Right now, it's time for the Way Black History Fact. And today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major Threats for Innovative Fashionable Sports where Checkmajors, Threads dot Com and today it's going to be a little different. This is a little bit of Ebony excellence in Way Black History Fact. But it comes from Baba and Baba Yeah,
comes from ABC News. The US Navy has exonerated two hundred and fifty six sailors who are unjustly court martialed in nineteen forty four following the Port Chicago explosion in California that killed three hundred and twenty people. The sailors had been punished for refusing to go back to work in what they considered to be an unsafe environment. Their prosecution took place at a time when the US military was still segregated, and reflected the unfair treatment of black
sailors experienced. The two hundred and fifty six sailors were exonerated by Navory's secretary, Carlos Del Toro on the eightieth anniversary of the accidental, deadly World War two era blast, which also injured four hundred other people. The explosion at an ammunition loading area also damaged two ships and a train, and caused damage to the nearby town of Port Chicago, located east of Oakland, California. Theltoral's exoneration carries more weight
than a pardon, which acknowledges guilt. Instead, the exoneration will vacate all of the court martials of the two hundred and fifty six sailors that they had to go through. Quote. Today, the Department of Defense has moved to rectify an old injustice and face up to face up to a painful episode in our own history. Quote. Defense Secretary Lord Austin said in a statement, the sailors quote refused to keep loading munitions in the same unsafe and inhumane conditions that
contributed to the catastrophe. Unquote, he said, adding that decades later, the military recognized recognizes the sailors were right and the segregated navy that unnecessarily risked their lives was wrong. Sorry, all right. What happened after that deadly explosion reflected the double standards experienced by white and black personnel in the
segregated military at the time. White supervising officers at Port Chicago were given hardship leave, while the surviving Black sailors they commanded in the segregated units that loaded the ammunition were ordered back to work at the port, which had been functioning around the clock to get ammunition in US troops on the front lines. Expressing safety concerns about their workplace in the wake of the deadly blast, two hundred and fifty eight black sailors refused to return to work
handling dangerous ammunitions after threats of disciplinary action. Two hundred and eight of the sailors returned to work, but they still received summary court martials for disobeying orders and received a bad conduct discharge and forfeiture of three months pay. Fifty sailors who refused to return to work were convicted and charged with mutiny. They have become known as the
Port Chicago fifty. In a mass court martial, these sailors were sentenced to dishonorable discharge, fifteen years confinement at hard labor, a reduction in rank, and a total forfeiture of their pay. Later reviews of the general court martial resulted in a suspension of the discharges and reduced a period of confinement from fifteen years to seventeen to twenty nine months were
later cleared. By January nineteen forty six, nearly all the sailors have been released and were given the opportunity to finish their military service contracts. Del Toro's decision to exonerate the two hundred and fifty six sailors follows a legal review by the Navy's General Council. They found significant legal errors during the court martial, including trying all them together despite conflicting interests, as well as the denial of what
the name we called meaningful right to counsel. All the sailors who were convicted following the blast are now deceased, and the Navy is asking any possible descendants to reach out to the branch for future notifications about the incident. And yes, they're all deceased, and it's a way black history fact, that's the name of the segment. But still right is right and making setting the record straight is
not nothing. And also we didn't know about this story, and so we thought it was important to share it with you. This is modern news that is based on an old story, so we thought you guys would enjoy that