CONCORD — In tandem with the approaching 75th anniversary of the Port Chicago explosion — the deadliest home-front disaster of World War II — an East Bay Congress member has added an amendment to a federal bill that would exonerate 50 survivors of the accident who were convicted of mutiny for refusing to return to work in unsafe conditions.
The amendment by U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, calls on the Secretary of the Navy to publicly exonerate the “Port Chicago 50” — the group of African-American sailors who refused to go back to the Concord Naval Weapons Station to load and unload dangerous munitions without proper safety training. The amendment was inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 197.
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