St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1945-03-09

with you from becoming
victims were tried before a seven
man General Court Martial Board,
headed by Rear Admiral H. W.
Osterhaus. The specific charge was
that the accused refused to load
ammunition on a South Pacific
bound transport on August 9th and
18th at the Naval Ammunition
Magazine at Mare Island, Naval
Ammunition Depot"
The trial lasted thirty-five days,
beginning on September ID, 1914,
and over one thousand pages of
testimony were given by seventeen
witnesses for the Judge Advocate
(the prosecution) and over fifty
witnesses for the defense. This
possibly sets new record for cases
of this kind.
The fifty accused seamen during
the course of the trial were allowed
to testify in their behalf and they
denied the charges of "mutiny, con-
spiracy, and concerted action with
an intent to usurp, subvert, or over
ride superior military authority"
The alleged mutiny followed the
tragic explosion at Port Chicago on
July 18th in which 322 men were
killed, the majority of whom were
Negroes. The fifty seamen who
were sentenced to the long terms
were survivors of this explosion.
The record shows that twelve of
them had been hospitalized as a re-
suit of the holocaust, and several
others had received first aid treat
ment for bruises, burns and shock.
In his summary Chief Defense
Counsel 1t. G.. E. Votlmann de-
scribed how the defendants were in
state of agitation and genuine
fear after the explosion and were
unable to carry on their work with
the efficiency they had shown be-
fore the tragedy. The shock from
which these men were suffering was
similar to shell shock and it was
brought out during the trial and
testimony that on two occasions
outright panic occurred in the quar-
tiers (a) when a freight train passed
and cars switched suddenly and (b)
when a truck was being dragged
across the barracks and a bunk &C
cidentally fell. The men stampeded
to the exits and could not be held
by the armed guards.
The failure of the Navy to as
sign these men to some place other
than the immediate scene of the
explosion is an extenuating circum-
stance that even the most bitter and
rabid anti-Negro campaigner will
admit was an objectionable error
on the part of those in charge. The
shock of their experience was too
immediate for these men to be al
lowed to continue their dangerous
work on the very spot, as it were,
that 1922 of them had been blown
to bloody, grisly bits.
It is reported by Naval personnel
that it is usually the habit of the
Navy to assign men, who have been
in an ammunition explosion or
serious accident, to shore duty or
to a complete change of location
with new duties. Physicians testi-
flying at the trial, said that the de-
PENDANTS should have had months
of rest and, most certainly, change
of scenery or location. Yet it was
brought out that the Navy gave not
one of the fifty men on trial a sur
vivor's furlough or any kind of fur
Tough after the Port Chicago trag-
edy. About half of these men were
assigned to details after the Port
of Chicago explosion to clean up
the debris. This involved the sordid
job of picking up what was left Of
their comrades, a head here, an arm
there, and a portion of a torso. That
must have been hell. And certainly
does not do the Navy record any
good in its treatment of its per-
sonnet regardless of what anyone
else might say Of wartime neces-
sites, etc.
Getting justice for these men is a
job that all fair-minded citizens of
all races should undertake most
willingly. regard it as important
as the Seventh War Loan Drive
which is due to start pretty soon.