...
The air in Belfast, Ireland, felt somewhat oppressive.
British Army armored vehicles rolled over the wet streets, the tracks flinging up muddy water onto tightly shut doors and windows. Armed soldiers were stationed every three steps, with sentries every five, dragging the city into a stifling and lethal silence.
The residents huddled indoors, curtains drawn tightly, only daring to sneak peeks through slits at the camouflage-clad figures, the air thick with fear and unspeakable hostility.
Fitz District, a typical Irish community.
Seventeen-year-old Patrick O'Connell, still a high school student, was standing on his home's second-floor balcony, smoking a cigarette in the evening.
Below, three British soldiers patrolled along the wall, their boots thudding on the cobblestone path, with the occasional butt of a gun clashing sharply against the walls.
