Betty Reed Soskin thought it was an earthquake that shook her awake. It was Monday, July 17th,

1944, and Betty and her husband Melvin had just turned in for the evening. The pair had just

hosted a group of Black sailors for a small gathering, providing music, food, and an opportunity for socialization.

It was a time of segregation, and many restaurants and bars in their community of Port Chicago, a suburb of San Francisco, California,

refused to provide Black Sailors' service.

In response, the couple often warmly opened their doors to their home just as they

did that Monday evening. Betty looked at the sailors like the young man named Richard she spent

much of the evening speaking with, with concern, taking note of how young and vulnerable he and the

others appeared. As they spoke, laughed, and interacted, it was apparent,

these were boys, not yet men, and it troubled Betty to think of what awaited them just outside

the safety of her residence as the Second World War unfolded.

Hours later, sitting up in bed, bracing themselves for the ensuing quake the couple held their breath but only silence followed the house shook and then stilled eventually drifting back to sleep betty and melvin would awake the following day to news of a catastrophe san francisco is no stranger to them devastating Devastating fires, landslides, and earthquakes

had infamously plagued the area for generations, but this was different. The quake they felt

was actually the reverberations of what would go down in history as the worst domestic disaster

of World War II, one which took the lives of Richard and over 300 others,

resulting in the largest mutiny trial in U.S. Naval history and emphasized the dangers of racial injustice and discrimination within the military and beyond.

This is the story of the Port Chicago disaster.

Welcome to National Park After Dark.

Music Well, you really set the scene for this episode. And I have heard of this disaster and I know bits and pieces about it, but I'm really excited that you're doing a deep dive today because I feel like I should know more about it. I think everyone should know more about it because I went into this not knowing anything about it. And now I am so glad that I can share it with everybody.

So hello, everyone. Welcome to National Park After Dark, the podcast where we

discuss pretty much anything that happens within National Park Site Boundaries. And my name is Danielle.

And I'm Cassie. And I'm so curious of what National Park this is tied into. So this is actually

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