Yet, they lived and died with this dark cloud.”He didn’t have a blemish on his record until this happened. He was commended for his bravery after the explosion,” Cherry said.”And that’s the unfortunate part about this. And I pray that an exoneration will bring peace to their souls and bring peace to their family members,” […]
Yet, they lived and died with this dark cloud.”He didn’t have a blemish on his record until this happened. He was commended for his bravery after the explosion,” Cherry said.”And that’s the unfortunate part about this. And I pray that an exoneration will bring peace to their souls and bring peace to their family members,” Del Toro said.”I said, ‘Stop playing.’ And she was like, ‘No, he didn’t tell you he went to jail?’ I said, ‘For what?’ She said, ‘Mutiny,'” Cherry said.Carol Cherry’s father, Cyril Sheppard, was sentenced to prison for almost two years at the age of 20. Carol Cherry never knew her father was a central character in one of the darkest chapters of American military history until long after his death — something she found out from her sister.The White sailors were granted leave after the explosion, but Black sailors were ordered back to work loading ammunition at another port. Around 250 sailors initially refused, but after threats, most complied. “They took the right course of action by denying to go back to work under the similar circumstances,” Del Toro said.And she wishes she could tell him justice was finally done, and the Navy now says her pop was a hero.
In July 1944, World War II was raging in the Pacific. U.S. forces were in desperate need of ammunition, and Port Chicago in northern California became a critical supply point. At the time, the Navy was still segregated. Naval historian Dr. Regina Akers says Black sailors got the toughest, most dangerous assignments.They repeatedly warned the White officers that safety conditions were lax, but they were never addressed. “Those who loaded the ammunition were African American, exclusively,” Akers said. “Not that they didn’t want to do their jobs. This is so important. Why are only African Americans loading ammunition?”Fifty men stood their ground and became known as the Port Chicago 50. They were charged and convicted of mutiny in a mass summary court-martial and sentenced to hard labor.Last July, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro exonerated the Black sailors 80 years after the disaster. At a memorial ceremony at Port Chicago last July, Carol Cherry was presented with a flag that now sits on her shelf, serving as a shrine to her father.”I thank my pop for what he did. I’m so proud of him, and I’m so happy for where we are at this moment. I wish he was here to see it.”
Charlie D’Agata is CBS News’ senior national security correspondent. He was previously a senior foreign correspondent and has spent more than two decades covering international news for CBS.
