80 years after Port Chicago explosion, relatives celebrate exoneration of Black sailors

In the East Bay, there was a commemoration of bravery and sacrifice.

On Saturday the community gathered for the 80th anniversary of the Port Chicago disaster. It killed 320 sailors, many of whom were Black.

The event comes days after the Navy exonerated more than 200 sailors who were wrongfully convicted after the explosion.

A painful chapter in Bay Area history was remembered on Suisun Bay. More than 300 sailors were killed after 4,600 tons of ammunition exploded on a munitions pier. Many survivors, most of them Black, would later face criminal charges.

RELATED: Navy exonerates 256 Black sailors unjustly punished in 1944 after deadly Bay Area port explosion

The Port Chicago incident was one of the largest World War two military disasters. But on this 80th anniversary, there was a new long awaited chapter: exoneration.

It was a word Carol Cherry thought she'd never hear.

"It means vindication. It means honor," she said.

Cherry's late father Cyril was one of the so-called Port Chicago 50, who received an exoneration from the Navy this week. Those sailors refused to resume their dangerous work of loading ships with munitions following the explosion. They said safety issues had not been addressed.

"It means so much to know that he had nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be afraid of. He did the right thing," Cherry said.

MORE: Anniversary marks 75 years since Port Chicago disaster

Seventy-five years ago next week, a quiet naval weapons loading post in the East Bay all but disappeared in a huge fireball, taking hundreds of sailors with it.

Back in 1944, the Navy called the work stoppage mutiny. Hundreds of sailors returned to work but were convicted of disobeying orders. And 50 were jailed and faced court martial.

"You really can't take racism out of the story and what happened in 1944. The only reason these young men were in the position they were in because they were Black. If they were white, they'd never be convicted of mutiny," said Kelli English, National Park Service ranger.

"I announced my decision to set aside the court martial results of all 258 soldiers convicted 80 years ago," said U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.

Del Toro got emotional when he told the crowd about his choice to exonerate the Black sailors.

"Their sacrifice reminded us we must always do what's right regardless of circumstance, or how difficult it was in the past to do so," said Del Toro.

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"It's mixed feelings. It took 80 years," English said.

English says justice has been a long time coming for the sailors, the memory of those who lost their lives etched on a National Park Service memorial at Port Chicago, which remembers the disaster.

Orval Adkins came from Texas to honor her dad who died here.

"I'm grateful for this day and the exoneration of the men, the story around Port Chicago and the Port Chicago 50," Adkins said.

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