70 years ago the earth shook at port chicago near concord. the worse state decide of world war ii. boxcars loaded with bombs explode in northern california. adjusting shelves buried near the railroad tracking for decades. all straight ahead on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look. i'm julie haener. it was an explosion that killed hundreds of sailors in an instant. this july 17th marks 70 years since the port chicago explosion ripped through the

night sky. the blast was so strong seismic shock waves were felt in nevada. most of the dead african americans americans in segregated units designed to load dangerous ammunition on to ports. pushed to work even faster. we remember 50 survivors that took a principal stand in the days that followed. the explosion may have happened here at port chicago 60 years ago but the sadness of that day has not faded with time. today hundreds of people gathered to remember those killed here on that day in one of the worse military actions in history. bill hudson was at war there. in his barracks ready to go to

bed. >> when the first explosion happened. it was lit up the place like daylight. a few second later the second explosion came. i was blown across the room and i don't remember anything until i came to again. >> as high as you could see it was a black smoke. and every now and then a flash in between. and that went on for some time. men were running and screaming and hollering all over the place. >> first explosion knocked me from my bed to the ceiling. and i hit the floor. and right after that, i was a petty officer in my quarters at the time. i told, i asked the rest of the men to lie flat on the floor and stay there. before i could get that out everything just collapsed. >> reporter: it is still uncertain what set off the explosion. what is clear that some 5,000- tons of high explosives and depth charges ignited blowing

up two ammunition cargo trains. >> that was what caused me to lose my sight. the concussion and flying glass. then it hit me that i couldn't see what i was doing. and i hollered out, get me out. i called to my buddy to come and take me to the sick base. somebody said the sick base has been blown up. >> i ended upcoming down to the dock to see if there was anything i could do. there was nothing there. you can imagine two huge ships just completely disappear. there was nothing we could do down there. it was just the smell of death. we turned around and went back. >> the next morning when day broke the ground was covered with shrapnel. people from the side of the ship. i said what's next? we have to go down to the

waterfront. pick up the dead bodies. >> reporter: of the 320 people killed in the blast 2/3 were african american. the military was segregated them. blacks were given the dangerous jobs of loading ammunition into the ships for those fighting overseas. white officers pushed them to work faster. >> we weren't allowed to transfer, we didn't get any leave and even after the explosion they wouldn't give us leave to go home. >> reporter: after the explosion, 50 black sailors refused to work at the dock. they were arrested. >> i have an entirely different view of what i did. today what i did i think was honorable. >> it's so clear in my mind, you know, it's something that you can think. >> reporter: some people view of what -p -- some people view

what happened here as the beginning of the civil movement. >> they fought the world of world war ii and the war of racism. we have to make sure this day is alive and well. and northern california is the one place every child should know about it. in all 320 men died including 222 african american enlisted men. the blast was intense. the bodies of only 51 men were found intact enough to identify their remains. 390 people were injured. some of them in the near by town of port chicago. there shattered glass and debris rained down on the town. huge chunks of metal embedded into the ground. berkeley seismic graphs recorded the blast.

the largest measured 3.4. nearly a decade after the blast at port chicago, the navy purchased the land. as the navy took over the town, carlton cordell spoke to the people as they were forced to leave their businesses and their homes. >> reporter: there's still a lot of life at port chicago, but as far as the navy is concerned it's soon to become a ghost town. people are looking for places to live, they have to find places to live because the city has been condemned and it's being taken over as a buffer zone from the ammunition dump. we spoke to several people to find out how they felt about having to move. some of the ladies we talked to were with the port chicago improvement association. and they've been carrying this battle against the gigantic navy department all along. here are some of the things they had to say when we asked

them if and when they were going to move. >> yes, we've decided where we're going to move. we don't like it to move. we've been here all our lives but, it's come to the point now we have no choice. >> no we haven't. >> reporter: did you, did you really mean it when you said you weren't going to move? >> i don't want to move. i said we should just sit here and call for the american navy to carry us out. >> i don't know what i'm going to get for my property. you can't make up your mind unless you have money to talk with. >> reporter: today was the first day the navy department moved its real estate office into port chicago. to find out how many appraisers were out on the streets, how many people were working in the office and what they were doing, i talked to mr. leslie springmire who heads up that office then we talked to some people outside of the street

after they had been inside. >> we have mr. fisk and mr. jordan. >> when something like this happens rumors run around town that they aren't getting fair land values. have any officers being made. >> no we're not ready to make any officers until we get the land review. >> what about the reaction to the city office itself. it's a strange thing to see navy real estate office on the main street of their town. what kind of reaction have you gotten from people. >> i would say the reaction has been very well. the office has been jammed since it opened this morning at approximately 8:30. >> i'm just going in and gettings mine appraised. she said i can make up an appointment. sometime after 5:00. >> how long have you lived here in town? >> we've lived here let's see since 60. >> how do you feel about having

to move out. >> i don't mind it too much. >> is this your movie theater? >> yes, sir, 29 years. >> what are you going to do with it? >> i'm going to give it to the navy. no more civilian life in the state of california or the united states. it's all military personnel now. >> where are you going to move now? >> no idea. >> reporter: some people have already resolved themselvess to the fact that it's inevitable that they're going to have to leave port chicago. still to come on a second look. >> i don't want my community to be known as you know the bomb yard. >> reporter: more than two decades after this railroad yard explosion, massive military bombs turn up in one california town. and a deadly 1926 navy depot explosion change it is way the military stores its ammunition.

welcome back to a second look. as we take a look back at munitions accidents. it was early on a saturday morning in april of 1973 that thousands of bombs bombs

headed for the vietnam war blew up outside of roseville. this is a photo of that blast. boxcar after boxcar of munitions exploded. investigators say that a hot break shoe ignited the wooden floor in a boxcar causing explosions which continued for 32 hours. fortunately no one was killed but bombs apparently left behind from that accident turned up decades later. vern hawkins was there when a bomb was discovered and destroyed. >> reporter: the bomb was discovered yesterday near tracks where trains headed toward vietnam exploded.

the detonation's destroyed the rail yard and sent near by residents scattered. >> i remember i was a little league umpire, and i was brushing off home plate. and as soon as it went out i remember thinking, okay this game is over. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: demolition experts who used plastic explosives to set it off. said the chance of it exploding on its own is slim. it was unstable. >> kind of strange. the things that go through our community and we don't know about it. >> reporter: officials say if one bomb was out there, there are probably more. >> that first massive bomb turned out to be just a warning of things to come. later that same month, vern hawkins returned to the same area and filed this report. >> for the second time in two

weeks, bombs from the vietnam war era were found by railroad workers. this time 250-pounders were dug up by a construction crew replacing tracks at this rail yard east of sacramento. once more a bomb squad blew them up one at a time. detonation shook near by homes between 1:30 and 3:00 a.m. deputies urged 200 people to evacuate. but fewer than 200 did. >> the first one hit and we got up. the second one hit you could feel all the windows in the car bow in. my daughter's room lost a couple of pictures. >> reporter: today some of the residents who felt last night's blast looked over the area. railroad security guards kept people away from the site. the next year by then 25 years after the railroad explosion a construction crew found another bomb. and as amber lee reported then, with each new discovery

community members voiced concerns about where the next bomb might show up. >> reporter: a 250-pound bomb sits in this bunker in the small community of antelope near the railroad. when a load of dirt was dumped someone noticed an object that at first looked like a pipe but turned out to be a pipe. the bomb found yesterday and 11 others discovered last year had been buried here. a bomb squad blew up two in the rail yard. many people say they still don't understand why it was done so close to home. >> it scares you don't know what's going on. >> i was upset. we don't know no more damage. >> reporter: experts said they were satisfied this area had

been cleared of any other bombs. but the people who live near by say they weren't surprised when they learned yet another bomb had been uncovered. >> i don't want my community to be known as the bomb yard basically. >> reporter: robert o'brien is upset with county officials for not dog a better job of getting rid of the bombs. he says his home has undergone damage. he says the worse part is his daughter kaylin was traumatized by the whole thing. >> she was afraid to go out and play in the backyard because she thought there were going to be bombs going off. >> reporter: kaylin recently started playing outside again. robert derham says there's no reason why the family has to be afraid to play outside. >> there's just a shell with a bomb in it. >> reporter: they're not going to blow up. >> they're not going to blow

up. >> reporter: and sweeping the rail yard for bombs. when we come back on a second look. >> fire in the hole. fire in the hole. >> they were called the curse of mayer island. the deadly debris some of which dates back to the civil war hidden on the island. heat shields are compromised. we have multiple failures.

what's that alarm? fuel cell two is down. i'm going to have to guide her in manually. this is very exciting. but i'm at my stop. come again? i'm watching this on the train. it's so hard to leave. good luck with everything. watch tv virtually anywhere with the u-verse tv app. with at&t, the u-verse revolves around you.

welcome back to second look as we look at the dangers of munition. some of the most beautiful bay area properties were once home to military installations. when the military moved out some of what they left behind proved difficult to remove. rob roth reported on a clean up effort that turned up a display of artillery some of which dated back to the civil war. >> reporter: the navy may be long gone from mayer island in vallejo. there's neither a sailor or ship. but when the navy left town not

everything left with it. buried in the ground were tons of artillery shells that munitions experts are still digging out and destroying. >> fire in the hole. fire in the hole. >> reporter: what's so special that just blew up is the world war ii shell like this one. if it explodes it could kill anyone within 15 feet. >> we find a tremendous number of these. >> reporter: so many the munitions people call them the curse of mayer island. >> they were made to detonate when they hit the canvas wings by the japanese. but they were so sensitive that rain drops would detonate these items. so we treat them with a lot of respect. >> reporter: these are 5,000 pounds of explosives that workers have uncovered. explosives that date back to the civil war.

these rounds from the turn of the century can pierce the armor of a ship or kill anyone standing within half a mile. >> one of the first things we are concerned with, when we pull these out of the ground. we're trying to find the fuse which is the most sensitive part of the explosive train. and we try to assess the position. >> reporter: so how did this all get here? the navy says it was common practice for more than 100 years. >> we have a problem, we're looking at many different solutions to get in there and remove a lot of that material. >> reporter: but mayer island is not the only place that has

a problem. add benecia to the list. you can still see the bunkers left over from when the army had an arsenal here. an arsenal that was here now it's prime land. construction crews began churning up shells. >> ordnance that was buried under a few feet of soil is now right there. ready to play with. that's when it becomes a problem. >> reporter: the army corp. of engineers is disposing of the shells by burying them in a hole and plowing up explosives to set them up. >> most of it would be destroyed in that fashion but occasionally there would be a piece that would be kicked out in the hole and rain down

without being exploded before. so that's our prime concern. finding those shells and detonating them. >> the houses will go up once engineers give the all clear. what's happening in benecia and mayer is merely two worlds colliding. the world of war and the world of peace. seven dead at the ammunition depot when a live training exercise goes wrong. ♪

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it was a catastrophic ammunition disaster in 1926 that claimed the lives of 19 people. which forced congress to establish an oversite body for the military's explosives. on july 10, 1926 during a

raging electrical storm, a bolt of lightning sparked a fire at an ammunition depot in lake denmark new jersey. buildings were torn from their concrete foundations and hot metal shrapnel rained down for miles. 15 service members were killed along with four civilians. another 38 people were wounded. in the aftermath of the immense explosion, congress changed their rules for how they held explosives. the hawthorn munitions building

was built. jennifer griffin filed this record last march. >> lights from emergency vehicles spilling the night sky in nevada late sunday night after an explosion at the hawthorn army depot injured 13 marines. >> it was an accident that happened with the marines training down out. >> reporter: the incident involved marine training with mortars. that official says it is unclear exactly what took place. if the mortar exploded prematurely. the news getting reaction from the commander in chief who's thoughts and prayers are with the families of those lost and injured. >> it's a tragedy. and the president was briefed on it and made aware of it immediately. >> reporter: harry reid who represents nevada echoing to sentiments on the floor. >> my thoughts are with those

woo are injure and those who have lost loved ones. >> reporter: the depot is an important training facility for troops headed overseas. it's located in a remote section of the state and made up of hundreds of buildings spread within 230 square miles. the marines issuing a worldwide moratorium on firing such mortars until an investigation can clear the safety of ammo used in the incident. the investigation will look into whether appropriate measures were taken to blow up the munitions. the marines removed three officers from their command positions. their battalion commander said he had lost trust in their ability to construction live fire training. and this year, the navy found

that there was safety measures not being followed. that's it for this week's second look.

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