Members of the community gathered on Saturday to remember the lives lost during the 1944 deadly Port Chicago explosion.
The eightieth anniversary was extra special for some as it marks the first day of reembrace after the U.S. Navyexonerated 256 Black sailors who were found to be unjustly punished for the explosion.
"My uncle was as senior second class stationed here, and he died in the explosion he was 17 years of age," said Jason Felisbret and attendee. "He died just a month short of his 18th birthday. It means a lot for me to be here and to acknowledge that even 80 years later justice will prevail."
Following the horrific port explosion that killed hundreds of service members it exposed racist double standards among the then-segregated ranks.
On July 17, 1944, munitions being loaded onto a cargo ship detonated, causing secondary blasts that ignited 5,000 tons (4,535 metric tonnes) of explosives at Port Chicago naval weapons station near San Francisco.
The explosion killed 320 sailors and civilians, nearly 75% of whom were Black, and injured another 400 personnel. Surviving Black sailors had to pick up the human remains and clear the blast site while white officers were granted leave to recuperate.
The pier was a critical ammunition supply site for forces in the Pacific during World War II, and the job of loading those ships was left primarily to Black enlisted sailors overseen by white officers.
Before the explosion, the Black sailors working the dock had expressed concerns about the loading operations. Shortly after the blast, they were ordered to return to loading ships even though no changes had been made to improve their safety.
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The sailors refused, saying they needed training on how to more safely handle the bombs before they returned.
What followed affected the rest of their lives, including punishments that kept them from receiving honorable discharges even as the vast majority returned to work at the pier under immense pressure and served throughout the war. Fifty sailors who held fast to their demands for safety and training were tried as a group on charges of conspiracy to commit mutiny and were convicted and sent to prison.
"We are both solemn remembering the loss of life that occurred but also elated that this day has finally come when the men have been exonerated," said Kelli English of the National Park Service to NBC Bay Area on Saturday.
