[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 34 (Thursday, February 23, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E416-E417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           BLACK HISTORY MONTH

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                               speech of

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 22, 1995
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, today, as we celebrate Black History Month, I 
would like to recognize 258 African-American World War II veterans who 
have wrongfully had to live with the shame of being mutineers. For over 
50 years, some of these men have hidden their past, when it should be 
proudly and widely shared with the rest of our country.
  In 1944, when our Nation was at war with one of the world's most 
infamous racists--Adolph Hitler--almost all the men assigned to load 
munitions onto Liberty ships in this country were black. Upon their 
enlistment, many of the black naval recruits expected to be trained as 
sailors and go to sea, but instead, were assigned without proper 
training to the menial and dangerous work at the Port Chicago Naval 
Weapons Station in the San Francisco Bay area. During their stint at 
Port Chicago black sailors were quickly introduced to the 
discriminatory attitude of the Navy.
  Then on July 17, at 10:18 p.m., two explosions with a force equal to 
the bomb dropped on Hiroshima nearly leveled the area. Two military 
cargo ships loaded with ammunition and the entire Port Chicago 
waterfront were vaporized by the blast and literally disappeared from 
the face of the earth. The blast left 320 dead, of which 202 were 
black. After a relatively short investigation, the cause of the 
explosion was never identified.
  Shortly afterward, another tragedy ensued. On August 9, after 
spending several weeks picking up the remains of their friends, the 
surviving black sailors were ordered to return to loading ammunition at 
Mare Island under the same unsafe conditions that sparked the explosion 
in July. Afraid, 258 of them refused to comply and were immediately 
imprisoned on a barge. Several days later, after being threatened with 
the death penalty, 208 of them agreed to return to work. The remaining 
50 were charged--not with disobeying an order--but with mutiny, an act 
punishable by death.
  The court-martial proceedings were ``one of the worst frame-ups we 
have come across,'' wrote NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall in his 
appeal on behalf of the men. The shame of these mutiny trials also 
aroused the passion and activism of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt when 
she wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Navy asking for leniency in 
the sentencing of the men. Mrs. Roosevelt was one voice 
among many who joined in the campaign on behalf of the convicted Port 
Chicago sailors. Recent revelations discovered by Oakland, CA, author 
Robert Allen, Ph.D., fully exposed the racial segregation and bias in 
the Navy 
 [[Page E417]] and strongly support Justice Marshall's belief that the 
black sailors did not receive a fair trial because of their race.
  The court-martial convictions of these African-American sailors was 
not only a great injustice, but also an event in our country's history 
that should be duly recognized. Historians believe that the Port 
Chicago explosion and the following events helped speed the 
desegregation of the military by President Truman. As we well know, 
this action earned him a place in our history books as a great advocate 
of civil rights. However, the men who valiantly protested the 
conditions in Port Chicago, have had to live with the shame of being 
mutineers.
  In recent years, Congress initiated efforts to secure a review of 
these convictions based on new evidence that demonstrated significant 
racial prejudice in the trial proceedings. On January 7, 1994, the Navy 
refused to overturn the convictions following a review mandated by 
legislation approved by Congress. Although the Navy found that racial 
discrimination had existed, it decided there was no basis for 
overturning the convictions. More recently, Congressmen Ronald Dellums, 
George Miller, and myself have urged President Clinton to consider 
expunging their records.
  Many of these veterans and their families have lived with this unjust 
decision for many years. It is time for the United States to admit to 
this national disgrace and remove the stigma of dishonor from these 
brave men. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
contribution of these civil rights leaders to our country.


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