A somber anniversary is approaching--

[lastlib]

On May 4th, 1970, four students were killed, and nine others wounded when Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on a peace demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio. This coming May 4th is the 50th anniversary of that tragic event.

The physical commemoration of the shooting has been canceled due to the pandemic, but an online commemoration will take place. Events will take place from Friday, May 1, until noon May 4th. Details here.

"To remember the past is to commit to the future." --Pope John Paul II


Mary Ann Vecchio kneels by the body of student Jeffrey Miller, killed in the Kent State shootings.


"What if you knew her, and found her dead on the ground?" --Neil Young, Ohio

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[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. An important part of committing to the future is to remember the past.

Live in the present, learn from the past, envision a brighter future.

[lastlib]

2. well put!

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[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Thanks but only a paraphrase of the what the pope said, looking from the other end. . . . nt

[hlthe2b]

3. The most poignant musical memorial tribute I can recall

I still never cease to get a tightness in my chest hearing it.

[lastlib]

7. Gives me chills & goosebumps watching it!

Thanks for the heads-up!

[Traildogbob]

18. Contrast...

Peaceful, lawful, unarmed, innocent protesters, demanding an end to the slaughter of their generation with a useless war, shot dead with thousands of arrests. 50,000 plus dead, hundreds of thousands damaged physically and mentally from that war. Fast forward: enraged heavily armed mobs, mounts breathing idiots, threatening the lives of Govenors, flying treasonous, as well as enemy nation flags, prompted by our pResident, Fox, and oligarchs, wiffully accepting they may kill hundreds of thousands of Ameicans, for a haircut, bowling and a tatto. Not one arrest, not one show of law enforcement, with over 50,000 dead and 2,000 more per day and rising, not enough for Freedumb. Look at pictures of natives Americans peacefully protesting to PROTECT a sliver of land AWARDED them after thieving theirs away. National Guard, Dogs, Chemicals, armored vehicles thousands of arrest. "God Blessing America." Take a fucking knee every chance you get. The very least we can do to speak up, and hope we don't get shot to death doing so.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. +100!

[raging moderate]

4. Also remember the other massacre at Jackson State.

Four Black kids were killed. I read that one of them was not even part of the demonstration, and was almost a block away. He was a young new father on his way home from work to his young wife and their brand-new baby.

[lastlib]

9. YES!!

Cannot forget that either!

[Yonnie3]

5. Fifty years, wow

The feelings that I get from viewing this photo seem like they are from yesterday.

[LakeArenal]

6. Yeah, talk about disenfranchised youth.

You Boomers don’t know what it’s like to not know what your future will be.

(Sarcasm thingie)

[Ohiogal]

8. So true.

This song and the memories choke me up every time.

Kent State is my alma mater.

[lastlib]

10. I'm sure it's very poignant for you!

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[LakeArenal]

11. Double whammy.

It was horrible....
As was the draft of young men which I don’t think kids today can fathom that anxiety for your future.

Everyone knows someone who died or was changed forever. Not necessarily for the better.

Also I went to UW Madison the summer after Sterling Hall was bombed.

We got tear gassed walking to class for no reasons. Armed guards lined Bascom Hill.
Talk about blaming the many.

[colsohlibgal]

12. Cold Blooded Murder

This really also hit me personally, one of my best friends went there, I was relieved she was fine.

But....someone had to give the order to allow real bullets rather than rubber ones, and that almost certainly was Ohio’s Governor at the time, James Rhodes. He and anyone else in the chain of command have blood on their hands.

[Auggie]

17. Yep. Ohio Governor James Rhodes. Murderer.

Hated that prick.

[crickets]

14. K&R

[In_The_Wind]

15. I remember it like it was only yesterday.

[lastlib]

19. I was only twelve at the time....

but I know it changed the direction of my life. It had a lot to do with making me the flaming liberal I am today. Nixon's response pissed me off no end.

[In_The_Wind]

23. Gotcha ya by ten years. I was twenty-two that year.

It strengthened my political views.

[jimfields33]

16. I was 2 days old

Or you could say I was born during it. May 2, 1969.

[fleabiscuit]

20. I have that permanently calendared to post a reminder every year...

[Archae]

21. I remember very clearly an editorial cartoon from a year or so afterwards...

It was after a commission investigated the incident, and a guardsman has had his medals taken away.

BUT...

A student was also complaining they had "taken away his halo."

It was a riot.

It does NOT justify the use of lethal force, and Nixon sure didn't help when he called the demonstrators "bums."

So this was a case of both sides being simply wrong.

(BTW, I was 10 at the time.)

[unc70]

22. Your memory seems flawed to me

[Archae]

24. Exactly how?

From History.com:

That night, in downtown Kent, there were reports of violent clashes between students and local police. Police alleged that their cars were hit with bottles, and that students stopped traffic and lit bonfires in the streets.

At the time, members of the National Guard were already on duty in the region, and thus were mobilized fairly quickly. By the time they arrived at the Kent State campus on the night of May 2nd, however, protesters had already set fire to the school’s ROTC building, and scores were watching and cheering as it burned.

Some protesters also reportedly clashed with firefighters attempting to put out the blaze, and Guardsmen were asked to intervene. Clashes between the Guard and the protesters continued well into the night, and dozens of arrests were made.

Still, Ohio National Guard General Robert Canterbury ordered the protesters to disperse, with the announcement being made by a Kent State police officer riding in a military jeep across the Commons and using a bullhorn to be heard over the crowd. The protesters refused to disperse and began shouting and throwing rocks at the Guardsmen.

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting

As I said, this was no justification for lethal force, but it was a riot.
Not the "peaceful demonstration" revisionists like to say.