Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the Exoneration of American Sailors Unjustly Accused After the Port Chicago Tragedy of 1944
July 18, 2024
July 18, 2024
WASHINGTON, July 18 -- The U.S. Department of Defense issued the following news:
Today, the Department of Defense has moved to rectify an old injustice--and face up to a painful episode in our own history.
I applaud the Secretary of the Navy's decision to exonerate 258 Black Sailors who were unjustly court-martialed in the wake of the devastating explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, which killed 320 Sailors on July 17, 1944. After the blast, these . . .
Today, the Department of Defense has moved to rectify an old injustice--and face up to a painful episode in our own history.
I applaud the Secretary of the Navy's decision to exonerate 258 Black Sailors who were unjustly court-martialed in the wake of the devastating explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, which killed 320 Sailors on July 17, 1944. After the blast, these . . .