July 15

Once again, I must apologize. This day became way too long. The horrendous traffic in San Francisco and the surrounding interstates was the main culprit. I will add comments tomorrow, if I make it into Tulare at a reasonable hour.

Today, the 16th, had enough time to remember yesterday. Port Chicago has an annual commemoration ceremony, on the Saturday closest to July 17, the day in 1944 when the munitions ship S.S. E.A. Bryan was blown to smithereens, along with the nearby S.S. Quinault Victory. 320 men lost their lives in a flash. Most were African-Americans. At the time the U.S. Navy was segregated, and the deadly task of loading munition ships was forced upon men with black skin. Survivors of the tragedy were ordered back to work, once a makeshift dock was hastily built. 200+ men refused. With the threat of court martial and thereby the horror of death by firing squad (since mutiny during wartime was considered treason), many reluctantly returned. But 50 men did not. The largest mass court martial in the history of the U.S. began. The 50 were convicted, with sentences of 8 to 15 years, and dishonorable discharge. This was a perfect example of white men in power trampling on men of different skin colors. One positive outcome was the trial and public outcry hastened the Navy to desegregate.

So, about 200 people were on hand at the memorial, next to the waters of the Suisun Bay, to honor and remember those 320 men, as well as hear words about the subsequent trial. The 30 mph winds off the water helped keep everyone cool. One tent which had been set up for shade was blown over. Papers on tables under other tents were closely watched. With this still being an active military base, the NPS shuttles had to wait for all to be loaded before proceeding through the base gate. Once at the memorial site, visitors took photos while waiting for the ceremonies to begin. The park superintendent gave opening remarks. Other dignitaries spoke. There were three people in attendance who had direct ties to three of the 320 men. One was a son of a 21-years old seaman. A flag honor guard raised a U.S. flag on the memorial flagpole, then lowered and folded it, before presenting it to the son. I spoke with him and his daugher after the ceremony, agreeing with them that events like Port Chicago should be in every junior high school history book, alongside Paul Revere and Martin Luther King, Jr. I was never aware of this largest loss of life on the home front during WW2 until I began my quest to visit all the NPS parks. Thankfully, the NPS is now preserving and presenting this story.

There were four military boats in the waters, and plenty of MPs on our perimeter. Remember, this is an active military base. Even though the NPS is allowed to give one tour a day during parts of the year, any tour can be cancelled at the last minute. A lady was telling me that a couple weeks ago there were 32 people lined up for one tour, and when they arrived at John Muir NHS to catch the shuttle, they were told the Army had closed access to the base. Two large, modern cranes are a few hundred yards down the waterfront from the memorial. I was told that earlier this year they began to be used heavily, to deliver more munitions to Ukraine. That will not help tour scheduling.

Then came the nightmare, or should I say daymare. This was a Saturday, and folks should be home tending to their yards or homes. But no, they were all out on the interstates. Jam after jam, all the way from Port Chicago to the Bay Bridge to San Fran. You will never get me to live in a big city. I finally gave up on going first to San Francisco Maritime NHP and headed to Fort Point NHS. Things were smoother until I saw that the city folks who were not on cars were at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the associated VC. The roads around this area make for a maze, through the Presido and down onto the Bay waterfront. I finally made it to the road which I have always taken to the fort, to find it was closed. Then, the friendly woman’s voice on Google Maps said to take a right turn to get to the fort. I knew she had to be kidding, but I dutifully obeyed. Sure enough, I was headed north over the bridge. Once I was past the toll booth area, the voice said “you have arrived at Fort Point”. The only problem was that the fort was directly below me by 100 feet. Don’t you just love your iPhones? So, $9.75 later (for the toll to return) I went back to the closed road. A side alley said residential area. I figured I would pretend to be a resident for one hour.

The fort is three stories tall, topped with a barbette tier which used to have 21 cannons. I think I saw a sign which said the fort at one time held 120 guns. Back in the day that would have deterred almost anyone. And the construction is of brick. So, top of the line over 100 years ago, but 21st century ordinance would blow the place to bits. The fort did house the operational Fort Point Lighthouse, which still stands on the roof (closed to tourists). But once the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, the lighthouse was put out to pasture. Another artifact which is past its prime was the 1684 Spanish cannon which the NPS owns. A sign read the cannon was in the fort, but I could not find it. I asked a ranger for help. He chuckled and pointed over to two large black Civil War era guns. He said the prize possession was behind the behemoths. Now, I have seen those big 42 pounder guns at other forts, but I cannot remember seeing a 17th century Spanish cannon (though there may be one at Castillo de San Marcos NMon in Florida… Florida loop is in November). Why the park has this treasure hidden is unknown to me. Various rooms on the second level were open for people to view. These included barracks and eating areas. Other cannon and guns were on the first level. A few rooms had displays discussing the indigenous peoples and their initial encounters with the Spanish in the 1700s, followed by the ugly slavery and domination. This is how the one Spanish cannon came to the Bay.

After surviving more traffic headaches, I found a parking garage near the Maritime park. This park is on the edge of Fisherman’s Wharf, where boatloads of people like to come to eat, shop, ride the famous street cars, tour a WW2 submarine, and take a ferry over to Alcatraz. The sidewalks were packed. The VC is in a refurbished cannery building. There are plenty of maritime displays, and histories of the different San Fran areas by the water. The collection of model ships is beautiful. Then you can step outside, go across the street and you are at Hyde Street Pier. This is where the seaworthy ship collection is kept. Though the VC is free, the pier is not; $15 a person. Before starting any National Park journey, see if buying the annual pass for all parks (108 charge an admission fee of some sort) at $80 would be beneficial. My favorite ship is the 1890 ferry Eureka. This shuttled passengers and cars from San Fran to Sausalito (and the other direction) for decades, prior to the Golden Gate Bridge. The boat is huge. It was an integral part of the US 101 highway system. I am not aware of any other boat system being a segment of a US highway. Today, we take the Golden Gate Bridge for granted.