At 12:24 pm, May 4, 1970, The Ohio National Guard opened fire and shot 64 rounds into a crowd of unarmed protestors on the Kent State University Campus. Four students were killed and quite a few protestors and bystanders were seriously wounded.
The protests were in response to the escalation of the Vietnam War and the invasion of Cambodia after Richard Nixon had told the nation he was tryng to end the war.
The atrocity was a move to intimidate and quell protest. It had quite the opposite effect, as all of the calculations of the Nixon regime. Vietnam remained a communist state after waging a successful guerilla war against both France and the USA. Cambodia's government was toppled by the vicious Pol Pot Communist Regime which went on to commit one of the greatest genocides in history against its own people!
Nixon, of course, self ignited and flamed out in public.....
Where were you when Kent State occured?
4 comments:
where was I? In Ohio, of course, awaiting the birth of our first child and wondering what the hell kind of world she would be entering!
The terror of 1968 had recently faded and allowed me to get a good night's sleep when this stupidity forced me to wonder whether I wanted to continue living in the Unites States.
I visited the Emerson site that shannon provided the link for.
Thank You Shannon and to your fellow students for providing this net documentation.
I had just moved to Ohio involved in my own surreal struggle...
I had been involved in the anti war movement in Detroit since I was 16.
It's up to us to keep the memory of the victimes of Kent State alive and keep the flame of the ideals burning that fueled the protests.
I was a 5 year old, I was probably eating paste in kindegarden.
I still love the fresh minty taste of paste....
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