In 1970, famous singer-songwriter Neil Young wrote the song “Ohio” about the massacre of American college students by American soldiers at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970. The National Guard was called in to stop a peaceful protest on the university’s campus, but it ended in tragedy with four students dead and twelve wounded. All of a sudden the lyrics to Neil Young’s song, “What if you knew her and/ Found her dead on the ground/ How can you run when you know,” made sense to every American who had heard the news of the incident.
Preceding the events that occurred on May 4, 1970, students all over the country were protesting and, in some cases, rioting against Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia. Students 18-20 years of age were old enough to be whisked away to Vietnam by the draft at any time; but, because they were not old enough to vote, many felt as though they only way they could express their opinions was through organized protesting. “If kids are arming themselves with helmets, and training in street fighting, it’s a reaction to the frustration they feel in a police state,” said one student present the day of the shootings (qtd in “The View from Kent State” 23). Despite the increasing tensions among the people of the town and the students, many guards agreed that they did not “sense a deep personal menace” (qtd in The Guardsmen’s View 68) among the students. Nevertheless, student radicals set forth the chain of events leading to the shootings by setting fire to the campus’s R.O.T.C. building. The guards had known that, although they carried live ammo, they were not to shoot unless they had been shot at and were sure they had been shot at. It was to be left to the police to disperse the student protestors, The ...
... middle of paper ...
... young men and women died, and twelve more were severely wounded in a place they called their second home. Despite the rebellious radicals that had vandalized the town and the ROTC building, the National Guard was out of line and were not penalized enough for the damage they had caused. It is hard to see a campus full of young men and women as enemies of the state.
Works Cited
“A View from Kent State.” New York Times. 11 May 1970. 1 and 23. New York Times (1851-2007)-ProQuest historical newspapers. Web. 30 Sept 2013.
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. “Ohio.” By Neil Young. Neil Young Archives. Reprise. 2009.
“Death at Kent State.” How It Was. National Geographic. 2008. Web. 30 Sept 2013.
Furlong, William Barry. “The Guardsmen’s View.” New York Times. 21 June 1970. 13, 64, and 68-69. New York Times (1851-2007)-ProQuest historical newspapers. Web. 30 Sept 2013
Dr. James and Freda Klotter are both noted educators in the state of Kentucky. Dr. Klotter is the Kentucky state historian and professor of history at Georgetown College while his wife is an educational consultant with the Kentucky Collaborative for Teaching and Learning, with many years of experience in the classroom. They outline major influences and developments of the frontier to statehood, Civil War, post-Civil War, and modern times. Throughout the book, anecdotes of the lives of well-known and anonymous Kentuckians to shed light on economic, social, and cultural subjects. A Concise History of Kentucky will be useful to many readers wishing to learn more about the state.
The 1960’s was a time society fantasized of a better world. However, the horrors of the Vietnam War soon became evident; the mass amounts of death occurring because of the war became a reality. It created a “movement”, especially in American colleges, in order to stand up for what they believed to be “right”. By 1970, many Americans believed sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, however there were also various individuals becoming increasingly critical of the student antiwar movement
Among the riots caused by Nixon’s decision were revolts at many universities, such as Kent State. Young students were upset because they were the ones being drafted and the sooner the war ended the less chance they had of seeing war. On Friday, May 1,1970 anti-war rallies began to take place at Kent State University. Students gathered and burned a copy of the constitution. Also many riots broke out in downtown Kent. The extent of the damage done in Kent was estimated at fifteen thousand dollars. Upon learning about these problems the mayor, Leroy Satrom, called a state of emergency and contacted Governor James Rhodes for assistance. On May second, the ROTC building at Kent State was burnt down during a protest. The next step was calling in the National Gaurd as ordered by the Governor. The national guard helped on campus by seeing that the new eleven o’clock p.m. curfew was followed by all students. This caused more anger among the students, and added more people to the rebellion that would otherwise not have become involved.
Harrison, Lowell H. and Klotter James C. A New History of Kentucky. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1997.
Correspondence of John C. Calhoun. J. Franklin Jameson, ed. Annual Report of the American Historical Association 1899. II. 1900.
America: History and Life, with Full Text. 9 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Web. The Web.
Particularly during the Vietnam War, tensions had been brewing over civil rights and pacifist movements, often headed by young people or students who felt that the government were not listening to their opinions and interests. With the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, racial tensions came to a head, sparking riots and animosity towards the government, who some perceived as countering or hindering the civil rights movement. The police and National Guard reacted violently to these riots, and in the case of student protests, many of which were peaceful, such during as the 1970 Kent State ‘Massacre’ where four were killed and nine injured during an anti-war demonstration. This was particularly damning as unarmed students were killed, and the reaction was immense. The Kent State ‘Massacre’ made it clear that to many social dynamics, the police, and by extension the government, were becoming the
The student body at Kent State numbered about 20,000 and had been considered conservative, but not overly political. In fact they were thought of as rather passive politically. The shootings were a culmination of four days of demonstrations by members of the student body. The students were protesting the invasion of Cambodia by American forces.
Hickey, Andrew S. The story of Kingston, First Capital of New York State 1609-1952: New York, Stratford House, 1952
In conclusion, the Kent State shooting was a tragedy that has never really had anyone held responsible. Thirty-eight years later, “Official investigations as to exactly what happened at Kent State were inconclusive.” The days preceding the shootings, the students burned down the ROTC building, protested on the commons, and threw rubbish at police officers. The violent actions of the students put the law enforcement officials and National Guardsmen around them on edge. On the other side, the Guardsmen arrived in full combat gear to put down unarmed college students. There was no reason for the soldiers to fire at the students that were hundreds of feet away from them. Whether one of the soldiers fired in a moment of panic or if they were order to commence shooting may never be known.
Smith, Hedrick. "Barnett Charges Marshalls: Says 'Trigger- Happy' U.S. Officers are Responsible for Campus Bloodshed." New York Times 1 Oct 1962: 2.
In 1970 the nation was in its highest state of controversy. The generation gap that had begun to form in the sixties was now more of a ravine. The youth of America was finally standing up and raising their voices in protest against all the problems that plagued the country they would have control of in years to come. There were many events that helped in feeding the flame in the hearts of Americans. One such event was the Kent State University incident. It is an event that touched the nation and made such a profound mark, and yet it only lasted for thirteen seconds. In the thirteen seconds the Ohio National Guard, along with the rest of government by association, established themselves as the new enemy. All eyes were on them, scrutinizing their every move, pointing out every mistake they made. Interestingly enough, most don’t even really know exactly what went on in those thirteen seconds, but they knew that it left four students dead and nine injured at the hand of the National Guard, so that was enough to strike the hearts on millions. Still today, twenty-nine years later, we still don’t really know what went on. Who fired the first shot, and were they provoked? Was it necessary for the National Guard to be present on this typically calm college campus in the first place? And why did it have to end in such tragedy? There are so many questions, and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story.
The perspective from the students is that there was no immediate danger, therefore the shootings were unjustified. According to John Cleary, who was one of the nine injured students, and a person very much against the war, he still feels that the guards had no reason to fire upon the students. Students do not think their action was wrong. They were not supporting invasion in Cambodia and wanted to express their thoughts by protesting. So the guardsmen had no reason to shoot them and stop them unless the national government
In the face of war and terror, we often forget about the possibility of terror at home until it shoots us right in the face. Less than a week ago 31 innocent students, teachers, and faculty were shot at Virginia Tech University. The question we all want answers to is why. What makes someone so angry that they are able to viscously kill innocent people. It is essential that when trying to understand the present to look to the past for more understanding. The media is overwhelmed with stories of the Virginia Tech murders and even a couple illusions of past tragedies like the UT sniper shooting. For Austin residents and alumni of the University of Texas it is a similar scene of terror, shock, and the question why. With the UT sniper shooting 40 years behind us, it is easier to look back and review the events of that day and what may have lead a former defender of our country to take 16 young innocent lives so viscously.
How safe do you feel when you attend school everyday? Many students and faculty don’t really think too much about school being a dangerous place; however, after a couple of school shootings had taken place their minds and thoughts may have changed completely. On April 16, 2007, in the town of Blacksburg Virginia, a college student who attended Virginia Tech, opened gunfire to his fellow classmates. This shooting has been considered to be the biggest massacre in all of American history. There are many things to be discussed in this major tragedy. Some of them include the events leading up to the shooting, the timeline that the shootings occurred, the causes, and the significance in this particular shooting. The Virginia Tech is only one of the several examples of the horrible behavior and violence in our school systems today.