[4 articles]
'Four dead in Ohio' resonates after 40 years
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100506/OPINION01/5060385/-1/newsfront2/Four-dead-in-Ohio-resonates-after-40-years
May 6, 2010
by Susan Parker
Forty years ago, on May 4, 1970, I was finishing up my final year in
junior high school. Richard Nixon was president. Our country was
embroiled in that unpopular conflict known as the Vietnam War. My
generation --teens and young adults --objected to our involvement.
I was 15 years old and preparing to attend the high school across
town because my family was moving. I hadn't thought much about
college at the time, but was acutely aware of the Vietnam War, the
protests and civil unrest that was rocking the United States at the
time. It was less than a year after the Woodstock Music Festival; the
Civil Rights Movement had recently dominated our national consciousness.
It was on that spring day that student protests -- which were fairly
commonplace then -- on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio
erupted into tragedy when National Guard members shot and killed four
students. I, like my peers. was horrified to realize a peaceful and
lawful anti-war demonstration by college students could have such a
devastating end.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded a song written by Neil Young
about the tragedy -- "Ohio":
"Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
"We're finally on our own.
"This summer I hear the drummin'.
"Four dead in Ohio. ...
"Soldiers are gunning us down. ...
"What if you knew her and
"Found her dead on the ground?"
Strong words. Imagine finding a friend on the ground -- on campus --
killed by a National Guardsman. Imagine it was your son or daughter
who had been killed or who witnessed this massacre. "What if you knew
her and found her dead on the ground?"
Later asked why the band had recorded the controversial song, Graham
Nash responded, in part: "To keep awareness alive ... and to make
sure that the powers of the politicians do not take precedent over
the right of lawful protest."
Looking back, I recall feelings of shock and outrage at the
"establishment" (National Guard, government, police, authority
figures in general). As a parent of grown children who attended
college, I am horrified that those whom we trust to keep us safe and
secure (see above) would fire loaded weapons into a crowd of students
-- children -- in a place where we sent them to prepare for a brighter future.
At least we still have the right to assemble in lawful protest.
--
Susan Parker is Community Conversations Editor for The Daily Times.
E-mail her at sparker@ dmg.gannett.com.
--------
CAN pays homage to Kent State
http://www.newsrecord.org/news/can-pays-homage-to-kent-state-1.2258753
By Ariel Cheung
May 4, 2010
The Campus Antiwar Network commemorated the 40th anniversary of the
Kent State shootings with an anti-war protest Tuesday, May 4.
The protest took place on the corner of Clifton Avenue and Martin
Luther King Drive. The members of CAN held signs protesting the war
and asking people to "Remember Kent State."
"It's part of our history right here in Ohio," said CAN member Kyle
Galindez, a third-year sociology student. "And most people don't
realize that after the shootings, students responded nationwide with
the largest student strike in our country's history."
Five students showed up to the protest and made signs with sayings
like, "Drop tuition not bombs" and "Honk for peace." The students
held the signs on the corner for approximately one hour.
The low turnout does not necessarily mean a lack of interest, said
first-year international relations student Abdul Mouneimne.
"Not as many students get out there and are active," Mouneimne said.
"Through fields such as Twitter and Facebook, they make statements
that they are against the war."
But it is important that students get involved and know what is going
on with the wars, Galindez said.
"As Americans, we're somewhat responsible for what the government is
doing and where our taxes go," Galindez said. "I think we as students
have this position now where we are able to express our opinions and
I think we need to do that."
After the protest, CAN also hosted a documentary in Room 527 Old
Chemistry. The documentary, "Kent State: The Day the War Came Home"
was part of the CAN Movie Nights and was free for students and the community.
"We're in a different day and age," Mouneimne said. "War is a really
barbaric way to solve a conflict. In the modern world, we should
really put our differences aside and focus on the similarities we do
have, and there's a more productive way to do that than kill each other."
--------
Kent State anniversary brings back old memories
http://www.tbnweekly.com/editorial/viewpoints/content_articles/050410_vpt-02.txt
By LESTER R. DAILEY
May 4, 2010
Forty years ago this week, on May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen
fired 67 bullets into a crowd of college students and antiwar
demonstrators, killing four, permanently paralyzing one and wounding
eight others in what has become known as the Kent State Massacre.
Historians may argue whether Kent State marked a turning point in
public opinion regarding the Vietnam War, but I know it was a turning
point for me.
I was a soldier then, home on leave at the New Jersey shore before
reporting to the Overseas Replacement Station at Fort Dix, N.J. By
the luck of the draw, I was going to Germany instead of to Vietnam.
On the day of the Kent State shootings, while the evening TV news
showed right-wing New York City construction workers with American
flag decals on their hard hats gleefully chanting "This time four,
next time more," a friend and I drove to nearby Monmouth College to
join the students in a candlelight vigil for the dead. Not knowing
how the crowd would react to the sight of my uniform, I wore civilian
clothing, and a hat to cover my GI haircut.
Shortly after I arrived at Fort Dix, a large antiwar demonstration,
fueled by anger over the Kent State shootings, took place outside the
main gate. Military policemen were throwing CS tear gas grenades at
the demonstrators, who sometimes picked them up and threw them back.
A sergeant informed me that I needed to go to S-4 and get some TA-50
because I was going to be part of the Standby Reaction Force. I had
been in the Army long enough to know that S-4 was the supply room and
TA-50 was field gear, but I had no idea what a Standby Reaction Force was.
At S-4, I learned that the Standby Reaction Force was a group of
soldiers that would be held in reserve, ready to reinforce the MPs at
a moment's notice if the demonstration got out of hand. I was issued
a steel helmet, web gear, a gas mask and an M-16 assault rifle with a
bayonet but no ammunition.
I was driven to a mess hall near the perimeter which was being used
as a staging area for the Standby Reaction Force. It was a balmy
spring day, so the windows were wide open.
Suddenly the wind shifted and the mess hall was enveloped in a cloud
of CS gas that left us teary-eyed and coughing before we could get
our masks on.
"If we're ordered out there, men, be sure to bayonet them in the
belly," a pudgy captain told us when the gas had cleared. "If you
stab them in the rib cage, the blade might stick in bone and break
off. And if that happens, the price of the bayonet is coming out of your pay."
I was so appalled that I got out of my seat and walked to the back of
the room, where several 50-pound sacks of potatoes were neatly
stacked on the floor. I tossed my M-16 on the potatoes and flopped
down beside it. A young lieutenant noticed me and came over.
"Soldier, you need to listen to what the captain is saying," he said.
"It's stuff we'll need to know if we're ordered out there."
"Sir, if we're ordered out there, I'm not going," I replied.
"But you could be facing a court-martial if you refuse a direct order
to move out," he said.
"I don't care, sir," I said. "I'm not going to kill any of those
demonstrators. Those are Jersey kids, so am I. I probably went to
high school with some of them."
Fortunately, the move-out order never came, so I couldn't be punished
for disobeying it. But I had an epiphany that day.
Until then, I had been ambivalent about the war in Vietnam. I never
believed the Domino Theory, which said that, if South Vietnam fell to
the communists, nearby countries would quickly follow like a row of
dominoes and hordes of Red Chinese would soon be storming the
beaches of California. On the other hand, as a loyal American, I felt
that I had a duty to serve my country when my draft notice came.
But the events at Kent State and Fort Dix made me realize that
nothing in Vietnam was worth the toll the war was taking on the
fabric of our nation. What had we become when American soldiers were
killing American students and a $30 bayonet was valued above a human life?
--------
Kent State: "They Can't Kill Us All"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/kent-state-they-cant-kill_b_566226.html
Rep. Alan Grayson
May 6, 2010
Tuesday marked 40 years since the Kent State Massacre. It was one of
the most important moments in American history, triggering the only
nationwide student strike we've ever seen, animating the antiwar
movement, and ultimately ending the war -- four long years later.
It was also one of the saddest moments in American history: our
soldiers killing our children.
I worked with Rep. Tim Ryan, who represents Kent State today, to pass
a House resolution yesterday memorializing the event. But I felt that
wasn't enough. So I gave this speech on the Floor of the House last night:
[See URL for video]
My father was a history teacher. I sometimes wonder what kind of
speeches he might give, if he had been elected to Congress instead of
me. It's too late to ask him -- he's been gone for ten years. But
last night I gave the speech that I thought he might give, explaining
what Kent State meant then, and what it means today. This one is for you, Dad.
.
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