go to war, the impact is not only on our enemy, but on 
     ourselves as well. At Port Chicago, the impact of World War 
     II was brutally felt and is still felt today by hundreds of 
     survivors; in our own time, the aftermath of our generation's 
     war has followed millions of Americans for a third of a 
     century.
       In this quiet place, looking out over the remnants of what 
     was once a great naval magazine, let us hope that those who 
     come to visit this Memorial contemplate the consequences of 
     that terrible explosion fifty years ago tonight, and 
     rededicate themselves to the ideals and faith for which the 
     sailors of Port Chicago served, and died, and which continue 
     to embody what is best in America.

                          ____________________