Carbines and More... Detroit July 1967

[imarangemaster]

We had the riots several times in Chicago, as well. The worst was 1968 in Chicago, when MLK Jr. was killed. I was a sophomore in High School, and had a 45 minute CTA transit bus ride home (it was a private Catholic school). Shortly after they announced it, the city erupted, and they sent us all home, requiring us to go in large groups. We went through some black neighborhoods, and had stuff thrown at the bus. We were pretty scared.

The next day I saw National Guard troops and armored cars, and even one tank, driving down the streets of Chicago. The main weapons I noticed were M1 carbine and Garands, all with bayonets fixed. I knew the carbines well because my cousin was a US Postal Inspector, and had one for a "trunk gun" that he had let me shoot several times from the time I was 12 or 13.

Something broke inside of me that day. I was 16, and I never had the innocence of being a kid after that.