March 23, 1999

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Congressman George Miller (D-California) announced today that Morrison & Foerster LLP, a major San Francisco and Washington law firm, has initiated a formal pardon appeal process on behalf of one of the surviving sailors who was court martialed following the deadly Port Chicago Naval Magazine explosion in California in 1944.

"I salute Morrison and Foerster for agreeing to represent Mr. Freddie Meeks on a pro bono basis to give him a chance at the justice that was denied him and his fellow sailors following the disaster," said Miller, who has led a decade-long congressional effort to reverse the convictions and who wrote the law creating the Port Chicago National Monument at the site of the blast that killed 320 sailors. "Every aspect of the operations at Port Chicago that sent untrained black sailors into the extremely dangerous business of munition loading was tinged by race, and so was the decision to prosecute those who refused to allow the segregated system to continue."

Morrison and Foerster's involvement consists of attorneys in the Washington, D.C. office who are reviewing the records of the court martial at Port Chicago to assist the convicted Naval servicemen and their survivors with applications for Presidential pardons. Morrison & Foerster is representing Mr. Meeks, the only known living Naval serviceman who was convicted by court-martial at Port Chicago.

Miller, whose congressional district includes the site of the explosion, said the announcement was a major breakthrough. "Thanks to several factors -- the decision by Mr. Meeks to seek counsel, the decision by Morrison and Foerster to represent him, the upcoming shows on NBC this Sunday and The Learning Channel this coming Monday, and the recent History Channel program -- Americans are learning about an ugly chapter in American race relations during World War II," Miller said. "The active involvement of California Assemblyman Roderick Wright, who sponsored the pro-pardon resolution unanimously passed by the State Legislature, and the grassroots work by Sandra Evers-Manly and the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center have been of crucial importance in raising the profile of this issue.

"Most Americans never knew about Port Chicago, but these men and their families have never forgotten the mistreatment they suffered. Now, with the pardon appeal by Morrison and Foerster, there is at long last a chance for justice."

Miller and others have long charged that the system that placed only blacks in munitions loading operations was racist, a fact acknowledged by Navy and Defense Department officials who declined to reverse the convictions of the 258 sailors following a congressionally mandated review of the case. Miller also noted that the black sailors, who lived in segregated dormitories and received no training for the dangerous loading operations, were denied post-traumatic leave that was accorded white survivors, and that the death benefits for black sailors were lowered by the Senate once their race became known. The late Thurgood Marshall, then an attorney for the NAACP and later an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, criticized the original judgment against the sailors and weighed in in support of reversing the convictions.

"We once again call on the President to review this sad record against men who were putting their lives on the line to defend a country that blatantly discriminated against them on the basis of their race, and to remove the stain of these courts martial from their records by issuing them pardons," Miller said. "After nearly 55 years, and while some of these men are still alive, there is still time to correct this tragic mistake and pardon these elderly men."

The still unexplained munitions explosion was the worst stateside loss of life during WWII. Of the 320 men who died, 202 were black. Miller's involvement dates back to May 30, 1990, when he initiated a request from 24 Members of Congress calling on the Secretary of the Navy to reopen the case of the 258 court martialed sailors. The Navy declined the request, but Miller successfully wrote legislation to require the review. After the review, the Navy declined to overturn the convictions in 1994. Miller has appealed to President Clinton on numerous occasions for his support. Miller said the involvement of Morrison and Foerster now provides the best chance to win a presidential pardon.

For more information about the "Port Chicago Mutiny", see also http://www.portchicagomutiny.com