Throughout history Black Americans have fought for this country, serving us all even while facing discrimination and racism. At Thurgood Marshall Regional Park: Home of the Port Chicago 50, we have the opportunity to share some of these stories.
Port Chicago 50
Fifty Black sailors known as the Port Chicago 50 took a stand that led to the largest mutiny trial in U.S. Naval history, after enduring the largest Home Front disaster of WWII that took place at Port Chicago Naval Magazine, near Concord, in 1944. The disaster killed 320 men, 202 of which were African-American. The Port Chicago 50 refused to load munitions after the explosion, without increased training and safety measures, and were charged with mutiny as a result. The mutiny trial won the attention of Civil Rights leaders, including NAACP civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall. Although the 50 men were found guilty and sentenced to 8-15 years in prison, their trial ultimately led to the desegregation of the entire U.S. military in 1948. Image: Stevedore loading munitions during WWII at Port Chicago Naval Magazine. Credit National Park Service / U.S. Navy
Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell
In 2000, Lt. Col. Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell became the first African American woman fighter pilot. During her 19-year career, Kimbrell was deployed to air bases all over the world, including Operation Northern and Southern watch where she became the first African American woman to fly a combat mission. Throughout her career she earned many awards including multiple Aerial Achievement Medals, two Air Force Commendations Medals, and the National Defense Service Medal. Her service and story continues to inspire current and future pilots. Image: Lt. Col. Kimbrell in front of an F-16 Fighter – Credit U.S. Air Force
Doris Miller
Miller, freshly graduated out of segregated bootcamp, was assigned to the USS West Virginia on Jan 2, 1940, where he served as a ship attendant who did everything from working in the kitchen to laundry duties. At the time the Navy did not allow Black sailors to be trained in any specialty other than service work. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese military surprised attacked the battleships at Pearl Harbor. Miller bravely rose to action, saving fellow sailors, and without previous training he operated a ship machine gun, firing at Japanese fighters until he ran out of ammunition. He was one of the few who survived the sinking of the USS West Virginia, by swimming to shore through a sea of oil and flames. Image: Recruitment Poster featuring Doris Miller – Credit Library of Congress
Buffalo Soldiers
Perhaps the most famous Black military units were the Army’s Buffalo Soldiers. Beginning in 1866, six Black regiments of infantry and calvary served during the Indian Wars, with the lowest desertion rate in the Army. During the Spanish American War, the 10th Calvary of Buffalo Soldiers rescued future President Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders.”
Buffalo Soldiers were also tasked with setting up and protecting the early National Parks such as Yosemite. In this role they fought fires, stopped poachers, and welcomed early visitors. These men distinguished themselves in every assignment, often in the face of racism and discrimination. Image: Buffalo Soldier in Denver – Credit Denver Public Library Special Collections
Sgt. William H. Carney
During the Civil War approximately 186,000 Black soldiers fought against the Confederacy; 94,000 were formerly enslaved. Sgt. William Carney was one of the first Black men to receive the Medal of Honor, for his bravery and leadership in the Battle of Fort Wagner. During this battle Sgt. Carney took up the American flag when the unit’s color guard was shot. He led the charge from the South Carolina swamp up the hill to the walls of Fort Wagner, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds as he inspired the Union soldiers to win this crucial battle. He was honored with the award in his old age, with a group of other Black recipients who fought in the Civil War.
Image: Sgt. William H Carney - Credit National Museum of African American History and Culture
Harriet Tubman
The iconic Harriet Tubman possessed navigation and naturalist skills which she used to traverse the wild backcountry, freeing enslaved Black people. Reading landscapes, stars, plants, and animal signs, she proved invaluable to the Union Army as a soldier and spy during the Civil War. In this role, she successfully rallied and recruited Black troops and led raids in North Carolina against the Confederates. Image: Harriet Tubman, Library of Congress
1st Rhode Island Regiment
Black Americans have fought in the U.S. military as far back as the Revolutionary War. In fact, the first causality during the revolution was Crispus Attucks, a Black man who escaped bondage. The American Revolution saw thousands of free and enslaved men sent to fight on behalf of the owners. Most of these men fought in integrated units. Due to a lack of white volunteers, in 1778 Rhode Island began offering freedom to all enslaved men that enlisted, as well as compensation to their former owners. This act created America’s first all-Black fighting unit, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. While initially a segregated unit, it became integrated as white soldiers joined the unit later in the war.
The 1st Rhode Island distinguished itself at the Battle of Rhode Island, repelling three assaults by the British, allowing the Continental Army time to escape a trap. Many of the Black soldiers who joined the 1st Rhode Island in 1778 remained with the unit through the end of the war, fighting with the unit at Yorktown. While the soldiers in the 1st Rhode Island were promised freedom, many of Black soldiers across the Continental Army were not compensated, and many were returned to enslavement after the war.
Image: American soldiers at the siege of Yorktown, by Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger, watercolor, 1781
