I see that my other thread got locked..( such is life).
But I did find this little gem from 161, and I wanted to make a comment.
If they are peaceful, why would we need to fire? If ordered to do so by a superior officer, its an unlawful order and I would not follow it. If they are looting, burning etc, now thats another matter.
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I did the LA Riot, and the Earthquake thing.
during the Riots as a Guard Soldier, I was not allowed to step foot on any private property that was not public access, I was not allowed to do anything other than watch the looters on the private property that was public access. I was one of the few that at least had ammo the whole time ( I had a .45 with 1 loaded mag issued and carried in my pocket as per order
and 3 loaded mags in my back pocket that were not issued) the only way that mag was going to be inserted in that weapon was if we were being fired on.... My squad took indis. fire but it did not matter, only the medic's and Plt leader had any ammo anyway for the first couple of days. The locals (Korean shop owners for the most part) did the real property protection. The Riots started out like a huge fireball and then got lame...The Earthquakes were where we needed to have ammo and the OK to kick in teeth. Everyone was in shock at first, and then the local people started to clean up and get the supplies from Redcross and the such...But that is when all hell broke loose, we had people from out of the area pulling up in their BMW's and stealing everything they could find. That is also when I almost got my azz handed to me by 3 guys...(All prior service Army guys found out later on) I was pulling
Guard duty security at the local high school for a swimming comp (all female)
that they decided to go ahead with, and the guys decided they would stop their car and get out...they made threats to take my weapon because they knew we had no ammo. If it were not for my first sarg showing up, and the two actice duty Marines that were manning the huge water station I would have been over powered and not much more I could have done other than try and pistol whip one before he took my .45 or run...They were taken into custody by the MP unit, and I dont know what else after...
After all of that...We did not shoot anyone, were not allowed to shoot anyone...There was a heck of a lot bigger and badder things that went down. and the results were the same...The locals would have owned us!
But I did get to Mace a crowd that had a old lady in it!