[CPEO-MEF] PRESERVATION, RACE: Port Chicago (CA) National Memorial

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Port Chicago gains national park status

Peter Fimrite
San Francisco Chronicle
November 11, 2009
		

Betty Reid Soskin lost a bit of her innocence on July 17, 1944, the 
night a massive explosion ripped apart Port Chicago, killing 320 men, 
most of them black sailors.

It was the largest stateside disaster during World War II, but what 
really shook Soskin was the realization that some of the workers at the 
ill-fated weapons depot north of Concord had spent time at her home that 
afternoon, dancing at a party.

Those memories were dredged up recently when President Obama signed 
legislation making Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial the 
392nd unit of the national parks system.

The designation was especially meaningful after the decades-long 
struggle to win recognition for the American sailors who made the 
ultimate sacrifice for their country that day.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/11/BA811ACGPG.DTL

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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