3-11-18 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

In Setember 1957, at LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 9 black students tried to take their places at the all white high school.

The GOVERNOR of the state used the NATIONAL GUARD (reserve soldiers under the control of the state) to stop them taking their places, even though it was their legal right.

The black community took the Governor to court, so he withdrew the National Guard, but now the black teenagers were left totally unprotected from a violent angry mob of white students and adults, determined not to let them in.

The situation was so dangerous that PRESIDENT EISENHOWER had to send 1000 US PARATROOPERS (Federal troops) to protect them for the next 12 months while they attended Little Rock.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[skip_c]

Mark,
Are you trying to make a political statement on racial equality ?? What's next, Kent State ??
They used M1 's there too. I may me wrong, so please correct me. You may be on the wrong forum. Just my humble opinion.
Skip

[Mark in Rochester]

Mark,
Are you trying to make a political statement on racial equality ?? What's next, Kent State ??
They used M1 's there too. I may me wrong, so please correct me. You may be on the wrong forum. Just my humble opinion.
Skip

no political statement intended just pictures of M1 rifles - captions to add context to photo - Kent state photos have been posted before

the 50's and the National Guard provide a lot of photos


Newark NJ 1967 Riots

[Sarge1998]

This is history and Mark has posted these photos for years, all types of settings, he's diverse and I appreciate his effort.

[RazorBurn]

Mark,
Are you trying to make a political statement on racial equality ?? What's next, Kent State ??
They used M1 's there too. I may me wrong, so please correct me. You may be on the wrong forum. Just my humble opinion.
Skip

Something about those that forget history are doomed to repeat it comes to mind...

It's history so you gotta take it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[CINDERS]

As Merlin said in Excalibur "For it is the doom of men that they forget!" things that happen in the world should not be forgotten no matter what irrespective of what others perceive I have over the years gladly welcomed MIR's pictures and efforts to bring then to us as he has given us plenty of action shots of GI's in the thick end of hell.
I remember a certain person in the US saying "I have a dream" and I as a colonial remember it well that at last despite all of what has passed finally the people have in front of them a unifier that makes all equal under the sun sadly it was not to be but that is history.

Go for gold Mark keep it coming thanks for all those years & future years of the pic's.

[browningautorifle]

Newark NJ 1967 Riots

Kent state

I remember those...I hated the idea of aid to the civil power when I was in...tasteless. I reflected many times upon Kent state ten years after when I had a rifle section, rifle platoon, wondering how it would have gone had I been the section commander or platoon 2 i/c on the spot.

You see the men in front of the troops in NJ, many would have been vets too. Again tasteless...specially for reserve troops.

[Ovidio]

I had to go to Calabria against the ‘ndrangheta, the local mafia. It is a very strange feeling to raise your rifle at a common citizen, even if he is suspected of being a gangster. It is nothing for soldiers. Their training and mentality do not fit this type of employment. Police work is just different. You can’t teach people to shoot to kill and then put them in very “unreadable” situations and pretend they will cope correctly with them. It is unjust and unfair. If they react in the wrong way, nobody will protect them from the wrath of the State. They would be immediately sacrificed to the public opinion’s lust for soldier’s blood. But those who send soldiers in these situations without any proper training will look the other way. I can still remember the frustration in my men’s eyes after bein insulted, spat at or fooled around during duty. There were many situations where we had to load our rifles and then cool down in the face of real a...holes just trying to push us to the limit. It is the only time of my militaty life I do not look back at with joy. We knew we would be left alone in case of trouble. Very bad feeling!

[13Echo]

My battalion was shipped to Washington D.C. after Martin Luther King was assassinated for riot control. It was indeed a very uncomfortable feeling. These are memories I'd rather not have but it is true, we must not forget.

Jerry Liles