By: Dennis Beyer
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.My father worked during the riots at HQ and said he saw action only from
a distance. He was posted to 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.
When I got back to Newark the above Life Magazine was on my desk. I was
assigned to investigate this shooting at the request of the NJ
Administrative Office of the Courts. I still have the the magazine 50+ years.
Strangely the picture on the cover does not share, in part, my findings of: "no serious injury, superficial wound etc."
A couple of months after the Riot My father obtained this DEPUTY CHIEF retirement badge from an
old friend. He later gave it to me. It was one of the first of a few badges he gave me. Now, 50+ years later I proudly remember it, and the beginnings of my Badge Collecting Hobby. The Badge and other Memories are under glass hanging on the walls in my Den. I enjoy seeing it all every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment