Kent State Shootings Hindsight and Experience Change Views of Tragic Events 40 Years Later

On May 4, 1970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of anti-war demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine.

Following a weekend of increasing violence on the Kent State campus, a planned rally at noon on Monday May 4 was ordered canceled. As lunchtime approached, Kent State students and many others began to fill the Commons and the crowd was estimated at 3,000.

Just before noon, General Robert Canterbury tried to disburse the crowd via bullhorn. Members of the crowd began throwing rocks and the National Guard retreated, but then advanced on Blanket Hill. Without warning, 28 members of the Ohio National Guard turned and began firing. Thirteen seconds later, four people were dead.

I was five years old in 1970 and didn't truly learn of the events at Kent State until I was almost 16. Young, naïve and coddled with a whitewashed version of American History in my textbooks, I was shocked that any soldier would ever fire upon an unarmed student. I was easily influenced and truly believed the blame lay with Gov. James Rhodes, the National Guard and even Richard Nixon for sending our troops into Cambodia and inciting the demonstrators.

Benefit of maturity and reasonable thinking skills have changed my thoughts through the years.

While the Kent State shootings were the first time Viet Nam war protesters had been fired upon it wasn't the last. Just 10 days later on May 14, 1970 in Jackson, Miss., tempers flared at predominantly black college Jackson State and police responded with a hail of more than 150 rounds, killing two.

Prior to the Kent State shootings, anti-war demonstrators rested easy in the knowledge that law enforcement officers could or would do little in response to the taunts or barrage of bottles, rocks or garbage they were pelted with. Hey, the demonstrators were exercising their First Amendment rights. Certainly, in my opinion, no police officer wanted to be the target of the vitriol directed at members of Chicago's finest after the riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

The Kent State shootings are certainly a regrettable event as indicated in the statement signed by the 28 guardsmen accused of shooting into the crowd following a settlement in 1979:

"We devoutly wish that a means had been found to avoid the May 4th events culminating in the Guard shootings and the irreversible deaths and injuries. We deeply regret those events and are profoundly saddened by the deaths of four students and the wounding of nine others which resulted. We hope that the agreement to end the litigation will help to assuage the tragic memories regarding that sad day."

I wasn't at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. I don't know if the four people killed or the nine who were injured were among those throwing rocks and bottles and advancing toward the members of the Ohio National Guard. I do understand being caught up in a situation that can lead to good or bad ends.

The Ohio National Guard was doing its job as a whole, under orders from the governor of Ohio. The anti-war demonstrators as a group were becoming violent and threatening.

Gov. James Rhodes carried the sad "legacy" of ordering the National Guard to the Kent State campus for the rest of his life. The National Guardsmen who fired the shots regretted being on the campus in the first place and regretted their actions.

And those who were shot?

They were a part of a violent, menacing crowd of anti-war demonstrators by choice.

Sources: NPR.org ; Chicago68 ; Kent State University