Belfast Rules
Chapter 14

Copyright© 2015 by RWMoranUSMCRet

BELFAST – 2015

The newspapers were filled with stories about the killings in Derry in the old days before all the negotiations and the peace that seemed to be holding despite all odds. As if to offset the sensationalism of the print hype, there were some smaller articles about some retired military types being arrested and brought in to assist with the new police force's inquiries about the massacre. Danny read the articles with some interest because it represented a new approach to the current discussion of that fateful Sunday in 1972 and he wanted to believe they were accurate but it seemed all too convenient considering past history with the reporting on the Troubles and he was inclined to view it all with a bit of skepticism.

Ever since he had married Molly almost twenty years ago, Danny had made a daily effort to stay removed from the thoughts of the violent past and carefully avoided discussions of politics and religious matters.

Against his better judgement, he allowed his sixty-five year old brain to return to those years of the Trouble and he sifted through his eye-witness perspective to see if there were glaring holes in the reporting in the present-day newspapers. They had made a complete muck of the bombing in Brighton and he had little confidence that they would do any better with the 1972 "Bloody Sunday". He had been in a foul mood at that time because he was beginning to doubt the "rightness" of his assassin's life and had issues with trusting any of the so-called friends around him. That day stood out in his memory because it was all so unnecessary in his mind and a reflection of the miscommunication on both sides.

So much water had gone "under the bridge" since that day that he had to shut his mind to the competing memories that made him doubt his own up close and personal perspective of the tragic confrontation.

He knew for a fact that the Whitehall troops were in a terrible mood of vengeance for the several deaths of young military men sent to keep the "peace". At the beginning of the insertion of the military element into the mix, he was all in favor of it to keep the outrageous actions of the Constabulary in check.

At first, the young men in uniform were attentive to duty and seemed at least on the surface to be unbiased in their policing actions. Then, gradually things began to change and the old resentments of authority and the differences of religion began to eat away at the rapport. The Catholic girls began to ignore the uniformed men in fear of being considered informers for the other side. The shopkeepers treated even the most unbiased of military men with a distain that emphasized their lack of welcome. Eventually, the assigned troops became an extension of the Protestant side of the conflict more by unintended accident rather than by design.

The fuel on the fire was the imposition of "Internment" to remove the troublemakers from any opportunity of influencing the outcome in the North. This made the Catholics true "Second-class" citizens in their own land.

The PIRA response was the increase in bombing incidents mainly directed at the convenient targets of uniformed men on the street and alleged informers and their families that betrayed the cause of freedom. The noticeable upgrading of weaponry introduced the sniper in the mix and the soldiers were incensed at paying the price of political backroom shenanigans.

The Sunday demonstration was to be a peaceful march like so many others and there were quite a few women and children in the outpouring which was estimated at approximately 15,000 souls offering their disapproval of the concept of Internment. Strangely, the initial investigation into the incident by the Whitehall planners put the march at about 2,000 and the other side claimed almost 30,000 marchers on the route.

The British officer in charge probably thought it a wise decision to call in the experienced but reputedly "wild-spirited" men of the Parachute Regiment to help maintain order. The men of the unit were exceptionally well-trained in the use of weapons and they were also trained to be aggressive in their contact with opposing forces. Now, that was a real positive dimension in opposing third world tribesmen with blood in their eye but it was marginal at best in treating with one's own citizens.

The result was a well-documented disaster of epic proportions.

The day of the march was plagued with detours and some sporadic fist fights entirely unrelated to the matters at hand but eventually they accepted that the final leg of the route was effectively blocked and they began to break up and head home for their dinner and tales of violence free demonstrations.

Danny had watched some of the marching but after a couple of hours he got bored with it all and headed to a cinema to watch an American film that had recently opened and he loved to get away from it all lost in a world of make-believe. Just as the movie was over, a man came down the aisle and warned the watchers that there was trouble in the streets and that they should be careful not to get in the way of the uniformed military units that were on "the warpath". He thought at first it was probably some gross exaggeration of the situation but he changed his mind quickly when he heard the unmistakable crack of high-powered rifles in the distance. That certainly was not the sound of handguns or the shotguns used by the PIRA to make a point.

 
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