FTR#605—Interview with Peter
Vogel and Dean McLeod about Port Chicago--(Two 30-minute segments.) (Sources are noted
in parentheses.) (Recorded on 8/5/2007.)
Note: FTR#’s 260-316, 317,
324, FTR#325 and succeeding programs are streaming
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FTR#’s 01-270, 316-324 are available for download
only, also on Real Audio, on their Archive Page.)
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LECTURES PRESENTING MR. EMORY’S VIEWS OF WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IN THE FUTURE ARE
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Descriptions are available in the Lecture Series section.
NEW!! A number of
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Martin Bormann: Nazi in
Exile by Paul Manning; The Nazis Go Underground
by Curt Reiss; and All Honorable Men (parts 1 and 2) by James
Stewart Martin. Taken together, these books will provide a significant
understanding of the concept and reality of The Underground Reich, and they can
be downloaded with a modem Internet connection. They are available at: Spitfirelist.com/Books. In addition, we have added Cairo to Damascus by John Roy Carlson [1951], Germany Plots with the Kremlin by T.H. Tetens [1953], and Armies of Spies by Joseph Golomb [1939].
Yet another recent addition is Germany’s
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the 1979 classic The Crime and Punishment
of I.G. Farben.) Another anti-fascist classic about I.G. Farben supplements
the Borkin and Welsh text—Treason’s Peace
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both published in 1943. The Winkler text documents the evolution of militant
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For the
“Controlled Demolition Person” in your life: if someone you know is hooked on
the “controlled demolition of the World Trade Center” disinformation vis a vis
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Summary of FTR#605—(Note: The massive
volume of ‘For The Record’ programs about 9/11 and related topics is summarized
and analyzed in the periodically-updated description for FTR#391. FTR#’s
454, 455, 456 are compilations of much of the key documentation
culled from Mr. Emory’s investigation into 9/11. Along with FTR#391, they should give
listeners/readers a substantive grasp of this momentous event. It is
recommended that listeners use this description and e-mail it to others.) Revisiting a subject Mr.
Emory has researched for years, this program supplements Peter Vogel’s heroic
research on the Port Chicago explosion of July 17th of 1944. For
decades, Peter has researched that event, developing a compelling body of
evidence that the explosion was actually the test of an early atomic bomb—the
Mark II. (Peter’s research is available in an online book at: www.portchicago.org.) In this broadcast, author Dean McLeod, whose
book Images of America: Port Chicago is
due for release on 9/15/2007, joins him. (An advance look at the contents of
his book, including some very important documents that complement and reinforce
Peter’s work on the explosion, are available on DEAN’S
WEBSITE.) After a synopsis of the Port Chicago explosion,
investigation and mutiny, Dean summarizes the history of the town of Port
Chicago, including the fact that the town was relocated in its entirety during
the Vietnam War, in order (ostensibly) to safeguard the residents in the event
of a future explosion like the one at Port Chicago. Dean notes that, during the
Cold War, Port Chicago became a major transshipment point for nuclear weapons
bound for the Pacific theater. The second half of the program summarizes
Peter’s investigation into the explosion itself and the evidence that the blast
was a test of an atomic bomb. Dean presents documents that he has uncovered
which strongly reinforce Peter’s argument.
Program Highlights Include: The negative reactions of Edward Teller (father of the H-bomb) and
Donald Kerr (director of Los Alamos National Laboratory) to Peter’s inquiries
about Port Chicago; the tremendous interest of the Los Alamos National
Laboratory in this (supposedly conventional) explosion; the background of
Captain William Parsons (the point man for the Los Alamos research on Port
Chicago); Parsons’ role as bombing officer aboard the Enola Gay—the plane that
dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima; the characteristics of the
explosion that pinpoint it as being a nuclear fission blast; an August, 1944 memorandum
congratulating participants in the investigation for advancing a “highly
classified and urgent project.” It is difficult to imagine that the investigation
of the explosion of an ammunition ship would be considered “highly classified
and urgent!”
1.
The broadcast begins with a synoptic overview of the Port
Chicago explosion as an historical event—in particular as a watermark in the
struggle of African-Americans for civil rights. On the evening of July 17th,
1944 the ammunition ship U.S.S. E.A. Bryan exploded at Port Chicago, completely
demolishing the ship, much of the adjacent port facilities and sinking and
rending apart the U.S.S. Quinalt Victory, which was anchored some distance
away. (Port Chicago is part of the Concord Naval Weapons facility on Suisun
Bay—an inland section of San Francisco Bay.) African-American sailors ordered
to resume ammunition-loading duties after the explosion mutinied, refusing the
order on the grounds that the working conditions were unsafe. (African-American
sailors handled much of the dangerous duty of loading ammunition bound for the
war in the Pacific.) In a legal proceeding in which they were represented by
future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the sailors were convicted of
mutiny. Eventually, those convictions were reversed in recognition of the
excessive, grinding conditions in which they had been ordered to work. The
mutiny, conviction and reversal of the conviction in recognition of the unfair
working conditions in which the mutineers had been obliged to work have made
the event a landmark in the struggle for African-American civil rights. As
discussed in—among other programs—FTR#444, information surfaced
decades after the event indicating that the Port Chicago explosion was a test
of an early atomic weapon—the Mark II. For a more detailed analysis of the
explosion itself than can be presented here, see the description for that program
and Peter Vogel’s online book The Last Wave from Port Chicago; available
at: www.portchicago.org.
2.
Much of the first side of the program features author Dean
McLeod’s discussion of the history of Port Chicago. A major transshipment point
for munitions to be used in the Pacific, the Port Chicago facility became, in
time, one of the most important shipping facilities for nuclear weapons during
the Cold War. Before discussing the eminent domain relocation of all of the
town’s inhabitants during the Vietnam War, Mr. McLeod chronicles the history of
the tiny town, beginning with its origins as a logging town in 1908. [Many Bay
Area towns sprang up at this time, in order to harvest the plentiful redwood
trees for the rebuilding of San Francisco and environs after the earthquake of
1906.] An important junction for both rail and maritime traffic, the town was
named for the metropolis of the Midway with a view to the functional similarity
between the two towns.
3.
In 1968, all of the town’s residents were relocated by the
government, which had appropriated all of the town’s territory under the
principle of eminent domain. Using the rationale that the relocation was
necessary to ensure the safety of Port Chicago’s citizens in the event of a
nuclear accident, all of them were obliged to relocate. [The town had a
population of about 3,500 at its peak—considerably fewer at the time that the
town was relocated.]
4.
One of the discoveries that impelled Peter Vogel on his
path of discovery leading to the real cause of the explosion was his discovery
of a film, purporting to be a simulation of the Port Chicago explosion. This
film and the devastation produced by the Port Chicago explosion were used to
support the government’s argument in favor of the relocation of the town’s
residents.
5.
The second side of the broadcast consists almost entirely of
discussion of the Mark II, the early atomic weapon that was tested at Port
Chicago. For substantive, detailed discussion of the Mark II and the
indications that the Port Chicago explosion was a test, see the description for
FTR#444, as well as Peter
Vogel’s magnificent online book, available at www.portchicago.org.
One piece of critical evidence not included in FTR#444 is the fact that
subsequent research has turned up higher-than-expected radiation levels in
areas adjacent to the blast. NOTE THAT SOMEONE SCEPTICAL OF PETER VOGEL’S
WORKING HYPOTHESIS MADE THIS DISCOVERY!! The information about the elevated
radiation levels at Port Chicago is available in FTR#472.
6.
After Peter Vogel excerpts some compelling documents
indicating that the Port Chicago explosion was indeed a test of the Mark II
atomic device, Dean McLeod excerpted some documents available in his book and
on his website that complement Peter Vogel’s original research in an effective
and compelling way. After enumerating the many high-ranking naval officers and
Manhattan Project notables involved with the investigation of the Port Chicago
explosion, Dean notes a memorandum congratulating participants in the
investigation for advancing a “highly classified and urgent project.” It is
difficult to imagine that the investigation of the explosion of an ammunition
ship would be considered a “highly classified and urgent project.” BE SURE TO
CHECK OUT THESE DOCUMENTS, AVAILABLE ON DEAN’S
WEBSITE. These documents are also available in Dean’s forthcoming book Images
of America: Port Chicago, scheduled for publication on 9/15.