Forty two years ago, I had recently dropped out of the anti-war movement, because, as a devotee of nonviolent protest and passive resistance, I could not support the direction that the weather faction had taken the movement. Nevertheless, the events of this day filled me with a sense of horror only rarely experienced.
…On May 4, 1970, another student rally was scheduled for noon at the Commons on the Kent State University campus. Before the rally began, the National Guard ordered those congregated to disperse. Since the students refused to leave, the National Guard attempted to use tear gas on the crowd.
Because of the shifting wind, the tear gas was ineffective at moving the crowd of students. The National Guard then advanced upon the crowd, with bayonets attached to their rifles. This scattered the crowd. After dispersing the crowd, the National Guardsmen stood around for about ten minutes and then turned around and began to retrace their steps.
For an unknown reason, during their retreat, nearly a dozen National Guardsmen suddenly turned around and began firing at the still scattered students. In 13 seconds, 67 bullets were fired. Some claim that there was a verbal order to fire. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded. Some of the students who were shot were not even part of the rally, but were just walking to their next class…
Inserted from <About.com>
Here is something to help remember the day.
To this day, I cannot hear this song without tearing up.
14 Responses to “Remembering the Day”
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I will never forget. A little more than a year later…. I got my draft notice. I didn’t go. It’s a long story. But what happened in Kent changed forever the way I thought, felt…….about America
Jim, I bet it had a similar effect on a lot of folks.
I will never ever forget this day——
Nor will I!
I remember the day well as I was just finishing grade 12. And the picture you used, to me, is the iconic picture of the massacre, much like the picture of the little Vietnamese girl running naked down the road after a napalm attack is the iconic picture of the War in Vietnam (she is now a Canadian citizen living in Toronto last I heard).
That, I think, was the day that all innocence was lost, certainly for our generation anyway . There are several milestones that I remember — the assassination of JFK in ’63, the assassinations of MLK 04/04/68, and RFK 06/06/68, all preceeding Kent State, but somehow all connected. And then, although I was not yet born, there was the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948, Gandhi having been a big influence on MLK.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s song ‘Ohio’ certainly is a reminder. There is also a song by Holly Near that reaches out to me too. The first verse is about Kent State. Here are the words and a link to a video of her singing it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CadP4dRemYk
It could have been me, but instead it was you
So I’ll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two
I’ll be a student of life, a singer of songs
A farmer of food and a righter of wrong
It could have been me, but instead it was you
And it may be me dear sisters and brothers
Before we are through
But if you can work for freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom
If you can work for freedom, I can too
Students in Ohio, two hundred yards away
Shot down by a nameless fire one early day in May
Some people cried out angry “You should have shot more of them down
But you can’t bury youth my friend
Youth grows the whole world round
It could have been me, but instead it was you
So I’ll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two
I’ll be a student of life, a singer of songs
A farmer of food and the righter of wrong
It could have been me, but instead it was you
And it may be me dear sisters and brothers
Before we are through
But if you can die for freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom
If you can die for freedom, I can too
The Junta took the fingers from Victor Jara’s hands
They said to the gentle poet “Play your guitar now if you can!”
Well Victor started singing until they shot his body down
You can kill a man but not his song
When it’s sung the whole world round
And it could have been me, but instead it was you
So I’ll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two
I’ll be a student of life, a singer of songs
A farmer of food and a righter of wrong
It could have been me, but instead it was you
And it may be me dear sisters and brothers
Before we are through
But if you can sing for freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom
If you can sing for freedom, I can too
A woman in the jungle so many wars away
Studies late into the night, defends a village in the day
Although her skin is golden like mine will never be
Her song is heard and I know the words
And I’ll sing them until she’s free
(Twice)
And it could have been me, but instead it was you
So I’ll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two
I’ll be a student of life, a singer of songs
A farmer of food and a righter of wrong
It could have been me, but instead it was you
And it may be me dear sisters and brothers
Before we are through
But if you can live for freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom
If you can live for freedom, I can too
All these people were shot with guns. Any wonder I disagree with the right to possess firearms!
Forty years after Kent State, is it any wonder that justice for those killed and wounded was still being sought.
Thanks for that, Lynn.
I remember crying when I saw these kids on the news that night. No justifiable reason for these killings. No explanations, either, and it sounds like there never will be.
I agree. Victims’ families have called for another investigation, but nothing is coming from it.
It was a horrible traumatizing day, seeing the news that our Army had fired upon unarmed citizens.
Indeed it was.
“To this day, I cannot hear this song without tearing up.”
I identify as I was 16 years old… Joined the military anyways to escape abuse…
Had to reply sorry…
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I had no idea that that song was about the Kent State shootings. Duh, a little too young for that. I took my first walk on the day that Kennedy was shot. I was 9mos old. Thanks for cluing me in.
Such an innocent you are, young Princess Lisa. 😀