Hello, I was aboard when the riot broke out. Yes, the tension was high between the blacks and the whites, for sure since the yard time in Bremerton in early 1970. The night of the riot I was writing a letter at my bunk which was on the third deck under the port main passageway. The first clue was people running all out in the main passageway. Later over the 1MC the XO clicked on without piping and asked for the CO, if he could hear to call back at xxx. Obviously the XO was quite rattled. I don't recall if it was the XO or the CO, but first all Marines were ordered to the aft messdecks. Later, all Marines were ordered to the Forecastle. The next day Zebra was set and people were drafted from all divisions as temporary Master at Arms to man the passageways and monitor travel. I think we were 'locked down' that way for a week or so. We were due for a stop at Yokosuka (sp?), but it seems we were not deemed safe for such a prize port. We hit the PI and another riot broke out at the Sampaguita Club on base.
