[Milsurplus] 1945 Riot in San Francisco

[Hubert Miller]

After a number of years reading about WWII, I came to see a side of the U.S. homefront war that I hadn't learned about
in school or in the media. I mean overtime goldbricking ( loafing ), work strikes, contract inflating, politicians seeking war
glory ( Richard Nixon, for example ), incompetent officers throwing away troops' lives, and so on. I just recently read a
reference to end-of-war riot in California. This was news to me. Maybe there's just something about California, I mean,
seeing the news of recent events there?  Anyway, August 15, 1945, there was a massive riot in San Francisco. 11 people
died, 1000 injured, stores smashed, rapes, hit and run accidents. The culprits were mostly young military people, NOT
warriors; ones who had never been overseas. Add masses of unguided young people, free flowing alcohol, and unprepared
police, and what do you get? Reading about this, I thought, "They should have used rubber bullets, or...maybe even live 
fire to suppress this outrageous anarchy.
-Hue Miller
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-The-dark-side-of-V-J-Day-The-2647870.php