May 4 Memorial, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

Kent State University was placed into the international spotlight on May 4, 1970, after 13 students were shot by members of the Ohio National Guard at a student demonstration. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded, including one who was permanently paralyzed from his injury. The May 4 Collection, established by the Kent State University Libraries in 1970, includes over 300 cubic feet of primary sources related to the Kent State shootings and their aftermath. The collection is open to the public and is used by researchers from around the world.

May 4, 2020 commemorates 50 years since the deadly shooting at Kent State University. There was supposed to be a get together, but that was cancelled when the China corona virus swept through the United States. There were many people that were at the university at the time, some of whom wrote  commentaries about their experiences. The anniversary is also remembered in an NBC news article about the shootings.

Jim and I both attended Kent State University in 1969 and 1970. The 70's was a period of unrest, drugs, and "free love."  The invasion of the United States into Cambodia occurred in May 1970 and it was this that sparked the riots at college campuses around the United States, and in particular, Kent State. 

The May 4 Memorial commemorates the events of May 4, 1970, and provides a retreat for interpretation and reflection. May 4 stands as a milestone in national history and world memory. The demonstrations at Kent marked the climax of a decade-long national student protest movement with roots in the civil rights movement. May 4 became a major symbolic event of the Vietnam War - the day the war came home.  

The shootings changed public opinion about the war, from Congress to the average home. The events of that day led to reform of armament policies and tactics of the National Guard. The legal aftermath of May 4 set precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court.

April 30, 1970, President Nixon announces the invasion of Cambodia. Students feel Nixon is breaking his promise to end the Vietnam War. 

In protest, on May 1, 1970, students symbolically bury a copy of the U.S. Constitution, saying Nixon has "murdered" it. They call for another rally on May 4.

Guardsmen line up 500 feet away from the rally at the Victory Bell on the Commons.

May 2, 1970. Ohio National Guard troops, requested by the mayor of Kent, enter campus with city firefighters who were called to put out a fire in the ROTC building.

Monday morning the Guardsmen prepare to disperse the noon rally on the Commons. They are ordered to load their M1 rifles.

The Guard issues an order to disperse, fires tear gas, then advances on the rally.

During 13 seconds, 28 of the 76 Guardsmen on the hill fire 67 shots. 

Students dive for cover; some unsuccessfully. Nine Kent State students are wounded and four are killed. I recall hearing the shots and I think I was on the opposite side, but nonetheless ran for my life.

Mary Ann Vecchio calls out over the body of Jeffrey Miller. His wound is fatal.

Students stage a sit-in to protest the shootings. Faculty marshal Glenn Frank convinces the students to leave to avoid further tragedy. Eventually, the students do disperse and head back to their dorms.

Soon after the photo was taken, Guardsmen disperse a sit-in at Lincoln and Main with tear gas and bayonets.

The college was closed the next day for the rest of the term, and we all were told to go home.

I took the following from History.com, as it highlights this era:

The 1970s were a tumultuous time. In some ways, the decade was a continuation of the 1960s. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays and lesbians and other marginalized people continued their fight for equality, and many Americans joined the protest against the ongoing war in Vietnam. In other ways, however, the decade was a repudiation of the 1960s. A “New Right” mobilized in defense of political conservatism and traditional family roles, and the behavior of President Richard Nixon undermined many people’s faith in the good intentions of the federal government. By the end of the decade, these divisions and disappointments had set a tone for public life that many would argue is still with us today.

The Antiwar Movement:

Even though very few people continued to support the war in Indochina, President Nixon feared that a retreat would make the United States look weak. As a result, instead of ending the war, Nixon and his aides devised ways to make it more palatable, such as limiting the draft and shifting the burden of combat onto South Vietnamese soldiers.

This policy seemed to work at the beginning of Nixon’s term in office. When the United States invaded Cambodia in 1970, however, hundreds of thousands of protesters clogged city streets and shut down college campuses. On May 4, National Guardsmen shot four student demonstrators at an antiwar rally at Kent State University in Ohio.

Ten days later, police officers killed two black student protesters at Mississippi’s Jackson State University. Members of Congress tried to limit the president’s power by revoking the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing the use of military force in Southeast Asia, but Nixon simply ignored them. Even after The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, which called the government’s justifications for war into question, the bloody and inconclusive conflict continued. American troops did not leave the region until 1973.

Crosby, Stills & Nash did a song called Four Dead in Ohio. You may have heard it, but if not, you can listen to it here.