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National Guard Withdraws… From Kent State
I was 10 years old in 1970. I was vaguely aware of the unrest that had gripped the nation for most of the previous decade. I was baffled by black power salutes at the Olympics, riots at the conventions, and the Vietnam war. I was not all that interested in what was going on in Kent State in May of that year, though it was a mere 30 miles away.
In time, though, I certainly got my fill. For decades afterwards, “anniversary journalism” filled the airwaves and print, both nationally and in northeast Ohio. (I mean, really now, why go looking for news when you can repeat the same stuff based on a quick glance at the calendar?)
Today there is very little coverage. The ABC affiliate has a blurb on their website, the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer is still crying on the editorial page, but the “BIG” news is mostly the Cavaliers and the next round of the NBA playoffs. Aging boomers are still raging against Tricky Dick and cursing the name of the late Governor James A. Rhodes, a man so politically damaged by sending the Ohio National Guard to Kent that he was reelected in 1974 and 1978. (He was prohibited from seeking re-election in 1970.)
I expect a big surge in five years’ time for the 5oth. Unless, of course, the radicals are too busy celebrating the successful conclusion of the work they began back then.
Published in Culture
I knew one of the NCOs there that day (recently deceased). There were at least 2 Ohio Guard detachments there that day, and this guy was the sarge of a different one at the other end of campus from the shootings. He always got angry when discussing Kent – not angry at the protesters but angry at the officers. His own men were not issued ammunition, just empty rifles. What he told me was that he had a very tall muscular black man in his unit, and to break up the crowds in his area they just gave the guy an M60 machine gun and had him at point in a wedge order, then they just started marching right back and forth through the crowds till they dispersed. This sarge (a WWII vet of both theaters) was still ticked, 30 years after Kent, that anyone thought live ammo was necessary.
EJ, I was at KSU from Fall, 1976-Spring, 1979…Not all of us appreciated the co-opting of the events by “flavor-of-the-week” libs…I ‘stood’ vigil for Sandra Scheuer on a soaking morning in my dorm’s parking lot, where she fell; I ‘marched’ with a Melkite-rite monk (a dear friend, now deceased) in the silent vigil around campus. I recall the ‘tent city’ protests about building a gym annex on that hill…I strolled passed that bullet-holed pagoda every day. Bad decisions and miscommunication on everyone’s part led to lives lost (and radically-altered). In a tragedy, nobody wins. May all involved find peace and rest in peace…Thanks for this post!
I recall being in a class in which the professor asked, “What lesson should we take from the incident at Kent State?”
My response, “Don’t throw rocks at guys with guns,” was not well received.
They carried live ammo because the days prior to the Kent State incident National Guardsmen had been attacked and severely injured.
Right, but they had other items at their disposal such as tear gas.
I was a grad student at Bowling Green State University the year of the Kent State shootings. We marched off-campus in protest toward the town under the watchful eye of riot-equipped police stationed at City Hall. Next year, I had a fellowship at Kent. The shootings had calmed things down considerably.
EJ,
OT, but that’s an Al Hirschfeld avatar, is it not? The guy was to caricature as Bing was to song!
If I never hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio” ever again I will not be sad.
Re: 8, Nor will I, Eustace…
Would you like to know more? James Michener wrote one of his doorstop books on the shootings. As I recall, it started off with a lengthy discussion of the symbolic meaning of the railroad tracks that divided the city. As you might imagine, it’s pretty detailed.
My father was in the Ohio Guard on riot duty at Ohio State several times during that period. Not an easy time, but after Kent they were especially jittery.
I had no idea.
http://www.amazon.com/Kent-State-What-Happened-Why/dp/0449202739