Current:Home > ContactU.S. Navy exonerates Black sailors unjustly punished in WWII Port Chicago explosion aftermath -ProfitQuest Academy
U.S. Navy exonerates Black sailors unjustly punished in WWII Port Chicago explosion aftermath
View
Date:2025-04-17 11:17:07
The Port Chicago 50, a group of Black sailors charged and convicted in the largest U.S. Navy mutiny in history, were exonerated by the U.S. Navy on Wednesday, which called the case "fundamentally unfair."
The decision culminates a mission for Carol Cherry of Sycamore, Ill., who fought to have her father, Cyril Sheppard, and his fellow sailors cleared.
The Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, said the sailors' court martial contained "significant legal errors that rendered them fundamentally unfair."
"Yet, for 80 years, the unjust decisions endured. Now, I am righting a tremendous wrong that has haunted so many for so long."
Sheppard was a third-class gunner's mate in the Navy in Port Chicago, California. He and fellow Black sailors in the Bay Area were tasked with a dangerous job they weren't trained to do – loading live munitions onto ships.
"The dangers under which those sailors were performing their duties, loading those ammunition ships without the benefit of proper training or equipment. Also being requested to load those ships as quickly as they possibly could without any sense of the dangers that itself would present, it's just an injustice that, you know, is just wrong," Del Toro told CBS News Chicago.
After Sheppard left work one night, there was an explosion. And then another. Three hundred twenty were killed, and 390 were hurt on July 17, 1944. It was the worst home-front disaster of World War II.
When Sheppard and other Black sailors were ordered to resume the same dangerous work, they refused.
The Port Chicago 50 were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to prison. Cherry said her father was in prison for nearly two years.
Another 206 sailors, who eventually agreed to return to work after being threatened, were convicted on a lesser charge of refusing an order. Two other sailors had their cases dismissed.
Following the 1944 explosion, white supervising officers at Port Chicago were given hardship leave while the surviving Black sailors were ordered back to work. The Navy's personnel policies at the time barred Black sailors from nearly all seagoing jobs. Most of the Navy ordnance battalions assigned to Port Chicago had Black enlisted men and white officers.
None of the sailors lived to see this day.
Wednesday's action goes beyond a pardon and vacates the military judicial proceedings carried out in 1944 against all of the men.
Del Toro's action converts the discharges to honorable unless other circumstances surround them. After the Navy upgrades the discharges, surviving family members can work with the Department of Veterans Affairs on past benefits that may be owed, the Navy said.
When reached by CBS News Chicago, Carol Cherry was boarding a flight from O'Hare International Airport to San Francisco for a ceremony marking 80 years since the disaster.
"The Navy had reached out to me," Cherry said. "I had two different officers call, and they're going to meet me in San Francisco because they have some good news to share.
"We are so delighted. Our dad would be very happy about this. The men and their families are all very deserving of acknowledgment and exoneration. That's the biggest thing.
"He had nothing to be ashamed of. He had nothing to be afraid of. They did the right thing, so I wish he had gotten to the point where he thought he would be seen as a hero, but it was a heroic thing that they did."
- In:
- Chicago
- U.S. Navy
- San Francisco
veryGood! (12499)
Related
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- Angelica Ross commends Issa Rae's 'resilience' in Hollywood amid the racial wealth gap
- 4 alleged weapons smugglers brought to U.S. to face charges after 2 Navy SEALs died in seizure operation
- Professional bowler extradited to Ohio weeks after arrest while competing in Indiana tournament
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- To become the 'Maestro,' Bradley Cooper learned to live the music
- Who has the power to sue Brett Favre over welfare money? 1 Mississippi Republican sues another
- 'Zombie deer disease' cases are rising in the US. Can the disease spread to humans?
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- 'Zombie deer disease' cases are rising in the US. Can the disease spread to humans?
Ranking
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- US promises new sanctions on Iran for its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine, potential missile sale
- Katy Perry, Travis Kelce catch Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Sydney
- Divers retrieve 80-pound brass bell from first U.S. Navy destroyer ever sunk by enemy fire
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Community Opposition and Grid Challenges Slow the Pace of Renewable Efforts, National Survey of Developers Shows
- West Virginia House OKs bill to phase out Social Security tax
- Homeland Security will investigate cause of AT&T outage White House says
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Gisele Bündchen Dating Joaquim Valente: The Truth About Their Relationship Timeline
This Is Your Last Chance To Save an Extra 30% off Michael Kors’ Sale Section, Full of Dreamy Bags & More
Alpha Elite Capital (AEC) Corporate Management, Practitioners for the Benefit of Society
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Jeff Bezos completes 50 million Amazon share sale, nets $8.5 billion
Alaska man found guilty of first-degree murder in violent killing captured on stolen memory card
Virginia House and Senate pass competing state budgets, both diverge from Youngkin’s vision