A Tragic Shooting by Rachel K. The shooting that occurred on Monday, May 4, 1970 was located in the small University town of Kent in the northeastern portion of Ohio, approximately ten miles northeast of Akron and thirty miles southeast of Cleveland. The Kent State Massacre began with a peaceful demonstration about Richard M. Nixon’s speech on Thursday, April 30, 1970 about enlarging the Vietnam War by invading Cambodia. Throughout the years many papers, books, magazines, songs, and reports that were published kept the Kent State incident alive. It also aired on television for weeks. All of these sources contain vital information about the shooting itself, the students’ reaction, the nations’ reactions, and more. On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon made a televised address to the nation and at that time announced that he was committing United States troops from Vietnam (1959-1975) into specified areas of Cambodia (a country in Southeast Asia). The reaction of some Kent State students and faculty was immediate. Students congregated at the KSU commons as a result of an unidentified person ringing Kent State’s bell that wasn’t used for years. The students were told to evacuate the premises, but nobody seemed to follow the demands. So the mayor of Ohio, Leroy Satrom, called for the Ohio National Guardsmen from Troop G, also known as the "Death Squad". Upon the orders of Ohio’s Assistant Adjutant General Robert Canterbury, an army jeep was driven in front of the assembled students. The students were told by means of a bullhorn to disperse immediately. Students responded with jeers and chants such as, "Pigs off campus!". When the students refused to disperse, General Canterbury ordered the guardsmen to disperse them. Then, the tragic shooting began by an unknown Ohio National Guardsmen firing his gun. Nobody knows how though. This same exact question still lies today. Some theories still remain. Many think the Kent State shooting and the Boston Massacre are similar events in history because they both have no answer as to how they started. The Ohio National Guardsmen were equipped with tear gas, grenade launches to help fire the tear gas, and fire arms. They were also provided with bayonets. The students knew they would need to defend themselves, so they retaliated. As they were retreating up Blanket Hill they lobbed tear gas canisters back at the guardsmen along with rocks and other sharp objects. They also charged with torches. Between sixty-one and sixty-seven shots were fired in thirteen seconds without order or warning. The outcome, four American students dead along with nine others injured. The four students shot and killed were Allison Krause, William (Bill) Shroeder, Sandra Scheuer, and Jeffrey (Jeff) Miller. Allison Krause was hit by a shot penetrating the left side of her body (through her arm and chest) about three hundred and fifty yards away. Bill was shot in the back four hundred feet away. Sandra was also shot about four hundred feet about but through her throat. Jeff was shoot in his mouth nearly two hundred and seventy-five feet away. A memorial for these students has been erected on the site where they died. Nine other students were injured. Including Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas (Tom) Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph (Joe) Lewis, Scott Mackenzie, James (Jim) Russel, Robert (Robby) Stamps, and Douglas (Doug) Wrentmore. Of the thirteen shots that connected, seven were in the sides of the backs of students showing they were not advancing toward the Ohio National Guardsmen, they were fleeing. Therefore, not every student that congregated as the common was a participant in the peaceful demonstration that turned into a bloody murder scene. Some were walking to and from their classes, other were just spectators of the scene. The University was ordered closed immediately, first by President Robert White and then indefinitely by Portage County Prosecutor Ronald Kane under an injunction from Common Please Judge Albert Caris. Classes did not resume until the summer of 1970, and faculty members engaged in a wide variety of activities through the mail and off-campus meeting that enabled Kent State students to finish the semester. Records were also broken as a result of the Kent State massacre. One record broken consisted of the most American students killed in one incident (four). Kent State University was also where the largest number of female protectors were killed. As the news rapidly spread through the nation through reports, television, paper, books, songs, and magazines, anger was directed toward the Ohio National Guard. Not only students were enraged, but also teachers and other faculty members of schools with all levels of education throughout the United States. Our nation assisted students in protesting in more than one way. Four days after the murders, Mayor John Lindsay of New York, lowered the flag at City Hall to half-mast in honor of the deceased students. Also, more than four hundred and fifty universities and colleges throughout the country contributed to student or faculty protest strikes. Riots swept over the United States’ campuses and at the end of May, the National Guard had been called twenty-four times at twenty-one campuses in sixteen states. More than thirty Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) were set on fire as a result of the killings at Kent State. A yearly commemoration is also held at Kent State University. In conclusion, the tragic shooting at Kent State University on Monday, May 4, 1970 left thousands of people in shock. This quote "One, two, three, four, we don’t want to go to war!" shouted by the student protectors shows the students gathered for what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration were not expecting or wanting violence. They only wanted to express their opinions on the expansion of the Vietnam War. Bibliography Allison Krause. Online. Available http://www.may4.org/ Accessed February 25, 2001. Archer, Jules. A History of Mob Action in the United States, New York: Hawthron Books, 1974. Archer, Jules. The Incredible Sixties, Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publisher, 1986. Archer Jules. Rage in the Streets, Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994. Bill Schroeder. Online. Available http://www.may4.org/ Accessed February 25, 2001 Canfora, Alan. "The Victims." May 4, 1970. Online. Available http://www.alancanfora.com/victims.htm, 6 March 2001 Accessed 7 March 2001. Haskins, James and Kathleen Benson. The 60’s Reader, New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1988. Jeff Miller. Online. Available http://www.may4.org/ Accessed February 25, 2001 Lawsom, Don. The War in Vietnam, New York: United Press International, 1981. "May 4, 1970." The Burr. Online. Available http://www.burr.kent.edu/may4/collage/callage.htm, 2000 Accessed 7 March 2001. "May 4, 1970-General Information." Kent State University. Online. Available http://www.kent.edu/ksuMay4/welcom.htm, 2000 Accessed 7 March 2001. Rikke, B. Johansen. "Introduction." American Studies. Online. Available http://www.stud.hum.ku.dk/rikkebj/kent.htm, 4 February 1999 Accessed 10 March 2001. Sandy Scheuer. Online. Available http://www.may4.org/ Accessed February 25, 2001
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