Aftermath of Detroit Riots: inside the barracks of soldiers sent in to keep the peace,...

Scenes of the life of soldiers sent to keep the peace in the wake of the 1967 Detroit Riots The Detroit Riots were sparked when police vice squad officers executed a raid on an after-hours drinking club or "blind pig" in a predominantly black neighborhood located at Twelfth Street and Clairmount Avenue. They found over 80 people inside holding a party for two returning Vietnam veterans and attempted to arrest everyone on the scene. While the police awaited a "clean-up crew" to transport the ones arrested, a crowd gathered around the establishment in protest. After the last police car left, a small group of men who were angry and upset because the drinking club was closed lifted up the bars of an adjacent clothing store and broke the windows. From this point on further vandalism escalated. Looting and fires spread through the Northwest side of Detroit, then crossed over to the East Side. Within 48 hours, the National Guard was mobilized, followed by the 82nd airborne on the riot’s fourth day. As police and military troops sought to regain control of the city, violence escalated. At the conclusion of 5 days of rioting, 43 people lay dead, 1189 injured and over 7000 people had been arrested.