Today marks the 39th anniversary of the Kent State massacre, when National Guard troops fired on a large crowd of students who were demonstrating against Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. Those killings in Ohio helped shape the attitudes, politics and history of my generation, and so it seems frankly strange that so little public notice is given to the anniversary of Kent State, or to its aftermath on American college campuses. Oh, once a year, the press drags out the photo of the young woman on her knees crying next to a dead student, but that’s pretty much it. We Americans aren’t exactly known for caring deeply about our own history, but regardless of our national amnesia, it’s a simple fact that May 1970 was a turbulent, chaotic time that scared hell out of the established order.
The year 1968 had been a rough one, as has been widely written about, but for sheer, keening rage, May 1970 was unlike anything since the Civil War. Within two weeks of Nixon’s invasion, and 10 days after Kent State, nearly 500 American colleges were brought to a halt by student strikes, and serious violence rocked hundreds of American campuses. For a couple of weeks, students throwing bricks at cops, busting windows, fire-bombing ROTC buildings, and rolling police cars — along with heavily armed authorities launching tear gas and breaking heads open — were primary preoccupations at this country’s centers of higher learning. A dizzying feeling that we were in the middle of a national emergency, that things were teetering on the edge, was in the very air we breathed. And then something very lucky happened for the college administrators and government authorities: the school year ended. Kids went home to parents and summer jobs, and the tide of rage receded. OK, that’s it, class. Have a nice spring day.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 5, 2009.
Thanks for writing this and reminding the web of how different, and terrible, a time that was. It may be receding in our minds — it is, in fact — but for the kids who lost their lives or were left maimed, its a memorial worth remembering. No live ammo on campuses.
On May 4, 1970 I was a student at Kent State who, only because I walked that way back to my apartment from a class, was present when the killings took place. Because I have first hand knowledge of what transpired, I continue to be frustrated that even those sensitive to the outlandishly criminal conduct of the National Guard wrongly claim the setting on that faithful and lethal day was a protest against a war on the other side of the world. As everyone who was there knows, this is absolutely not true.
While our country’s military endeavors at that time were generally not viewed positively by Kent students, Kent State could not accurately be described as a politically active university. Indeed, on May 1, 1970 a rally was scheduled at which an alleged Viet Nam veteran was going to burn a copy of the U.S. Constitution in protest because he believed it no longer had any meaning, and indeed, he did precisely that. This incident was peaceful and was greeted by the student body with a big, uninterested yawn as evidence by the fact that no more than fifty people showed up, and as one who did, I know what I’m talking about.
All this apocryphal nonsense about , “…a large crowd of [Kent State] students who [were] demonstrating against Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia” is not only completely untrue, it’s probably the result of the government’s spin doctors successful efforts to try to justify the slaughter which, without question, the government caused and for which it is responsible.
With the confidence that the sun will rise tomorrow, I know beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt that the only reason so many Kent State students were in the vicinity of the shootings on May 4, 1970 was because they were drawn to the scene to watch the National Guard and especially, the criminally inept officers of the National Guard make complete fools of themselves. Indeed, before things took a tragic turn, I never laughed so hard in my life before or since May 4, 1970.
For me, the tragedy of Kent State changed my life in more ways than most could imagine, and not the least of which is that I never necessarily believe anything the media presents as facts and I definitely question the veracity of anything emanate from any politician.
Perhaps, at this point, the most global tragedy of the Kent State shooting is that, in truth, we’ve learned nothing from the experience and really, not much has changed. The media still prints and broadcasts whatever it can get away with to generate as much money as possible and politicians on both sides of the aisle are just as dishonest and duplicitous as they’ve always been; in fact they just might have gotten worse.
Being born in 1959, I remember the shootings.Though not quite understanding the entire issue, I did know the end result. Flash ahead to four years ago(2005) my daughter did a school report on the shootings for eighth grade. She also included the song “Ohio” in her report. Flash ahead once more,Two weeks ago she had a softball tournament in Ohio. My wife and myself attended the tourney as we always do. On day two of the games I find out the games are to be played at Kent State campus. I remember saying “Wow I wonder if we can go see where it all occured”. Sure enough between games we went to the campus. I cannot put into words the effect this has had on me. The fact that some families sent their children to college and they didn’t come home. Also the campus seemed so calm and beautiful, it was hard to believe it happen there. But I guess thats what thirty-nine years will do. By the way, my daughter starts college in Pa. in a few weeks.
thx for this info. i really needed it for a school project, so thx
david, i saw that you said that you were at Kent state when this event occured. so if you get the chance can you email me some info about what happened, i really need some more information for my project. my email is brandonleetyler@hotmail.com . thanks
Thank you, David, for at least doing your part to set things straight. My dad was there that day on a teaching fellowship and has much the same account as you, and he was by no means an apologist for the students. The fact that it was at noon also added to the crowd, as many classes had just ended and these students were on their way to grab some lunch.
I am still amazed and saddened by the lack of definitive closure – how could this act go unpunished and, for the most part, unquestioned? Sure, they commisioned studies and did research, but I don’t think that the gov’t was truly looking for answers – I think that they were just trying to appease the outraged. So sad. Thanks you for sharing.