My uncle told me that with the non-amphibians, they would taxy in towards the beach, then the groundcrew would attach the external beaching gear such that the aircraft could now taxy out of the water. Unsurprisingly the guys going into the water were all black.
I have seen many photographs and videos of seaplane beaching gear crews, but never noticed any black sailors doing the work. Were the all black beaching crews unique to Pensacola?
Cheers,
Grog