1967 was a volatile year. It was 4 years after JFK met an assassins bullet in Dallas. Viet Nam was a "popular" subject across the country. Racial tensions were prevalent in most large urban areas.
Newark was a dangerous city in July of 1967. There was a spark and the City erupted. Gun fire, was to say the least, not uncommon. Buildings were set on fire. Fireman were shot at by snipers. Buildings were looted. Businesses were destroyed. In the months and years that followed city blocks literally disappeared. For years the area looked like a war zone. Newark today is another story, but not my story.
My father worked during the riots at HQ, and said he saw action only from a distance. He was posted on the roof of HQ on Franklin St. It was "my shotgun" that he borrowed, while I had the good fortune to be honeymooning in the Bahamas.
This my father on the left in his N.P.D. Uniform - Badge # 30. He served for 37 years, retiring as a Detective, assigned to HQ.
When I returned to work in the Probation Department a Life Magazine was on my desk. It came with an assignment to Investigate and Report.
I was to investigate this "shooting," pictured on the magazine's cover, to determine if the "victim" was the same person as the young man on juvenile parole in the State of Alabama. He was one in the same. I still have the the magazine and it is pictured below.
Strangely the picture on the cover does not convey the fact that there was: "no serious injuries, superficial wound, etc."
A couple of weeks after the "Riot," My father obtained this retirement badge from an old friend. He later gave it to me. It was the first of a couple badges he gave me. Now, half a century later I proudly display it, along with a couple hundred other fine badges I have collected over the years..
2 comments:
Good work, Dad! Looks like you've got the hang of this blogging thing already.
Looks great! Made me cry!
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