Monument to Port Chicago 50 unveiled on Yerba Buena Island, 80 years after trial
Exactly 80 years to the day after the Port Chicago 50 were wrongfully convicted, a new monument was unveiled on Yerba Buena Island on Thursday, where their trial took place.
Carol Cherry and her sister Deborah Sheppard came to remember their father Cyril Sheppard, who was wrongly convicted of mutiny.
"In a way, it's a little somber, because he's not here to see it. Especially when I think about him living his life knowing that he did the right thing, but being condemned for it," said Cherry.
On October 24, 1944, the U.S. Navy convicted 50 Black sailors of mutiny for refusing to load munitions.
The sailors refused following an explosion at Port Chicago, near Concord, which killed 320 people, the majority of whom were Black enlisted men. Hundreds more were injured.
Historians said the men were not properly trained to safely load munitions.
For the sailors, it was a form of protest after the fatal explosions.
"I know in this moment he would feel vindicated, but I wish he had lived to see it," Cherry told CBS News Bay Area.
Cherry said her father understandably did not say much about his military service. She started her journey of discovery only 15 years ago when another family member began to share more of his past.
"'Oh, hey, did you know your pop was a convicted criminal?' I'm like, 'Stop!' It put me on a journey to try to understand what that was all about, because I couldn't see that being him," said Cherry.
Years of advocacy led to the Navy issuing this year a full exoneration of the sailors, with President Joe Biden saying the court martials were "fundamentally unfair, plagued by legal errors, and tainted by racial discrimination."
Advocates of the Port Chicago 50 revealed a new installation atop Panorama Park on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco.
Walt Bilofsky of The Treasure Island Museum helped find new evidence, including maps and plans from the Naval archives that pinpointed Building 97, where the trial took place.
"It created an awareness of racism that led to the desegregation of the Navy and eventually all the Armed Forces," said Bilofsky.
The National Park Service has already commemorated the site of the explosions at Port Chicago.
Highlighting where the trial took place, is another step toward helping descendants to heal and understand more of the past.
"Here she is, with Deborah today, able to talk about it, able to reclaim their history and to be proud of their father and be proud of his service," said Hilary Grabowska of the National Park Service.
"The Navy had a stronghold on his life. With that around his neck, it limited some of his possibilities, but he still lived a good life. We love them and we are proud of him," said Cherry.
For Cherry and her sister, there's now another place to honor the men who put on a uniform to serve, and are getting the recognition they deserve.
Advocates are looking for more family members of the Port Chicago 50 and hoping more descendants will learn of the history and tell their stories.
