Saturday, July 9, 2022 is the 105th anniversary of an explosion that rocked the US Navy and its’ naval base at Mare Island and killed 6 people, four of which were the Chief Gunner of the Mare Island Naval Ammunition Depot, Allen S. MacKenzie , his 39 year old wife Malvina and their two youngest daughters, Dorothy, age 12 and Mildred, ‘Millie”, age 8. The additional two deaths were the Ammunition Depot Gardener and the longest serving employee of the Ammunition Depot. Join Myrna Hayes, founding manager of the Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve from 2007-2019 and President of the Mare Island Heritage Trust Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10 for a presentation and a guided tour of the explosion site, the location of the home in which the family was killed and a walk to the Mare Island Naval Cemetery to view the graves of the MacKenzie family. The guided tour begins at 3:00pm at the former visitor center parking lot 167 O’Hara Ct. and will be from one half hour to 45 minutes in length. The Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve is located at the southernmost end of Azuar Dr. on Mare Island in Vallejo, CA. Meet Myrna Hayes at the parking lot. Call/text her with questions and for directions. phone: 707-249-9633. email: myrnahayes@mac.com The Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 8:00am-5:00pm.

Myrna Hayes has written an e-book about the MacKenzie family and the explosion that occurred July 9, 1917 with personal information about the family, excerpts from investigation reports and newspaper articles and a link to the June 2022 publication of an article by Stephen C. Ruder in the Naval History Magazine in which he provides a convincing argument for an alternative cause of the explosion from the one the US Navy reached a conclusion of in 1917 and continuing. Note: This link is only available without the PayWall until July 22, 2022. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/june/who-really-blew-mare-island

The MacKenzie Family July 9, 1917-July 9, 2022v2