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I was in the Army at the time, stationed at Fort McPherson, which is in the city of Atlanta. The MLK funeral caused the entire base to be put on on "alert," for the expected major race riots. I was in a special prototype unit that was supposed to provide film and video coverage of whatever, but our unit didn't have all our equipment yet.
I was grabbed up while off-duty walking and put into a "formation" of GIs, and no one would, of course, listen to me that I wasn't supposed to be there, I was supposed to be with my unit. But they passed out rifles, told us the bullets would be issued later, and we stood there in formation "at ease," though "ease" certainly was not an accurate description of where my "head was at" at the time.
All around me southerner soldiers were saying, "Hot diggity, I get to kill me some . . ." well, you know what they said. I was close to bursting into tears, which wouldn't have set well with the guys around me (I don't recall there being any black soldiers in that formation though many were stationed there; don't know where they were).
Fortunately, my lieutenant came and pulled me out of that formation, the funeral occurred but the "riots" of Atlanta never happened. and the orders sending me to Nam were rescinded and I was released from active duty at the end of that scariest of all years.
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