FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya.
Last weekend, a large crowd gathered at Port Chicago in Northern California. They came to honor the 320 U.S. sailors who died there in ammunitions explosion during World War II. The vast majority of those casualties were African-American. In addition, 50 African-American men were court-martialed in the days that followed the explosion. They were charged with mutiny because they refused to load any more ammunitions. The incident itself and the racial tension that followed have largely faded from public memory. But this week, a bill was introduced in Congress that would change that. The measure would give a portion of Port Chicago a national park status. It was brought by Democrat George Miller of California.
Congressman, welcome.
Representative GEORGE MILLER (Democrat, California): Thank you.
CHIDEYA: So we're going to talk more about the explosion itself in a moment. But why did you decide to throw your weight behind this bill and now?
Rep. MILLER: Well, I think it's almost the (unintelligible) bill to enhance the memorial. It's growing - it's drawing more and more attention. People are becoming aware of the sense of it in American history, certainly as people review the home front and what was taking place. In the United States, here was this massive explosion that very few people know about that changed the history of, certainly, of the Navy and of the country.
CHIDEYA: So as I understand it, there's already a monument on the site commemorating those who died. What would your measure add?
Rep. MILLER: Well, we would - we want to provide for better accessibility to the site. It was part of the Naval Weapons Station that has been closed down. And as that is transferred for public use, we would like to make sure that we have the ability to provide for visitor services to the memorial, general access to the memorial, with all of it that's very difficult today. But we think that the increased interest in the site now justify that.
CHIDEYA: The men that were court-martialed in the days that followed the explosion, is there any will, is there any desire to have them exonerated posthumously?
Rep. MILLER: Well, we've have that discussion and I think that we will probably make a decision about that, you know, in the coming months. We did work on the pardon and successfully got the pardon for Freddie Meeks, who was surviving at the time. I had the chance to meet with him and to talk to one or two others. People felt that, at that time, his pardon was symbolic of the rest of the individuals. But there has been people who wanted to go forth and to see whether or not we could get a pardon for the rest of them posthumously, recognizing their role in history.
CHIDEYA: Why, specifically, did you get involved? What's in your heart that makes this important to you?
Rep. MILLER: Well, this is an event that took place now in my congressional district, not very far from my home. I heard about it as a child. I only heard about it as people discuss the awe, the explosion, and the size of the explosion, and what happened in the community as a result of the explosion in terms of how people responded to it.
Never did I hear until I was in Congress many, many years later that this was an explosion that killed a significant number of people, these 320 sailors. But it were then an incredible story with huge racial overtones about what happened after the explosion, why those men might have been killed, what situation they were put in. And then later, the sailors who refused to go back to work before they could be assured that there were safety procedures in place and therefore they were prosecuted. And that part of the story was never part of the general discussion as the history of the explosion in the community where I've lived in Martinez, next door to Port Chicago.
CHIDEYA: Well, Congressman Miller, thanks so much for your time.
Rep. MILLER: Thank you.
CHIDEYA: That was Congressman George Miller of California. He introduced a bill this week that would turn much of Port Chicago into a national park.
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