Third Time's the Charm

Currently there are 405 units in the National Park Service. As of today we have visited 111 of them together as family! We checked off our latest one with a tour of Port Chicago Naval Magazine N MEM. 

Port Chicago is one of the more challenging units to visit because it is located within MOTCO (Military Ocean Terminal Concord). When there are active operations at the base, no tours are available to the public for weeks or months at a time. And when it is open, reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance so that the military can conduct background clearance checks. The last two times that we have been in the vicinity, Port Chicago was closed. Needless to say, I was really happy that the timing was finally right for us to visit!

Because our tour didn't start until 1:00PM, we spent the morning at another favorite area destination -- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We arrived early so that when the gates opened, the boys could make a mad dash for SUPERMAN Ultimate Flight. First run of the day, front row! They also had enough time for a ride on Medusa. Happy campers!

From Vallejo, we headed over to John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. Prior to boarding the shuttle for the tour, we watched a short movie in the visitor center about the Port Chicago disaster. 

A piece of plating from one of the ships destroyed in the explosion

On the night of July 17, 1944, while loading munitions onto two cargo ships bound for the Pacific Theater, two massive explosions occurred, obliterating the ships, rail cars, and pier. 320 sailors and civilians were killed, many of whom were enlisted African-American men in the segregated Navy. 

The pilings are all that remain of the pier in Suisun Bay

In the aftermath, concern over unsafe conditions (e.g. lack of training in handling munitions) prompted 258 of the survivors to refuse to return to work. Because this was during the war, they were threatened with death by firing squad for mutiny. Eventually most relented, but 50 men stood trial. NAACP attorney (and future Supreme Court Justice) Thurgood Marshall came to help with their defense, but the 50 were convicted and given sentences of 8-15 years. After the war the Navy granted them clemency, but the convictions were not overturned. The Port Chicago disaster and subsequent trial shed light on the injustice of racial segregation in the military, helping to bring about an end to the practice.

We waited in the shuttle for quite awhile to be granted access to the base -- apparently private security was trying to apprehend someone who had jumped the fence. Ranger Thad Shay took the opportunity to give us a lot of background information on the site and answer questions, which really added to our visit. 

Rail cars would bring the munitions to Port Chicago, where they would be parked in revetments

Some of the revetments had magazines built into them to store munitions

The memorial is inscribed with the names of those who perished in the disaster

Ranger S asked the boys to help fold the tattered flag that had been
flying over the memorial, and then gave it to them as a
memento of our visit

While there really isn't much to see here, learning about Port Chicago and its place in history made a big impression on all of us!