[californiadisasters] Event Honors Lives Lost in 1944 Port Chicago Blast

Event honors lives lost in 1944 Port Chicago blast

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Chronicle July 23, 2011 04:00 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

John Berger stood in the stiff wind on the Port Chicago dock Saturday morning as the staccato flap of an American flag punctuated the words he spoke to the crowd gathered at the water's edge.

"I felt the ground shake," he said. "I heard the loud roar. I still feel it."

Though nearly seven decades had passed, the 91-year-old chaplain and retired Navy man could not forget the devastation when 5,000 tons of explosives were accidentally detonated as they were loaded onto two World War II ships, killing 320 men, almost all African American, and injuring 400 others.

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View entire article here:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/23/BAU11KE9JV.DTL#ixzz1SzJAKqFM

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