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Against All Tides: The Untold Story of the USS Kitty Hawk Race Riot
Simmering racial tensions inflamed by discriminatory punitive measures sparked a violent confrontation aboard the USS Kitty Hawk while it was engaged in air strikes off the coast of North Vietnam.
The US Navy charged Black sailors with rioting and assaults on White sailors in an incident referred to as a race riot, while totally ignoring violent unprovoked assaults committed by White sailors and Marines.
Author Marv Truhe was a Navy JAG defense lawyer seeking justice for the accused Black sailors. Truhe possesses one of the most complete collections, personal or institutional, of original source documents of the Kitty Hawk incident and its legal aftermath—trial transcripts, investigation reports, hundreds of sworn statements and medical reports, federal court pleadings, and case files and witness interviews.
How could virtually all official and unofficial accounts of the incident have placed blame for the incident solely on twenty-three Black sailors? How could they have been subjected to blatant racial injustices without their story being told until now?
It is time to reveal the uncomfortable answers to these questions and expose the injustices perpetrated against these twenty-three young men.
The US Navy charged Black sailors with rioting and assaults on White sailors in an incident referred to as a race riot, while totally ignoring violent unprovoked assaults committed by White sailors and Marines.
Author Marv Truhe was a Navy JAG defense lawyer seeking justice for the accused Black sailors. Truhe possesses one of the most complete collections, personal or institutional, of original source documents of the Kitty Hawk incident and its legal aftermath—trial transcripts, investigation reports, hundreds of sworn statements and medical reports, federal court pleadings, and case files and witness interviews.
How could virtually all official and unofficial accounts of the incident have placed blame for the incident solely on twenty-three Black sailors? How could they have been subjected to blatant racial injustices without their story being told until now?
It is time to reveal the uncomfortable answers to these questions and expose the injustices perpetrated against these twenty-three young men.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 11, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 3, 2022
Marv Truhe has provided with his book a detailed and comprehensive account of U.S. Navy command and institutional racism failures in 1972 that led to an insurrection aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. His is the best account we will ever see of the process and the fight for justice for the clients he represented as defense counsel. To its credit, as a result of the trials of a number of sailors, all Black, the Navy also recognized the damage it had done and began to open the path to justice.
The story needs some context. 1972 was not a good year for the United States. The Watergate scandal exposed corruption by President Richard Nixon. Angela Davis, the Black activist, was tried for murder in California. There was an assassination attempt on George Wallace, White rights champion and ex-Governor of Alabama running for president. Black Americans still were bitterly angry over the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just four short years before. The country was fragmented in the middle of a war that America was losing.
In WWII, the threat to America and the cause to save democracy was the glue that held our country together through terrible times. For Vietnam, that glue and cause did not exist. Without a sufficient patriotic motivation, the Navy emphasized the chain of command and discipline to carry out its operations. In doing so, the Navy ignored the concerns of the many Black sailors recruited during this period to fill depleted ranks due to the unpopularity of the war. It was blind to the gap between the recruiting process and the training needed to advance the Black sailors in their service.
Aboard the USS Kitty Hawk carrying out full tempo wartime military operations, the atmosphere of unfairness and discrimination exploded into a fierce night of violence and racial conflict on October 12, 1972. Groups of sailors, mostly Black and some White, rampaged through the ship. No one was killed or seriously injured, though there were scenes where the potential existed.
The Navy’s investigation resulted in indictments of 27 Black sailors - and no White sailors - a clear failure of justice. The cases came to trial in San Diego. Truhe’s accounts of his efforts to prove command bias, get defendants released from the brig and have one perjurer successfully tried and convicted highlight the obstacles he faced and the wins he secured.
One oversight by the publishers would have helped the reader understand the picture more fully. Almost all the lawyers on both sides trying the Kitty Hawk cases were young men between 25 and 30 years old. The trial process was fair, open and not discriminatory. When a false charge of discrimination appeared in the press, the NAACP Counsel on the cases publicly refuted the charge and commended the prosecution team for their conduct.
Truhe’s book also highlights an enduring truth. The rule of law and the unshakeable commitment to that principle are all that keeps us from societal breakdown and legalized injustice. His book appears at the right time.
The story needs some context. 1972 was not a good year for the United States. The Watergate scandal exposed corruption by President Richard Nixon. Angela Davis, the Black activist, was tried for murder in California. There was an assassination attempt on George Wallace, White rights champion and ex-Governor of Alabama running for president. Black Americans still were bitterly angry over the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just four short years before. The country was fragmented in the middle of a war that America was losing.
In WWII, the threat to America and the cause to save democracy was the glue that held our country together through terrible times. For Vietnam, that glue and cause did not exist. Without a sufficient patriotic motivation, the Navy emphasized the chain of command and discipline to carry out its operations. In doing so, the Navy ignored the concerns of the many Black sailors recruited during this period to fill depleted ranks due to the unpopularity of the war. It was blind to the gap between the recruiting process and the training needed to advance the Black sailors in their service.
Aboard the USS Kitty Hawk carrying out full tempo wartime military operations, the atmosphere of unfairness and discrimination exploded into a fierce night of violence and racial conflict on October 12, 1972. Groups of sailors, mostly Black and some White, rampaged through the ship. No one was killed or seriously injured, though there were scenes where the potential existed.
The Navy’s investigation resulted in indictments of 27 Black sailors - and no White sailors - a clear failure of justice. The cases came to trial in San Diego. Truhe’s accounts of his efforts to prove command bias, get defendants released from the brig and have one perjurer successfully tried and convicted highlight the obstacles he faced and the wins he secured.
One oversight by the publishers would have helped the reader understand the picture more fully. Almost all the lawyers on both sides trying the Kitty Hawk cases were young men between 25 and 30 years old. The trial process was fair, open and not discriminatory. When a false charge of discrimination appeared in the press, the NAACP Counsel on the cases publicly refuted the charge and commended the prosecution team for their conduct.
Truhe’s book also highlights an enduring truth. The rule of law and the unshakeable commitment to that principle are all that keeps us from societal breakdown and legalized injustice. His book appears at the right time.
April 17, 2023
Larry Brown April 16, 2023
Marv Truhe’s explicit attention to the finest detail in an extremely complicated legal defense of 25 innocent Blacks is astonishing. It appears the Navy made a bad mistake initially charging these men, then dug their hole deeper and deeper, trying to cover it up. Sadly, the cover-up went right up the Naval Command to the top. Thanks to Truhe and the rest of the defense team’s persistence, the Blacks were pretty much exonerated. The book also could be an excellent primer for anyone attending law school.
Marv Truhe’s explicit attention to the finest detail in an extremely complicated legal defense of 25 innocent Blacks is astonishing. It appears the Navy made a bad mistake initially charging these men, then dug their hole deeper and deeper, trying to cover it up. Sadly, the cover-up went right up the Naval Command to the top. Thanks to Truhe and the rest of the defense team’s persistence, the Blacks were pretty much exonerated. The book also could be an excellent primer for anyone attending law school.
November 16, 2022
At first glance this book appears to be a war story, when actually it is much more than that: it is a very telling story about civil rights in 1972. In 1948 President Harry Truman integrated the U.S. military or, at least, he tried. In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson persuaded Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act, but with subsequent questionable success.
In this book, author Truhe gives the readers a first hand, factual account of how civil rights had not yet found its way into the U.S. Navy in 1972. As the events actually occurred, the author took extensive notes, recorded hearings and now, on the 50th anniversary, has put them into this book. And, it's a real page turner, unlike most nonfiction books.
The Kitty Hawk incident was so blatantly discriminatory that it received the attention and involvement of the Secretary of the Navy, the executive director of the NAACP, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the U.S. Navy, and was covered extensively by the NY Times reporter Earl Caldwell, the nationally renowned civil rights journalist.
For me, the reader, the book left me with not just a history lesson, but a big question of just how far civil rights actually has come in the United States in 2022. The book is very thought provoking and is a "Must Read."
In this book, author Truhe gives the readers a first hand, factual account of how civil rights had not yet found its way into the U.S. Navy in 1972. As the events actually occurred, the author took extensive notes, recorded hearings and now, on the 50th anniversary, has put them into this book. And, it's a real page turner, unlike most nonfiction books.
The Kitty Hawk incident was so blatantly discriminatory that it received the attention and involvement of the Secretary of the Navy, the executive director of the NAACP, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the U.S. Navy, and was covered extensively by the NY Times reporter Earl Caldwell, the nationally renowned civil rights journalist.
For me, the reader, the book left me with not just a history lesson, but a big question of just how far civil rights actually has come in the United States in 2022. The book is very thought provoking and is a "Must Read."
December 23, 2022
Our sense of history is influenced by the experiences and bias of our families, communities, and schools. Do we have the will and strength to examine that, to become aware of what has been overlooked or disregarded? It can take decades for us to develop the perspective we need.
Against All Tides, by Marv Truhe, was released in October, essentially the 50th anniversary of the confrontations. Truhe was a Judge Advocate General (JAG) attorney in the Navy. He led teams that defended six of the Black sailors. He retained boxes of files that reinforced his memory of their profound experiences. He notes, even with extensive documentation, it can take decades to truly come to grips with lived history.
These are complex stories. With his extensive experience in both military and civilian law, Truhe guides us with credible detail and engaging storytelling. Sagas of collaboration and persistence portray lives retrieved, that would have been ruined by disregard and abuse of rights that so many of us take for granted. It is gratifying to reach the conclusions of “where are they now.”
Against All Tides, by Marv Truhe, was released in October, essentially the 50th anniversary of the confrontations. Truhe was a Judge Advocate General (JAG) attorney in the Navy. He led teams that defended six of the Black sailors. He retained boxes of files that reinforced his memory of their profound experiences. He notes, even with extensive documentation, it can take decades to truly come to grips with lived history.
These are complex stories. With his extensive experience in both military and civilian law, Truhe guides us with credible detail and engaging storytelling. Sagas of collaboration and persistence portray lives retrieved, that would have been ruined by disregard and abuse of rights that so many of us take for granted. It is gratifying to reach the conclusions of “where are they now.”
January 26, 2023
4-1/2⭐️ Book! Fascinating unknown story of the race riot aboard the aircraft carrier, Kitty Hawk in 1972. The description of wide spread racial discrimination in the Navy was startling, but not unexpected given the times in this country!
November 16, 2023
Nothing really wrong with this book but it wasn't what I was looking for . I assumed it was an objective history of he Race Riot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in October 1972. Instead, its the story of the TRIAL of the black sailors who were charged with assault and rioting. After giving us about 100 pages of what happened (slanted toward the defendants) on board the Kittyhawk. Mr. Tuhe, who was one of the defense attorneys, spends the rest of the 330 page book, telling us about the trial and the aftermath.
Depite Mr. Truhe best efforts, I wasn't the least bit sympathetic to the black sailors. Nor did I believe the Captain was at fault. The USS Kittyhawk was conducting operations in a war zone. Sailors were expected to obey orders and do their jobs, not indulge in exhibitions of racial solidarity, or decide that 40 white sailors needed to be attacked because one "Theirs" had been assaulted. One stops being a black man or a white man or a purple man, when you put on the uniform and board a warship. You are now a US Sailor engaged in combat operations. Given that only 7 percent of the 4,300 sailors on board were black, its understandable the Captain more interested in fighting a war than in "having a conservsation about race".
Nor do I think the sailors were victims. In fact, if you think the SJW racial politics started yesterday, reading this book will open your eyes. Instead of being a minor Navy matter, to be handled by the Captain, this incident resulted in the NAACP and various pressure groups getting involved. you even had a Leftwing Lawyer called Silverman sneaking on a plane and illegally getting onboard the ship, while it was at sea, to interview the black sailors!
And its obvious that before and after the riot, the Captain the XO and everyone else in power, was treating the black sailors with kid gloves and bending over backwards to understand their grievances. Quite a change from the attitude toward white sailors in WW II Or Korea!
Depite Mr. Truhe best efforts, I wasn't the least bit sympathetic to the black sailors. Nor did I believe the Captain was at fault. The USS Kittyhawk was conducting operations in a war zone. Sailors were expected to obey orders and do their jobs, not indulge in exhibitions of racial solidarity, or decide that 40 white sailors needed to be attacked because one "Theirs" had been assaulted. One stops being a black man or a white man or a purple man, when you put on the uniform and board a warship. You are now a US Sailor engaged in combat operations. Given that only 7 percent of the 4,300 sailors on board were black, its understandable the Captain more interested in fighting a war than in "having a conservsation about race".
Nor do I think the sailors were victims. In fact, if you think the SJW racial politics started yesterday, reading this book will open your eyes. Instead of being a minor Navy matter, to be handled by the Captain, this incident resulted in the NAACP and various pressure groups getting involved. you even had a Leftwing Lawyer called Silverman sneaking on a plane and illegally getting onboard the ship, while it was at sea, to interview the black sailors!
And its obvious that before and after the riot, the Captain the XO and everyone else in power, was treating the black sailors with kid gloves and bending over backwards to understand their grievances. Quite a change from the attitude toward white sailors in WW II Or Korea!
November 7, 2022
Against All Tides is a special book because it tells the story based on the author's own investigation of the incident immediately after it happened. An aircraft carrier is a huge ship with a large crew. Many things are happening concurrently at many different places on the ship, which complicates telling the story. Yet Truhe patiently and accurately lays out the facts. This is a military story, a social story, a legal story and it is history. Above all, however, it is a story about people called on to make decisions in the middle of wartime operations about events that could have substantially reduced the ability of Kitty Hawk to carry out its combat mission. What made Truhe's book compelling to me was that he lets the facts speak for themselves. This book is not an indictment of the Navy and it is not a coverup. Truhe allows us to walk along side him as he assembles the facts like a great trial lawyer should. It is also a timely story because our nation is still struggling with the issues of people from different races, cultures, backgrounds and experiences trying to understand and accept each other in spite of those differences. This book is truly a "Goodread."
May 2, 2023
This is a story that anyone who has ever served in the U.S. Navy or the military should read. As a former carrier sailor (U.S.S. Enterprise), I was drawn to this book. I can honestly say I never witnessed this kind of racial tension on the Big E, although it may very well have existed. But Marv Truhe has shed light on a story that needed to be told, even 50 years after it happened. Who best to tell this story than a Navy JAG lawyer who was assigned to defend several of the Black sailors who were accused -- in many cases unjustly -- of rioting and assault. For reasons that the Navy never adequately explained, no White sailors were charged. Mr. Truhe and the other lawyers who represented these men did the best they could, and largely succeeded. The deck was stacked against them, and this book might just as easily have been called "Against All Odds." Thanks to Marv Truhe for putting this story out there for others to read and learn.
May 30, 2023
When I served aboard the USS BlueRidge, LCC19 from 1977-1979, I recall the Black sailors talking amongst themselves about the racial riots on the aircraft carrier USS KittyHawk. The racial tensions came to a head on October 12, 1972 in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War.
What I mostly find ironic is why it took 50 years to tell this story. Marv Truhe was the attorney that represented some of the accused Black sailors of starting the infamous riot.
And perhaps the most tragic of the entire episode was how the USN tarnished these Black Sailors with false arrests and months of incarceration.
For this reader I was appalled and yes, embarrassed that the American government tolerated and excused the illegal and unconstitutional treatment of said accused. This book is a must read for all concerned Americans to insure that incidents of this nature never take place in our military.
What I mostly find ironic is why it took 50 years to tell this story. Marv Truhe was the attorney that represented some of the accused Black sailors of starting the infamous riot.
And perhaps the most tragic of the entire episode was how the USN tarnished these Black Sailors with false arrests and months of incarceration.
For this reader I was appalled and yes, embarrassed that the American government tolerated and excused the illegal and unconstitutional treatment of said accused. This book is a must read for all concerned Americans to insure that incidents of this nature never take place in our military.
January 16, 2023
I highly recommend this compelling first-hand account by a newly commissioned Navy JAGC lawyer regarding the problems encountered in defending sailors accused of rioting on board the USS Kitty Hawk in the South China Sea in 1972. Obtaining and presenting evidence of racial discrimination and irregularities in the investigations and the preferring of the criminal charges pitted this young lawyer against senior naval officers. These cases drew national news coverage and ultimately involved the NAACP, ACLU, The Secretary of the Navy and Congress. Marv Truhe��s book will hold your interest from start to finish as he describes the serious and sometimes humorous aspects of these courts-martial.
March 11, 2023
Against All Tides shares the story of the USS Kitty Hawk race riot and the subsequent actions taken against some of the Black sailors on the ship. The book showcases both the blatant and subtle racism these young men faced. For me, someone in her thirties who didn’t grow up in this era, it was eye-opening and hard to believe only fifty years separate those times from today. Truhe strikes a good balance of explaining military and law concepts to the average reader without dumbing things down too far or not explaining enough. The entire book is well written and constructed, which is remarkable because it is the author’s first book. Although this isn’t a genre I often read, I still found myself engrossed (and enraged) by the thoroughly researched history Truhe shared.
December 10, 2024
In the closing year of a very unpopular war, racial unrest aboard a US Navy carrier erupted into violence at sea. The subsequent inquiry and legal proceedings left this service battling with charges of discrimination. Told from the perspective of one of the young JAG defense counselors, this book offers a unique insight into a chapter of its history that the Navy would prefer to forget.
January 10, 2024
Received this book as a present from my friend and law school professor. I found the incident and subsequent trials to be extremely interesting. The author was one of the defendants lawyers and he brings unique perspective to the book
March 26, 2024
A little long but it is written by a lawyer. I don't know who was the worst person in this travesity; Cpt Townsend, Cpt McKenzie or Cpt Bryant
March 20, 2025
Incredibly disheartening but important military and civil rights history. Very glad I picked this up after hearing from the author on the "Blowback" podcast
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews