Fires & Furies: The L.A. Riots, What Really Happened

by James D. Delk

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0882801236
• ISBN13: 9780882801230
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: ETC Publications
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Well-told history through the eyes of those who were there

General Delk's Fires & Furies is a labor of love written by a senior Army National Guard officer who was probably more than a little chagrined by the mixed opinion some had of the California Army National Guard's deployment to L.A. in 1992. The reason for General Delk's concern is hinted at in the book's preface, "Police officers are carefully trained with a focus on restraint. Armed soldiers, on the other hand, are trained to respond to threats using deadly force. As a consequence, there was considerable concern when thousands of National Guardsmen were sent into the streets to restore order. As might be expected, there were dozens of assaults on the military forces. These assaults are recorded, as well as the extraordinary restraint exercised in responding to those assaults." General Delk interviewed police and politicians, soldiers and gang members on his way towards writing a very comprehensive history of the 1992 L.A. Riots. And, while this reviewer is not mentioned by name, his unit and a specific incident involving a suspected sniper is. Page 105 describes an incident that happened about 30 feet from this reviewer on 1 MAY 92 at 0800, "This battalion (the 2-185th Armor) from the San Diego area was accompanied by Jim Michaels, a Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel, who was a reporter for the San Diego Tribune. He had parked his small Ford Escort next to the Guardsmen in the parking area early Friday morning. Sergeant Robert A. Matey was leaning against the left side of the sedan in front of the driver's window. Sergeant Duane Neyens was leaning against the left rear talking to Master Sergeant Jim Sexton (the latter two soldiers worked for this reviewer at the time in the S-2 section). Suddenly a shot whacked into the vehicle between Matey and Neyens..." The book is filled with such first hand detail while at the same time providing the bigger picture. Fires & Furies is a must read for anyone who really wants to know what happened in L.A. in 1992. As a captain who served as the battalion intelligence officer and who led foot patrols in the Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills Mall Plaza area in 1992, this reviewer greatly appreciates General Delk's history. Reviewer: Chuck DeVore is a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010, a California State Assemblyman, he served as a Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs in the Department of Defense from 1986 to 1988, retired from the Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel, and is the co-author of "China Attacks."

Chronicles the military and political aspects of L.A. Riots

The author served as the senior military commander of the worst riot of the century. As such, General Delk is able to relate information available to only a few participants...a fine and detailed probe of the underlying influences on the development of violence and frustration in urban areas: a consideration of what lights the fires of racial tensions.