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Then a Copian threw a milk bottle. A* hinted at by able, internationalist Repre­ DISASTERS, I \ it crashed a Chancellor screamed, “Light sentative James Wadsworth of New York, him up!”* who emerged from a long talk with the' Strange Cargo . A , pistol slammed three bullets into Governor to say: “We discussed methods The dangerous job began secretly in the Christy; Both groups disintegrated into of making this country strong and keeping first empty ; days of the, war. It was a, gal­ , dodging forms and the dark street filled it strong, in a military sense, after the war.” - lant thing then—/dirty old “rust buckets” • / with the flash and roar of confused gun- "Truman, Isn't It?" Candidate Dewey from •’ ■West Coast , b6ne yards taking ; fire. Police from 'the park and from a stayed noncommittal on . two.; ticklish aboard the tag end of a nation’s aged and; | cruising car ran in, shooting. When it was subjects. Eric Johnston, just back from faulty munitions, bound for Pearl Harbor, over a 15-year-old boy lay dying from Russia, went to Albany bubbling with Melbourne, the Philippines. But the, mimi- ■ five police bullets, a revolver in one hand. enthusiasm over close commercial re­ tions-loading grew. Slingloads of shells and Four other youths were bleeding on the lations with Russia/ after, the war/Tom ; high explosives were turriing dozens pf the pavement; two with their jaws shattered Dewey listened intently, said nothing,for: new1 grey. Liberty ships into floating /; by. slugs fired at point-blank range. A the record. Asked whether the labor lead-; in scores of American harbors. Thousands „ Negro police officer was swaying, with ers he. would see in Pittsburgh included of men & women spent their days & nights j bullet wounds in his belly. making and handling; cordite and TNT. m Last week fifteen Copians and Chancel­ It was a secret job* Only the cabled lors. had been rounded up. They Confessed accounts of vast air raids, of stupendous that the battle; had stemmed from an ar- barrages, of naval battles, hinted at the - gument over a stolen cap. The police had enormous amount of the output. - to turn twelve of them loose for lack of ;. Month , after month, munitions ships evidence: Extra detectives, sent- into came in, loaded, and headed out again into Harlem to keep a day & night watch, the Gulf, the Atlantic, the Pacific. doggedly made arrests, kept the streets Up. a long inland arm of 'quiet; But the law-abiders wondered bow Bay the ships came to the naval magazine-, long the uneasy peace would last. Said a at Port Chicago, a cheerless town sprawl­ Negro taxi driver: “I walk the long way ing under dusty trees. The 1,500 citizens home. Those boys don’t, care for nothing.” watched them- come & . go incuriously ; | after the novelty wore off, the ships might:; ■ REPUBLICANS have been loading wheat, for all the thrill there was in it. Few even knew the names ■ The Dewey Week of the two ships which lay at the low, At Albany Tom Dewey withheld com-’ ;' wooden naval wharf.one night last week ’ ment on Franklin Roosevelt’s acceptance; with slingloads of heavy- ammunition speech. But he tossed a grenade at the .swaying aboard in the glare of masthead President’s most aggressive supporters, flights. . .. — • the C.I.O.’s Political Action Committee. Then the two ships, Quinault Victory ' I p ; P.A.C. had charged . th at. Governor • and E.r A. Bryan, exploded within five sec-1 Dewey deliberately made it difficult, even onds of each other, filling the sky with an impossible, for New York Members'of the - enormous, ’ -blinding incandescence, A Armed Forces to vote by refusing to ap­ howling : gale blew and died away as air prove the Federal War Ballot. In reply roared, back into the'.vast vacuum. 1 Then Toffi,Dewey hammered two points;. 1) the ; great chunks of twisted metal from, the; Federal War Ballot, which provides a ships and jagged fragments of exploded ; place to vote only for the President, Vice ; shells; began falling. The people, of Port : -President and members of Congress, would Chicago, asleep seconds before; began call­ not- be valid in New York because the ing' out in the darkness amid the falling • State; Constitution specifies that every walls of their wrecked town. , ' , , candidate running must be listed; 2) it is /■/ .Thousands in San Francisco, in 'Oakland ; easy.: for a soldier to vote under the I and ! Alameda,| in towns for 50 miles % Dewey-sponsored ' law. Federal’ law re­ afouhd, saw the glare in the sky and, sec­ International onds later’ felt a rumbling earth' shock. quires that each Soldier & sailor shall be Pawling Golfer handed a postcard application for the bal­ jjjfl On schedule. . . Windows broke in houses 20 miles away/; lot. All he has to do. is send this to Albany Telephone lines were down; many a doc- and he will receive his ballot. ; John L. Lewis' (last week his UnitedMine s tor .and nurse blundered for hours before ., Tom. Dewey added : “This is the sim­ Workers came out for Dewey), the candi­ they found the scene of - the disaster,- It plest application form of any state in the date said: “My plans are not definite, was dawn- before Port Chicago could see; • ' Union. . . .+ It is time this campaign of yet.”; / : ; • what had-happened. . r ; deceit was labeled and exposed.” Then h e. was off for another working There was not an undamaged house ; ;Not This Time. Then Candidate Dewey weekend at his Pawling farm. The only - •within three miles of' the kindling wood settled back, to quiet, careful„ building break for relaxation was his regular week-, which had been the water front; scores-of i He., indicated that he ly 18 holes of golf (see cut)t He shot a 94. . buildings were ; flat or leaning tipsily. ; was going to make; reconversion a major The rest of the time was given to plans for ■Hardly a man,’ -woman or .child, was ;un- 1 . issue’ by, announcing that, on his way to the Governors’..-Conference,’ which he will bandaged.' Three.; hundred -find twenty- the. conference of Republican Goverhmrs go over with John Bricker this week. Just one men were dead—merchant seamen on ( which he has called in St. Louis, he would before leaving fof New. York, Candidate the vessels and Negro naval enlisted men' vflstop over in Pittsburgh for reconversion Brjcker made the . first comment of the v on the- wharf had , simply Vanished. ; ; - • I talks with, businessmen and labor leaders. Dewey-Bricker team on the .Democratic ' 1 ’At week’s end the Shattered to^vh-echoed Aiiother Deweycampaign. attitude; was Convention. Said he, scratching his brow; ■ to WHarlemese—-shoot- him. |g ;; “Truman—that’s ( his name, isn’t it? I ;;-patched their homes. . The cause?ofbthe t .Equally simple: 2.9 other states. * never can remember that name.” i j l ‘ ' II would probably never be/known;' I! TIME/JULY 31, 1944 426 California: A History of the Golden State Arsenal of Democracy 427 l 4. T P**toh /f recreational opportunities and blacks were not welcome there or in ad­ 1 (5 c*~ i—tX->-sy c r K ^ * p uv/j u. ) *? 7 jacent cities. They suffered insults and harassment by their own officers THE PORT CHICAGO EXPLOSION A N D and by Marine guards. The court-martial revealed that many of the incriminating statements introduced into evidence were obtained by ^ glimpse of the devastation of war in all its fury came to Californians officers who threatened to shoot the accused unless they signed the on July 77, 1944, when a fully loaded cmzmunition ship, the S.S. E. A. documents thrust into their hands. One poor who was completely Bryan, blew up. The blast of 9000 tons of explosives took 929 lives illiterate confessed that the interrogating officer signed his confession for and injured 98. Some 990 homes in Fort Chicago, just off San Francisco him. The Navy prosecutor, who had been a district attorney, lost no Bay, were destroyed along with most of the business district. The streets opportunity to belittle the accused. , an observer at were strewn with timbers, telephone wires, glass, and bricks; fifty parked the proceedings, bitterly criticized the blatant discrimination practiced automobiles were totally destroyed and countless others severely damaged. by the Navy. Despite the fact that the black seamen sought only a Pieces of steel from the ship's hull and superstructure showered the town, change of duty by their action and did not realize their actions constituted perforating roofs, walls, and sidewalks. Live shells fell everywhere. Peo­ a mutiny, they were found guilty as charged. Harsh prison sentences of ple 10 miles distant were cut by flying glass, and windows were broken 99 fifteen years were first meted out to all. However, forty men had their miles away. Several ships in the channel were damaged or destroyed. In punishment reduced to eight to twelve years by appeal of the Navy all, property damages totaled $12,921,999. A naval board of inquiry con­ fudge Advocate General, and mter Secretary of the Navy cluded that the most probable cause of the disaster was an accident. further reduced the sentence, of seven men to twenty-nine months and In the aftermath of the Port Chicago disaster came the first mass mutiny forty-three men to seventeer months. in the history of the . On August 9, 1944, some four hundred black sailors refused to obey a command to load ammunition ships. Most of them changed their minds when confronted with Navy framing from pleasure driving and sharing their mileage expended in authority, and received summary court-martials or brief sentences in the brig. However, on September 19, 1944, the Navy aimounced a general business and essential driving- with friends and neighbors. court-martial of fifty seamen for “conspiracy to commit mutiny'’' and The war often brought forth from the citizenry a sense of com­ “mutiny in time of war.” All those charged were black (as were all of munity which had seldom been realized. The support of the war took the perso?mel w ho handled explosives). O f the 4000 sailors stationed at many forms, which ranged from the acceptance of the inconveni­ Port Chicago, 2900 were black. Theirs was the hazardous, backbreaking ences of price control, rationing, selective service, rationing of essen­ task of unloading ammunition, shells, and powder bags from boxcars, moving them to the pier and then stowing them into the hot, crowded tials to active participation in Red Cross and USO programs, dona­ holds of the ships. The supervisory personnel, naval officers and merchant tion of blood, and the purchase of war bonds. Hollywood made a seamen, were 99 per cent white. typical contribution in the form of stars who traveled widely to en­ The court-martial revealed that the morale of the black seamen, which tertain troops and pin-ups of glamour girls to brighten barrack walls. had always been low, had plummeted after the Port Chicago explosioti. The motion picture industry also contributed funds and purchased Most were between seventeen and twenty-seven years old and had come from the Deep South. Under the best of circumstances it was nerve- substantial amounts of war bonds. It also produced great numbers of wracking to handle live ammunition, knowing that one mistake might training films. Among the members of an army unit which pro­ well be your last. Most of those court-martialed had lost friends in the duced training films was Ronald Reagan, who went on to become a explosion and many had been injured—one of those accused of refusing prominent political figure in the postwar period. Although they fre­ to load ammunition had a broken arm! Others had worked cleaning up quently lacked the dramatic and entertainment values of the peace­ the wreckage and often found an arm, a foot, or pieces of flesh in the time product of filmland, they were an effective educational device debris. (Only thirty of the eighty-one recovered bodies could be identi­ fied). Hence,, their reluctance to return to their hazardous duty was which the military used extensively. understandable. The blacks were also discriminated against in the local The lessons of beleaguered Britain during the blitz brought into community. Port Chicago was a small, isolated white town with limited being a widespread civilian defense system. Thousands of Californians The Negro People in the United States 1933-1945

Edited by HERBERT APTHEKER

Preface by WILLIAM L. PATTERSON

The Citadel Press: Secaucus, N . J 524 FULL EMPLOYMENT AND THE NEGRO WORKER SOME , RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES 525 —widespread unemployment. If we have an economy of full employ­ races of workers will dispel the fears of hunger and need. As a matter ment, it will establish a framework favorable to the continuing occupaJS of sober fact, labor leaders realize that such steps to relieve dire need tional advancement of the black worker; and to the removal of the are the best possible insurance against racial conflicts; and that the white worker’s fear of him as an economic rival. future of the white and black worker alike will be determined by this Full employment in the post war period will not remove racial understanding as well as by the power of collective bargaining. tensions. It will, however, set the economic stage for effective educational? programs designed to reduce the frequency and intensity of one of the The Journal of Negro Education, July, 1944- XIII fi-10 Wpnvpr’e tioned above, appeared in Atlantic Monthly, September, 1943, pp. 54-59 C’ men' basic causes for race conflict. In such an economy, trade unions can, as some of them have so well done in the past few years, take the lead in establishing cooperation between white and black workers. There will be important results flowing from full employment. Such 98 an economy should provide better housing for all people, better edu­ cational and recreational facilities and more adequate transportation. SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND Most important, however, is the fact that economic success will offer OTHER DISTURBANCES practical experience in relaxing the caste system which prevents de­ mocracy from becoming an accomplished fact in America. by Florence Murray The courage that forces one to move toward the goal of full em­ ployment, with all the resources at our command, must be that cour­ me late Florence Murray, in her Negro Handbook, 1946-1947, compiled the most complete record so far produced of the outbreaks and assauhs age bom of a thorough understanding of the problem and motivated ^yar jj uPon ®,ac*c men and women in the armed forces during World by our ideals and convictions. Full employment is not a visionary Utopia. It is possible of achievement. It was achieved for destruction and the labor movement must be the force that directs our economy toward full employment for consumption. Introduction Those who plan for an enduring peace must be capable of hope- must be capable of trusting the people. As Orson Welles said: “To be As in the earlier years of the war, there were in the last two years born free is to be bom in debt; to live in freedom without fighting a number of d.sturbances in which Negro servicemen and service- slavery is to profiteer.” This debt can only be paid by service. women were involved aggressively. Who can say that both whites and blacks in the South are not These disturbances grew out of what the participants regarded as slaves yet? The white enslaves himself in trying to keep the black unfair or prejudicial treatment which they sought to remedy or to worker in economic•» bondage. You can’t keep a man in the ditch resist in one form or another. without descending in that ditch with him. You can’t have unencum­ «, S ■ rmgnt. uc caneu in dictionary terms bered and prosperous white workers and unemployed black workers*^, breaches of tranquillity”; a few, however, were of such proportions as for, if you let that happen, the white worker will have to carry the to be referred to as mutinies or riots. black worker on his back through relief or dole. Already a large A considerable number of cases were based on charges of dis­ majority of labor unions and their leaders are reporting that sentiment obedience or insubordination, which, although the accused probably to abolish race discrimination is on the increase and look approvingly were not aware of it, are classed among serious offenses, in many upon it as a safeguard against the possibility of exploiting their meui'y instances tantamount to mutiny. J bership through union-busting tactics. While some of the riots brought death or injury to participants and Basically the objective of labor’s full employment program is one I to others, none of the mutinies were accompanied by violence. of high moral values, whose possibilities of rehabilitation for different A few cases in the various categories follow. m m 526 SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES 527 the three divisions to which the men belonged did not give direct The Port Chicago, Cal. Mutiny S«H and explicit orders to go to work; that in the one division which received IK such orders there were no recalcitrants. On July 17, 1944, two ships that were being loaded with ammunition fnrT!hUrgin d Marsha11’ an attomey representing the National Association exploded at the docks at Port Chicago, a small town on San Francisco for the Advancement of Colored People, who was an observer at the Bay about 35 miles northeast of San Francisco. trial, stated the matter thus: ■ Over 300 persons were killed and several hundred injured. Of The men actually don’t know what happened. Had they been those killed, about_250 were Negro seamen who were engaged in given a irect and specific order to load ammunition and had refused loading the ships. Others killed were nine white officers in charge of ° , ey at ,°rder’ then the charSe would be legitimate. BuUhey^say^ loaders, seventy members of the mixed crews of the two ships, ^ H ^ o r d e i j o j ^ Xhey were asked w h S h ^ fifteen Coast Guardsmen on vessels nearby, and several civilians. cLy°a d ioad’ anc* they replied^thatTthey were afraid. The injured were mostly Negro seamen loaders who were at that time (10:30 p.m.) in their barracks a mile from the docks. of dutvherT t0ldf Tif that th!y Were wiIlinS to 8° to JaiI to get a change idea that verhM ° K j i °f the exPlosives, but they had no On August 9, the survivors, who had been scattered about in various idea that verbal expression of their fear constituted mutiny.”* camps, were assembled at Vallejo, a few miles from Port Chicago, with the view of resuming the loading. However, the men expressed case Snmr n f T Siderable fftimony to indicate that such was the on the T r c h n T* 1 d ‘ha‘ wMe they were in confinement strong reluctance. Various reasons were given, but the principal reason n the barge had they been ordered to work they would probably was fear of another disaster. . have done so^ Others testified to the contrary, while at least one of the After three days of persuasion and urging, the commandant of the Naval district was called in, but his efforts, too, were largely unavailing. but "his teStlfied that he had asked Permission to resume the loading but h,s superior officer had refused on the ground that he had had Of the 400 men, 258 were unable to overcome their fears and they were put in virtual confinement on a barge at the docks. confirmed" this^ n° ‘ f l adVaMage °£ * The °®Cer in Ration Several days were consumed in persuading and interviewing the Concerning the opportunity given the men to explain the reasons for men by the post chaplain and others with the result that all but 44 of the 258 expressed willingness to resume the loading. which C ‘t°tS’ 7 “ br°USht °Ut ‘hat *he statements made in interviewf- which statements were put in evidence-were not couched in the' These 44, plus 6 others who balked after a few days of work, were formally charged with mutiny. S I ‘ L T r i f ^ ,h‘ PUrP°rted ‘° be " reC°rding °f What was Levant On September 14, the “mutineers” were put on trial before a naval from thdr notes COnTCrsatio"s aa interviewers recalled them court-martial. The trial lasted six weeks, ending on October 24 with a verdict of guilty. Three weeks later they were given sentences ranging Navaf nffiCUSed men Wel aWy Md “ nseientiously defended by white' from 8 to 15 years at hard labor, and dishonorable discharges. under th f cerS apP°mted by the court- They sought to establish that sound !hd C,rcu” stancf men were in no mental condition to make The initial sentence in each case was 15 years, but Rear Admiral ' sound and considered decisions and statements. Carleton H. Wright, commandant of the district, ruled that forty of the No official psychologist was called to testify in the case but state men were entitled, because of mitigating circumstances, to reductions | thedefendamTn ^ SeVem' Specialists suPP°rting the arguments of of sentences. Because of youth, previous clear record or short period the defendants attorneys as to their mental reactions. of service, terms were reduced to eight years for five men, ten for fj to ” medlately ^ tef the sentences were announced, efforts were begun eleven men and twelve for twenty-four men. (Court-martial sentences to have the reviewing bodies set aside the convictions or reduce die are subject to further review by the Judge Advocate of the Navy, the . - penalties. Mr. Marshall asked for permission to file a brLf fnd per! Bureau of Personnel and the Secretary of the Navy.) sonally appeared before the Navy’s board of review on April 3 1945 Sections of the Nggro press, following their investigations, took excep­ , ° n M y 13’ the Navy Department, through Acting S ectary Ralph tion to the mutiny charges^ They contended that officers of two of.i See the editorial, “The ‘Mutiny’ Trial,” in The Crisis, November, 1944; LI, 344. KlMW irijflniroffrllilBiniffT

528 SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES A. Baird, announced that it had been determined that the sentences SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES 529 were egal and that the trial had been fair and impartial. their quarters for refusing to sign a statement that they would confute Request was made then by Mr. Marshall for permission to file themselves to the trainees' facilities allocated to them. additional briefs and for opportunity for personal presentation of the De pa r t m enT^t h.0^ OpC Spread’ and NeSrocs protested to the War case before Secretary of the Navy Forrestal. He did not get the oppor­ tunity, but the Secretary sent a letter dated August 13, saying that the commander,’t Col ' KODertRobertR R- Selway,Sdwav di,rCC‘iVH Jr., ordering ‘° ‘he him Freeman to withhold Fidd ^sentences “have not yet come to me for final review.” \ In the meantime, petitions_and appeals for clemency were coming wTshingJ^TuThorih™. Pendi"8 ‘he COmP,eti° n ° f “ ^ ‘^ o n from many sources, includinglhT d^r^ Granger, then Field^ Kv & W&re freed from detention in a trial at Godman fonloan from the Nati°nal Urban League as special aide to the Secretary in th ’ i J 1Ch P 306 they had been moved> except the three held was giving the case attention along with his inspection of Naval instal­ in the original11 flare-up. These three-2nd Lts. Roger C. Terry and Mars lations on the West Coast. I H M °f fL°S A"geles’ and Shirley R- Clinton, of Camden, The first week in January, 1946, it was announced that the con­ i .j . were ordered to face a court-martial. victions had been set aside and that the men were restored to duty andTol1 Rh‘le’ S ^ IH H s had been-relieved of command of the group on probation and were then “presumably overseas.” and Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr„ (Negro) put in command. P

on JuVJuly 22 l” andar and 23aI was detaIi! headed 1 ? by Negr° Col. officers Davis. Howeverwhich heard he did case not The Freeman Field Case chalIengePbythedeLhnsena'’ haVi"g f e j . e“ "“ d fr°m the pand under A disturbance which originated at Freeman Field, near Seymour, Ind., m April, 1945, had wide ramifications and repercussions. 4 uT iaf j h°oTz I d l & l ot au charges the ^ At this field, where the only Negro bombardment group, the 477th charve of dilvKori- if d d y’ T rry was ex°nerated of the was stationed, technically there were no separate recreational facilities aside a whl e nffi w W"S convicted of ™ng violence in pushing tor white and Negro servicemen, but there was an officers’ club for months. penalty Was forfeiture of $50 Pay 4 three instructors and one for trainees, or students. However, all of the teachers were white and all the trainees were Negroes.

Note: Of the trainees, those who were pilots or bombardiers ranked as officers. United1States M e I ' H i 3 1945> a dispatch from The 477th Bombardment group had been recently moved to Free- man Field from Godman Field, Ky. When they learned of the “white” : 0 cers club, they decided to boycott all recreational facilities, con­ tending that they were Jim-Crowed in violation of Army Order No. 97.' 1 his order is cited in the topic “The Anti-Jim-Crow Order of July , 8, 1944.”

? n ^ f nl 5’ S1Xty men ° f the group attemPted to enter the officers’ Later information disclosed that 74 men were involved t w u a club They were refused entrance and were ordered to be confined to t eir quarters. Later, 57 of the men were released and 3 were held gh-1 Iftfls? tor court-martial on charges of “jostling” a superior officer and refusing ; to obey the command of a superior officer. A few days later, 101 of the group were arrested and confined to IlF lfc ttJ »££§£ 530 SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES

reduced—the 17-year sentences to 15 years; of the 15-year sentences, March 23, at which time the .men, all of whom were prisoners in the seven to 12 years, 48 to 10 years, and 11 to eight years. The 35- guardhouse refnseti to turn out for work until they could “see the and 25-year sentences given the ring-leaders were reduced to 30 and 20 years respectively. The 20-year sentence stood. discriminadon PreSeM g g j baSed’ they }|> on racial The men involved were members of a company of engineers. They Later, on June 21, the case was heard and taken under advisement had become disgruntled, it was said, when their Negro officers were by an Army board of review in Washington replaced by white officers because the enlisted men had complained On September 6, Attorney David Levinson (white) who had vol- of unfair promotion practices. untanly represented the men at the hearing, received notice that the Describing the occurrence, a correspondent of the Chicago Defender sentences had been greatly reduced-the 15-year terms to five years stated that twice on the night in question, the regimental colonel had one 13-year term to three, the other two 13-year terms to two years.’ read to the company the articles of war dealing with mutiny, after A few days later, the remaining terms of two of the low-term men the men had refused to leave their barracks for a lumber-moving task, had been waived and the men sent to a rehabilitation camp. but the reading failed to move them. t the review hearing, four mothers of the accused men made pleas Later, he said, the men responded to the appeal of another colonel one of whom, mother of Leo M. Jones, of Philadelphia, said to be whom they regarded as less hostile. They also complied with his ringleader recited a long story of humiliations and injustices which request to make up the time lost. Several days later, the mutiny g e said her son had endured, beginning with his rejection when he charges were preferred. oug raining as a pilot, because “Negroes were not (then) wanted in The case came to the attention of Walter White, executive secretary e air force He djd, however, later enter the air force as a mechanic of the N.A.A.C.P., while he was in Hawaii in December, 1944. Upon and completed his course at Chanute Field, 111., after which he was his return to the States in April, he conferred with the then Under Secre­ tary of War, Robert Patterson, on behalf of the men. On June 17, attitude0 WaS SOOn in difficulties because of his militant Mr. White was advised that 67 of the men had been assigned to a Persecution and discrimination, she said, finally caused a nervous rehabilitation company “where they were undergoing special training breakdown and a series of violations which finally landed him where with view to restoration to duty.” he was at the time of the mutiny. On September 4, 1945, 52 of those undergoing rehabilitation were recommended for restoration to duty. In the Chicago Defender of The Brookley Field Mutiny October 13, 1945, the Hawaiian correspondent of the paper reported: “With few exceptions, these ‘graduates’ have made successful and Rehfn "igM°n-,MaI , 24’- 1944’ 3 disturban“ occurred at Brookley enthusiastic soldiers, two having received the Bronze Star Medal and Field near Mobile, Ala., m which Negro soldiers and white military one the Silver Star. A third has been recommended posthumously for police exchanged shots, and one Negro sergeant, who was not a par- the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor, ticipant, was seriously wounded. F for valor far beyond the call of duty during the Okinawa campaign.’ The sergeant was shot in crossfire when he attempted to move a The status of the other convicted men had not been disclosed at jeep at the command of a white officer. That was the only casualty the end of the year. although an estimated 1000 rounds were fired. At the court-martial which followed a month later, nine Negro pri­ Mutiny at Mabry Field vates, charged with mutiny and failure to suppress mutiny and rioting were convicted and three received sentences of 25 years, the other The first week in May, 1944, a trial in a mutiny case at Dale Mabry sentences ranging from 16 to 22 years. Field near Tallahassee, Fla., ended with the conviction and sentencing office in w H ? f revlew hearing in the Jud8e Advocate General’s of five Negro privates—two to 15-year terms and three to 13 years. office in Washington in September, all sentences were confirmed The offense with which they were charged occurred at the field ofl Versions of what occurred on the night of the disturbance differ but 532 SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES the most acceptable account indicates that the trouble originated when 533 white military police sought to permit a white civilian to explore the Negro soldiers’ quarters ostensibly to identify a soldier who had al­ The Camp Claiborne Riot legedly robbed him outside the gate. When the soldiers learned that it was intended to turn over to At Camp Claiborne, near Alexandria t „ \ civilian authorities whoever was “identified,” they revolted and drove Negro soldiers and white mifim rv h v Where a clash between the MP’s and the intruder out. The exchange of shots followed. The January, 1942, an ombreak on7 Police had occurred in melee was quelled by unarmed superior officers who were not fired on two soldiers andV w h^taenam * °f AUgUSt 16’ I944> which Subsequent information indicated that the white civilian who al­ sentence to one soldier and ™Unded’ brouSht a death leged he had been robbed really had been beaten by a soldier in There had been rennrfe g.pnson terms to tweIve others, defense of a Negro woman. the killing of a soldier nine V nCItements and Provocations, including town a few miles away. ^ previously by a white policeman in a The Fort Devens Case This case, arising at the Lovell General Hospital, at Fort Devens accompanied by T e t P°liCe’ Mass., was not generally referred to as a mutiny, but as a case of dis­ obedience or a sit-down strike. two whi^women afew ^ rap” d The trouble came about through the refusal of four Negro members 1 manner of the W a i n Jnd u P°St N° °ne was nested but of the Women’s Army Corps (W.A.C.s), to do certain work assigned On the night ^^the^m r'11^ SGarcb caused strong resentment. to them which they felt was menial and was assigned to them because wanted, or one who supposedly look'd rti Spread that the soIdier or their color. just outside the camp Thereuoon B P /ke hlm’ had been Mled At the court-martial which followed their refusal, they testified that “incensed soidiers broke ^ 1^ ™ toTT * white W.A.C.S were not required to do the type of work assigned to reported and started showing their resentment^ ° “ t em. They also recited other acts of discrimination and quoted the commandmg officer of the hospital as saying that he didn’t want eni r was ** b^ black W.A.C.s” in the motor pool or as medical technicians. led in “firing shots through an oX ly room Th^ ^ Senten^ had The matter came to a head on March 10, 1944, when, despite the commander and other officers ” fThpc m lcb bouses tbe company reading of the articles of war bearing on disobedience to the sixty for there were no Negro officers Whi‘e> egro W.A.C.s on duty by Maj. Gen. Sherman Miles, in command of the military district, the four persisted in their refusal, while the 56 and in a ^ries of court-martial others went back to duty. The death penalty was given to L eroy'M cG r^rf c h 'd WereCOnvicted’ On March 20, a two-day trial ended in their conviction for disobeying hfe sentences; two, 30 years- three ChlCag0; Slx received a superior officer, and sentences of dishonorable discharge and a year The charges in c lu d e d ^ u ^ ^ S f0?. ° DW# at hard labor were given them. The trial board was composed of two ence, attempts to storm the sunnlv P 6 mutiny> d‘sobedi- white W.A.C.s, two Negro captains, and five other officers. holding two officers prisoners ?? ^ ” '° SeCUre ammunition, and Protests and demands for reversal came from Congressmen and other sources. Two weeks later, on April 3, General Miles voided the court- iliP feSSn^ I ** -s ac- a mutiny. £ fficer 3 to attempt to suppress martial proceedings and the four were restored to duty. The War Department announced that the proceedings were vacated because the court was improperly convened. This decision turned on a °ndf Vei"b- 9> finding that the commanding general, Miles, was “technically the was voided by the board and he d later his conviction accuser . . . and therefore not authorized to convene the court.” The sergeant’s attorney contended th , ‘° 3 rehabllitati°n camp. nidi rnce was conscien- 534 SOME MUTINIES, RIOTS, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES

from the officers as *° j i m prisoners in the m aderof Z Z k l s X Z m e T trfatmem of ‘he Italian Of Pvt. M^ra^commuted in,.haT g 'he death sentence individual Negro soldiers were worsted T h ’ fracases in which all pay and | f H ° f S ir f. a ^ - J y , yeanrd ? L f S f f Wh° ^ J P f | fjM ga g j | f The Guam Disorders vicdorTand^death sentnct I “ * T * I °f ^ “ * E the B November, of a Negro soldier P vrtZ " p fll|j at. Camp Claiborne. in on the women which gave rL to ,he ^ DaVIS> for *he all^ d assault I M m « \ n N; Z ^ Z r * W. i Guam to the August riot. He was said to have confess^ ^ I m began in 1 SUmmer °f 1944 » d - e g f The Fori Lawton Anti-Italian Riot ; K p » B p °f the N-A.A.C.P. In the’ m XnXe X ’X Wa'ter White’ On the night of August 14, 1944 a mrmn nf convicted by court-martial and given .Negr° NaVy men had been at Fort Lawton, W & were attacked T„ th ,pnsoners of war years for par,icipati„gin th ; X a!^ sirgntenCeS H 4 m°mhS to 4 were a - u p of white ser- mam town on the island8 That same^hT, ^ rUn them out of the an Army l?-f soIdiers were put on triaI before invaded the Negro camp making thread T ^ °f White Marines number had been hit by a stone. ^ barging that one of their On Christmas Dav he . xr t e e l t » dx l DhTdehber I?’ Wi‘h 1 wenty-eight convicted and thir- another shot by white servicemen T hlt W3S kilIed and A few Ivs J l exonerated b-re the trial ended, and that night, according to reports twe X P * matters to a head, three men original^ S“ ten“ s for twenty-seven were announced. The 'eft the depot in ,wo trucks, withou, ’e m « T ^ Negr0 naval They were intercepted bv \r P n’to seek revenge. years, respectivelv £ || " Z murder were ®iven 25, 20, and 15 trial whpn U h- murder charSe having been dropped during the ‘ary Policc who found arms^ndlmmunT ^ 5’34’ 3™ 5 White mili- “ d Which indicated tha‘ prifone nearThe h ‘° °ne version, ^ h itg ^ 'X lw ’^ l La‘er in years for Xh , mX® m °ther terms were: 10 near the base, were fired on and one was . ! , 7 'J ’■ h° Were Patrolling for four- three vears f gM itpS S“ ’ five years for thrcei four years It developed that Mr. White whiL T d m the Ie8- The sentence of one r °n,C’ °ne year for one’ and s‘x nionths for one. « a correspondent of the New January, 1945, had, In a rein ? r T Wh° WaS hospitalized was not announced. sta ed that a D fo” t ^ N° Wmber 1 1945, i, was s ; w ; remaining1 in c Z T had been ffled for ‘Ire men then reviewing authnrifv "iT a6111 ad 'er 11 bad been disclosed that the and nnlawful use of of the men and rJ Z Suspended the dishonorable discharges of ten years.S 'han g | yearS’ 33 « « 4 the early re ton To d r a ? 4 rehabili™ centers, with a view to I reauceareduced so thatfo?,hy; the maximum l i tha‘ was ‘he 15 Sentences years. of *e others had been" The cause of the clash was not explicitly brought out, but it ap- i M m 1 once begun and c°ndn“ d i ^ 536 S0ME MUT,N,ES’ RIOTS> "«> other ■ ■■ . 0 ’ -■7 -■■;.';. i -7' :- •: - P g J I 1 SOME M B R‘OTS- P OTHER DISTURBANCES % ’ Hunger Strike % l i ? J s E ^ P commanding officer and invited • . 537 1§S ditions at the base, which was located on ^ ^ewi ab°“t racial con- According to the testimony of he mi 1 ; nd in the West Indi«- waT^S ^“'Tuction Battalion < K b £ £ ? £ m mai that tbe conference /as off the “ coM f e ? ‘°Id to *alk man-,o- m 5, m m l protest Thus reassured, they were frant . ,'V sajd> a"d m airing conditions that the'v ret/T l/itbC” grievances. they the th~ g p especially the lack of up-grading K?lrded as bjased and unfair i ' «' They pointed out that of the 80 percent of m in.oFWa“ onn and ^ had ^P tJlIS none were rated above second c la s ™ O ^ 8" ’*8 “ the battaIion, % J- McBean, f « s S C°mmander «? «* unit, anS fegf percent of whites ranked higher. y ®Cer’ while aU of the 20 carried to extremes, of inequalities ‘ijf Comp’amts of s6gregatHa“ r ?! Before the meeting broke un tl, ask the chaplain to form a comm ‘hatUee'on he would "'Vheotm ted"11 diS“ mination in P rions ’ !* $ '§ Th7 ne 85 W0Uld be held- tuterracial matters and that standing record* at'TWaaTnTGMd f ' T ” * 8 f”d had made an °W t$tS '' prejudiced commander had praised ’ h eWn their »“ * * £ Jfi! together, and i^raM e^ttem ffo^fc •** base caUed the group would be no more conferences. A few 'dtvsT? announced ‘hat there B^F had PSf 999 riginal conference and seven othe ^ a er’ the twelve men in Who had commended McBean a a l ° ' f c ^ ' ' ' ' undesirable, and three on grounds of unfit rdf* d,scharged, sixteen as attitude toward the colored race” and a /h 311 ™IigbteDed 30(1. ttf; 7? These three later, upon anneal taeSS and maptitude. in their welfare.” Nevertheless he » . genuinely interested y When the discharges and th^ S T ” |!0n0rab,e diacharges. after a period of res, and rehabilitation, ^ " w e m L ^ r S vigorous protest. The matter was takenTo kn°™ ’ (here was - e were no grounds for

Seabees Discharge Case - ‘'h r'"’^ ^ > itcluding member o ^ rfd ^ S g 31. nati°"aI organizations, In June, 1944, the so-called R,n ? n d ,h mselves in 'he case. Secretary of th^Navv °f ^ Informadon announced thattte board of review thafth h' ^fpwved tbe decision of the depaitmm^~ / , chveed1'0 3 by Con*re«. In thi/act ffie ^ Se™cemen had been were discharged as “i °ri ^ u ' ^ ° f 14 of the 15 Negro Seabees . J:L «viewedPbv°anShCand haVe 'heir discharges s u c /a s that dis' of “inaptitude” bp h ” ®sirabfe reason of unfitness” or bec&s&r; f joined • by board- Fifteen of the Jvt the ones at issue, Thus ended a ° t0 d*scbar&ed “under honorable conditK8J&*'> % m a petition for review. men sti11 without relief been agitated bv thCaSC 1 &t J134* aroused uncommon interest 1944 review was granted and the date for a h e a i T h T c ^ r L l o t i o n s for over a y c ^ W m AtA, th,E bV •. Dg o set ' - for Tvccemoer.Member, the hearincr r>n j , were member. i I m II dlscharSe in October, 1943, of 19 mot ^ g under the cond>° 1 °th Naval Construction Battalion (Sca&abj-V unaer the conditions wi|ucited aoove.above 5: ztvz"zz Ir** ~ A f d-U „ were discharges no specific grounds for the the action w l°’ owever’ certain occurrences that had prseesfe^T theine action were regardedreoanW asoo +u~ the cause. eroun^fhn^3^ bef0rc tbe action, a dozen men, all of whom were 8 P h t Was Iater discharged, were called into the office ■ P § P ^ H K tesffij® I= i'S issa;