“DC Guard members, typically deployed to help after...natural disasters, say they feel demoralized and exhausted. More than 60% are people of color, ...some fellow troops were so ashamed in taking part against the protests that they have kept it from family members.”
“Senior Army leaders...leaned heavily on the Guard to carry out aggressive tactics to prove it could do the job without active-duty forces. Guard leaders issued a flurry of ad hoc orders that put thousands of Guard troops in face-to-face conflict with fellow Americans.
“Some of the Guard troops were just out of basic training, and others had no experience in controlling disturbances in the streets. Troops were allowed to drive heavy vehicles on the streets without the usual licensing.”
Some Guard commanders, recalling lessons of Vietnam&the Guard shootings that killed 4 Kent State students in 1970, were deeply concerned about committing “troops to a vaguely defined urban mission that could put their forces in direct contact w/American citizens protesting racial
“injustice.
But General Milley and [Army Secretary] McCarthy warned the Guard throughout the day that if it could not control the protests, Trump would most likely call in the 82nd Airborne.”
nytimes.com/2020/06/10/us/…
But General Milley and [Army Secretary] McCarthy warned the Guard throughout the day that if it could not control the protests, Trump would most likely call in the 82nd Airborne.”
nytimes.com/2020/06/10/us/…
