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Statement by Secretary
of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the Exoneration of American Sailors
Unjustly Accused After the Port Chicago Tragedy of 1944 July 17, 2024 Today,
the Department of Defense has moved to rectify an old injustice—and face up
to a painful episode in our own history. I
applaud the Secretary of the Navy’s decision to exonerate 258 Black Sailors
who were unjustly court-martialed in the wake of the devastating explosion at
the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, which killed 320 Sailors on
July 17, 1944. After the blast, these 258 Sailors refused to keep loading
munitions in the same unsafe and inhumane conditions that contributed to the
catastrophe. Eighty years later, we recognize that those 258 Sailors were
right, and the segregated Navy that unnecessarily risked their lives was
wrong. The
NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others recognized the case
as a travesty at the time. The Department of Defense must continue to learn
from our past, and today’s decision reflects our commitment to reckoning with
our history—even when it is painful. I
am deeply grateful for all the people of conscience in the U.S. Navy who have
worked diligently to make this day possible, and to the advocates and family
members who have pushed hard for so many decades to remedy this injustice. We
honor the memory of the 320 dedicated Americans who lost their lives in the
Port Chicago explosion, and we honor the service of the 258 brave Americans
who refused afterward to bend to racist and cruel treatment. The Department
of Defense must always ensure that our Service members, our military
families, and our civilian employees are treated with fairness and dignity,
especially within our military justice systems. |
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