Neoengel.com » This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio.

May 4th, 1970 - Kent State University, Ohio

The grounds of Kent State University in Ohio saw the dramatic and tragic ending to a student protest against the war in South-East Asia as well as the occupation of the university campus by the military. To be more accurate, President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia on April 30th, triggering massive protests on many U.S. University campuses.

A group of 70 soldiers advanced on the students with Bayonets fixed on their rifles (a Bayonet is a long knife on the end of a rifle, usually under the barrel, that uses the length of a rifle to inflict a level of cutting trauma to the scale of a spear or a sword). They advanced while wearing Gas Masks (for the tear gas they had fired into the crowd) and then moved back to the top of a hill

In 13 seconds, 28 members of the Ohio National Guard readied, aimed, and opened fire with their high-powered military rifles. Between 61 and 67 shots had been shot in that time.

The result: 4 Dead, 1 Permanently Paralysed, 8 Wounded

The fallen (from left to right):
William Knox Schroeder, Sandra Lee Scheuer, Allison Krause, and Jeffrey Glen Miller.

The Wounded:
Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Mark Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald MacKenzie, James Dennis Russell, Robert Stamps, and Douglas Wrentmore.

Only one of the four students killed was participating in the protest.

Ironically one of the students killed, William Schroeder, who was not even involved in the demonstration, was a member of the campus ROTC chapter. That's right, he was affiliated with the military that murdered him.

It should be noted that not every student was a demonstration participant or an observer.

Some students were just trying to walk to and from class.   The word to remember here is student, the young men and women who died that day were 19 (William and Allison) or 20 (Jeffrey and Sandra) years of age.

The closest student wounded was 30 yards away from the troops, while the farthest was nearly 250 yards.

Oh, did I mention the protesters were unarmed?

They were dangerous people though, they wanted the war to end and in the course of their protest they even buried a copy of the U.S. Constitution in a mock funeral to symbolize what they felt their government was doing as well. Some could say that the current Bush Jr. government is doing the same thing today...

Oh, yes, these peace protesters were very dangerous, they needed to be shot.

Even if the protesters may have been acting unlawfully, the use of such force was inexcusable. It should be noted that the Governor failed to declare the State of Emergency which would have made the May 3rd and 4th protests illegal. There had been Two previous protests on May 3rd. Two separate demonstrations were dispersed later that evening by a number of the1000 National Guard who had occupied the campus, who fired tear gas into the crowds.

Here's an interesting note. Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes personally appeared on campus and promised to use "every force possible" to maintain order.   Rhodes even denounced the protesters as worse than brownshirts ( a reference to the uniformed Nazi thugs of pre-WW2 Germany) and vowed to keep the Guard in Kent "until we get rid of them."

In retrospect, That Governor (who got re-elected by the way) really had his act together in doing that. The protesters were in uniform and attacking and killing people and, umm, wait... I guess it would be best to use that description for the soldiers, NOT the protesters.

To this day, there are still protests, commemorations and vigils for those killed that day.

Should we forgive and move on, absolutely.

We should never forget, nor allow it to ever happen again.

The next time you feel compelled to complain or argue you have the right to speak your mind on the internet, please be kind enough to make sure it is for something worthy. Freedom of expression should be reserved for those who actually have something of merit to say, either in defiance or agreement - not just because you can ... to do so is an insult to those who were killed that day and degrades the concept of it that we cherish so much.

Some people have asked me why I mark this anniversary.

To me, it's quite simple. The right to protest and disagree should never be treated as such ever again, but I fear that the day that protests will be banned for "reasons of internal security"

Even today in our post-9/11 age, paranoid leaders set up "Protest Zones" that are conveniently away from media coverage and those who are disagreed with.

What was that line fom Star Trek: Then Next Generation, in an episode called "The Hunted" ...

Captain Picard:
"A matter of internal security: the age-old cry of the oppressor."

I also choose to commemorate this day to remind my colleagues that if we're not careful, we could slip into another dark page in history by letting it repeat again.

We should always be vigilant in the face of tyranny, from both outside and within - having the courage to stand for our beliefs defines who we are.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
"Ohio"

This song was released about a week after the murder of 4 students. When listening to it, you can feel the seething anger felt by the artists, and many people around the world.

This song has become integral to the history of the shooting at Kent State. Like some of the protest songs of the era
(ex. CCR's Fortunate Son, Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth...) "Ohio" served as both a voice for those who were outraged and as a rallying cry via national radio play.

Download the song here:
csny-ohio.mp3 » 2.8MB

« Lyrics »
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

To read more about this landmark and poignant song, visit this website for more.