Hardly Seems Possible

[Rick]

Kent State Marks 40 Years Since Shootings

May 05, 2010
Associated Press

KENT, Ohio - The relatives of four students killed by National Guard troops at Kent State University remembered their loved ones along with hundreds of people who gathered at the site 40 years later.

Ninety-year-old Florence Schroeder spoke about her son, William, who was shot in the back on May 4, 1970, when National guard troops opened fire on a student protest of the Vietnam War at the northeast Ohio school.

At 12:24 p.m. Tuesday - 40 years to the moment when Guard members fired - a bell was rung 13 times in memory of all the students who were shot. Nine people were also wounded in the shooting.

The section of campus where it happened was formally added to the National Register of Historic Places this week. The university also dedicated a new audio walking tour of the site.

Long way from "Apathy U"...

[tyro]

The thing that struck me at the time was the lack of outrage.

[Big RR]

I recall outrage, but mostly among those who were also outraged by the war. Calls to violent action by groups that previously claimed to be non violent increased, and anger seethed. Many of us, myself included, honestly couldn't believe that US troops would fire upon unarmed civilians protesting, and it just increased the animosity between the government and those who were outraged--things got much worse after that.

But what did surprise me was how many people were on the "serves the little SOBs right" or something of the sort. Before our revolution we had a similar incident that was branded as the Boston "massacre" and used as a touchstone for revolutionary action, and so many were just saying "well that's what you get". I never really understood that.

[Miles]

Back in the late 60's most of my high school friends were going to college. The greater number of them just to stay out of the draft. When I enlisted in the Army they treated me like a social outcast. I was surprised when the Kent State incident occured. But those were strange times. And remember that it was National Guardsmen who did the shooting. While they were trained their combat experience was strictly training.

[Big RR]

Absolutely Miles, and it shows how stupid it is to send in combat trained troops as police. Still is. Personally, it scared the hell out of me when we had national guard troops with M16s patrolling the airports after Sep 11.

[Jarlaxle]

I know a couple of people who thought Kent was "a good start". They thought the troops should simply have machine-gunned protesters. These people are batshit insane.