IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 616 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the necessity 
to publically exonerate the African American sailors of the United States 
Navy who were tried and convicted of mutiny in connection with their 
service at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Concord, California, 
during World War II in order to further aid in healing the racial 
divide that continues to exist in the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2016 
Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself and Ms. LEE) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard-
ing the necessity to publically exonerate the African 
American sailors of the United States Navy who were 
tried and convicted of mutiny in connection with their 
service at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Concord, 
California, during World War II in order to further 
aid in healing the racial divide that continues to exist 
in the United States. 
Whereas, on July 17, 1944, the deadliest home-front disaster 
of World War II occurred at the Port Chicago Naval 
Magazine in Concord, California, when an explosion at 
the naval facility killed or wounded 710 people, 435 of 
whom were African-American; 
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Whereas this single stunning disaster accounted for more 
than 15 percent of all African-American naval casualties 
during World War II; 
Whereas, after the disaster, 258 African-American survivors 
of the explosion refused to resume the loading and un-
loading of ammunition at the naval facility, citing inad-
equate training and the use of unsafe practices; 
Whereas, according to a United States Navy report, ‘‘the ac-
tual work of loading ammunition and explosives aboard 
the ships was performed exclusively by Afro-Americans 
under the supervision of white officers and Afro-Amer-
ican petty officers’’; 
Whereas, according to a United States Navy report, ‘‘the rou-
tine assignment of Afro-American enlisted personnel to 
manual labor was clearly motivated by race and premised 
upon the mistaken notion that they were intellectually in-
ferior and thus incapable of meeting the same standards 
as their white counterparts’’; 
Whereas one of the ships was loaded with some 4,600 tons 
of ammunition and high explosives, some weighing 650 
pounds with activating mechanisms or fuses installed; 
Whereas at that time there was no formal training in safe 
methods of ammunition handling given to enlisted men; 
Whereas the Navy failed to adequately provide these enlisted 
men with the tools necessary to operate under safe work-
ing conditions, even after the explosion occurred; 
Whereas, weeks before the explosion, the longshoremen’s 
union warned the Navy that there would be a disaster if 
the Navy continued to use untrained seamen to load am-
munition, and offered to send experienced longshoremen 
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to train Navy recruits in safe handling of ammunition, 
but this offer was ignored by the Navy; 
Whereas subsequent research has confirmed the use of unsafe 
ammunition loading methods at the naval facility at the 
time and has documented the existence of pervasive racial 
prejudice in the United States Navy during World War 
II; 
Whereas according to the book ‘‘The Port Chicago Mutiny’’ 
by Dr. Robert Allen, a worker described Port Chicago as 
a ‘‘slave outfit,’’ adding that ‘‘we were considered a cheap 
labor force from the beginning’’; 
Whereas White officers would encourage African-American 
sailors to compete while loading ammunition and explo-
sives while officers placed bets among themselves; 
Whereas following the explosion, many of the African-Amer-
ican survivors expected to be granted survivors’ leave be-
fore being reassigned to regular duty; 
Whereas such leaves were not granted, even for those who 
had been hospitalized, and all African-American men 
were to be sent back to work loading ammunition under 
the same officers as before; 
Whereas White officers were allowed to go home for 30-day 
leaves; 
Whereas 50 sailors of the United States Navy, all African- 
American men, ultimately were tried and convicted of 
mutiny for failing to obey orders to resume loading ac-
tivities; 
Whereas a refusal to work is a passive act of resistance with-
out intent to seize power; 
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Whereas a mutiny is active revolt with the intent of taking 
charge; 
Whereas Thurgood Marshall, then a chief counsel for the 
NAACP, was reported as stating he saw no reason why 
the men should be tried for mutiny, which implies a mass 
conspiracy, rather than on lesser charges of individual 
subordination; 
Whereas Thurgood Marshall blasted the trial by stating that 
the defendants were being tried for mutiny ‘‘solely be-
cause of their race and color’’; 
Whereas the Navy has concluded that there can be ‘‘no doubt 
that racial prejudice was responsible for the posting of 
Afro-American enlisted personnel to the loading divisions 
at Port Chicago’’; 
Whereas similar racial prejudicial bias has been documented 
in the conduct of the trial that resulted in the court-mar-
tial of the sailors at Port Chicago; 
Whereas virtually all of the convicted sailors were released 
from prison early in 1946 and discharged ‘‘under honor-
able conditions,’’ and that the Navy announced then that 
race would no longer be a factor in filling its jobs; 
Whereas, in 1999, Freddie Meeks was pardoned by President 
Bill Clinton in recognition of the injustice he suffered as 
one of the convicted sailors; 
Whereas Mr. Meeks said at the time of his pardon, ‘‘After 
all these years, the world should know what happened at 
Port Chicago. It should be cleared up that we did not 
commit mutiny, and we were charged with that because 
of our race.’’; 
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Whereas, in 2003, the National Park Service dedicated the 
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial at the 
disaster site; 
Whereas the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memo-
rial is not only a tribute to the 320 men who died in this 
World War II explosion, but it also became the touch-
stone for desegregation in the military and the beginning 
of civil rights for all Americans; 
Whereas in a July 17, 2014, letter recognizing the 70th anni-
versary of the tragedy, President Barack Obama, in re-
gards to the African-American sailors at Port Chicago, 
stated ‘‘faced with tremendous obstacles, they fought on 
two fronts—for freedom and equality at home’’; and 
Whereas while all sailors involved in the Port Chicago cases 
have passed away, family members and friends continue 
to request that the sailors be cleared of all charges: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the trial and conviction of 50 African-Amer-
ican sailors of the United States Navy for mutiny in 
connection with their service at the Port Chicago 
Naval Magazine in Concord, California, during 
World War II were wrongfully pursued because of 
racial prejudice, as evidenced by the racial bias in 
the Navy’s original findings in their cases and the 
different treatment afforded to the convicted sailors’ 
White counterparts and officers; and 
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(2) Congress should publically exonerate the 50 
Navy sailors in order to further aid in healing the 
racial divide that continues to exist in the United 
States. 
Æ 
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