Gary Is Sent Into The Riot Area to Restore Power

Saturday May 2, 1992

According to the TV all the DWP (Department of Water & Power, where Gary works) men were sent to the burned-out areas to repair the power today. They were to have police protection but it's still dangerous. I can't wait to hear he is home safe. Problem is, he has to work there for a long time to get all the damage repaired.

I feel good today, so I call Maria and arrange to pick her up at 10:30. We take the boys and go window shopping in Simi Valley. Later we go to the park for the arts and crafts show. They have entertainment too. They have alot to see and buy. I'm home about 2:30 to wrap Gena's first communion gift. Frank comes home from painting Marvel and we go to the party 2 doors away. We see alot of our neighbors. We have great food there.

At 8 p.m. we go square dancing. I have a good amount of energy and the caller is fast. I sweat a little more than my overweight friends.

So now Mom has to worry about her stepson Philip in the National Guard as well as her son Gary who was called in to restore power in the riot area. This was a legitimate concern considering what happened to Reginald Denny the first night of the riots. At approximately 6:45 pm, Reginald Denny, a white truck driver who stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Florence and South Normandie Avenues, was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by a mob of local black residents as news helicopters hovered above, recording every blow, including a concrete fragment connecting with Denny's temple and a cinder block thrown at his head as he lay unconscious in the street. The police never appeared, having been ordered to withdraw for their own safety.

Philip is Called Up With The National Guard

Friday May 1, 1992 L.A. Riots Day 3

A phone call from an acoustic repairman woke us at 6:30 a.m. Neither of us got back to sleep before we got up at 7:30. I went down to prepare breakfast for Frank, Junior and Joseph. Junior came down about 7:45, Joe about 8:15. We all had cereal and watched the news which was pretty good. The curfew last night did some good. There was alot less looting and fires and alot more arrests. Things seem to have calmed down alot. Debby calls to say Phil and his National Guard unit spent the night in Arcadia, but they are on their way to Compton.

We take the boys with us to Marvel house to meet the roofer. The rest of the day they spend watching movies and eating. I pay the bills. Frank puts new brakes on the Cady. Gary and Maria arrive from work about 5:30. Gary must work tomorrow 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I pray he'll be safe. I hope he doesn't have to go to the riot area. I feel much better about the riots.

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. on April 29, the first 2,000 California Army National Guard soldiers were requested by the governor. The Marines were also called in to restore order. Frank's son was a member of the National Guard and was called into service. My brother Gary works for the Department of Water and Power and was called in to repair damage to electrical equipment and restore power. Unlike the Watts riots of 1965, a comparatively small neighborhood, the 1992 riots encompassed a huge area that stretched over 32 miles from the Hollywood Hills to Long Beach.

One year from this date Mom would pass away.

L.A. Riots

Wednesday April 29, 1992

Slept in til 8:30 just resting in bed mostly. My cold seems a wee bit better. I have kemo at 1:30. Before we leave, the TV announces the jury decision re Rodney King's beating by L.A.P.D. We all saw it on TV time and time again as a bystander had videotaped the episode. It was a horrible senseless beating but somehow the jury here in Simi Valley found the officers not guilty. Everyone is shocked! How can this be? We worry together on the way home what will happen in the black community as a revenge. We don't have to wonder long. Two hours later, 5 p.m. the TV is showing looting, cars being stopped and white people beaten in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Soon the fires begin. The entire city is under siege. It's horrible to watch. The police and firemen can't begin to deal with it. It goes on all night. A state of emergency is declared and the National Guard are ordered in. Phil is one who is called. We are worried sick. Will Gary have to go in to restore their power?

Even though I was only 12 years old at the time, I remember hearing about the Watts riots in Los Angeles in 1965. They lasted 4 days from August 11-August 15 and resulted in 34 deaths, 1032 injuries, 3438 arrests, and over $40 million in property damage. When an all-white jury acquitted 3 white and 1 Hispanic L.A.P.D. officers this day in 1992 right there in Simi Valley, it set off riots that made the 1965 Watts riots pale in comparison. When the police officers pulled over Rodney King after a high-speed pursuit, a bystander videotaped his beating by the police and it was broadcast on the news over and over. And yet these officers were acquitted of the crime that was so obvious to all of us. There was widespread looting, murder, arson and assault in Los Angeles following the verdict. After 6 days 53 were dead, thousands were injured, and property damage was over $1 billion.