“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II

A retired cop in California, Alvin “Tommy” Bridges joined the army just to receive a paycheck. Stationed in Britain and France and trained as a military police (MP) officer, he recalls seeing men executed for going AWOL or stealing military equipment. He also notes that there were white and African American men who worked in the military as MPs, and there were large numbers of men defecting in France, regardless of race. Tommy emerged from World War II with strong anti-war views and believes humanity will eventually destroy itself in a nuclear war.

An accidental explosion at the Californian naval base Port Chicago killed 320 personnel. A month later, hundreds of members of the loading crew, who were predominantly black, protested and refused to load the ships until working and safety conditions were improved. Fifty of the protestors, the “Chicago 50,” were arrested on charges of mutiny. Among them was Joseph Small. The case was especially notorious in the African American community, who noted how it was mainly black personnel who were subjected to poor working conditions. In the end, Joseph and the other men accused of causing the explosion were “discharged under honorable conditions” (400). Joseph notes that after the explosion, the base was fully integrated.