From the Dec. 28, 2009, USA Today.
The United States' newest national park consists of just 5 acres along the Sacramento River on a military base in northern California. It is the site of the worst home-front disaster where 320 died, about two-thirds black, in a munitions explosion.
Fifty blacks were later court-martialed for refusing to return to work, something that had a huge impact on racial segregation in the military.
President Obama signed legislation establishing Port Chicago Naval magazine National Memorial as a full unit of the National Park System. As a result, federal dollars, rangers and a visitors center will be at the site in Concord, California.
Two hundred and two black cargo handlers were loading explosives, incendiary bombs, depth charges and ammunition aboard ships bound for the Pacific Theater. These men had no training in handling explosives and were commanded by white officers. They had been ordered to move fast as the job as the result of a bet among the officers as to whose men could get it done first.
About Time. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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