Local Men from Wilmington Casualties in Port Chicago Explosion in 1943-- Part 1

From the July 16, 2013, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Local men among casualties of epic World War II disaster" by Wilbur D. Jones Jr.

On July 17, 1943, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California exploded, obliterating ships and killing 320 naval, maritime and civilian personnel.  Almost 400 were wounded.  Damage from the blast extended out to 50 miles.

Two hundred and two blacks were among the dead.  The deaths from this one event accounted for 15% of all black military personnel killed in the war.  Two of them were from Wilmington.  Seaman First Class James Henry Nixon and Seaman second Class James Jackson.

The explosion had a lot to do with the military's racial policies of the time.  Most of the laborers were black sailors who received little training and they had to work under very unsafe conditions.

--GreGen