A California National Guardsman keeps watch beside a machine-gun-mounted jeep as fires rage in the background during the Watts riots of August 1965. Guard units were deployed alongside Los Angeles police to restore order across several days of unrest, often coming under sniper fire while patrolling burning streets. This wire photo captures the tense, dangerous conditions faced by troops called into domestic service during one of the defining civil disturbances of the 1960s. Project: 218639