The End of the Innocence
After a long period of fighting a defensive war in Vietnam, on
April 29, 1970, President Richard Nixon launched a full scale
attack in Cambodia, which greatly accelerated America's
involvment in this conflict. The reaction from the American
college student population was one that led into great
controversy and heated debates. When Nixon announced his decision
on the following day, many people were upset, and thousands of
people protested. The end result of one particular protest was
bloody, and a perfect example of what terrible shape our
country was in during that period of time (Guard Fired in Self
Defense). Thoughtless mistakes such as the ones made on that day
will often have a snowball affect that lead into problems for all
persons envolved.
On May 3, 1970 students of Kent State University rallied to
protest Nixon's announcement. There was violent protesting all
through the night. Windows were broken, cars were destroyed, and
the ROTC building was burned to the ground. When the firemen
arrived, their hoses were taken by students and used aganist
them. At that point Governor James Rhodes called for the National
Guard to come in and protect the campus(Four Deaths at Noon).
The following day Kent State University was under the
protection? of the Ohio National Guard. Around noon on that day,
students fromed in protest. They were told to disperse, but
refused. The first action of the National Guard was to release
tear-gas grenades upon the masses of students (Guard Fired in
Self Defense). These grenades were marginally successful, and
only caused a temporary retreat. The students then responded by
throwing concrerte, rocks, and everything else they could find.
This was the first of a group of poor decisions that led to the
bloody disaster of May 4, 1972 and all of the other problems
associated with the disaster (Kent State Continued).
From a distance of about sixty feet from the crowd of students,
a member of the National Guard believed that he heard sniper
fire. In response to these alleged shots, he opened fire on the
students with his M1 .30-06 caliber rifle. He was immediately
backed up by several of the men in his squad, all of whome were
shooting the same rifle except for one man who shot a military
issue Colt .45. When the smoke had cleared, ther had been about
thirty-five shots fired, and four of the students were dead. It
is unknown exactly how many others weere injured, but sources
report from eleven to fourteen students and onlookers. These
lives were shed due to judgment. It is nothing more than that.
However, had this incident been handled in a better manner,
there would have been much less of a shock wave of emotions
sweeping through the country. (Olson)
The following day Governor Rhodes was accused by the campus
senate of bringing the troops in for political reasons, and the
entire nation was outraged about what had happened. There were
countless protests held against the war and this incident. Also,
memorial ceremonies were held all over the country. Nixon
released a couple of statements that showed no sorrow for the
victims, but rather implied that that they got what was coming to
them. His basic argument was that violence would only end in
tragedy, and that people should demonstrate their feelings
peacefully if they felt it necessary to demonstrate them at
all.
After a lengthy investigation, there there were several
inditements handed out, but they were not given to the shooters.
The people charged with crimes were the protesters. Eventually
there was a hearing for the shooters, but they were found not
guilty. They argued that they had been afraid for their lives and
were left with no option. Again the nation was outraged. At this
point a massive student strike was launched. At schools all over
the country students made violent protests against the
government, but there was nothing that could be done (Olson).
Nixon had been warned in a letter signed by thirty-seven
university and college presidents of the potential danger of
students when he launched his attacks, but he was seeing the
results now on full scale. He used the actions of these students
to boost his campaign among Republicans in America. He called the
protesters ?bums?, and blamed them for many of the problems in
the country. At this point one poorly delt with mistake had
turned into a major national issue and caused a great deal of low
patriotic morale (Four Deaths at Noon).
The entire nation was in shambles, and the actions of the
citizens reflected these feelings. It is clear that the Kent
State incident was a horrible mistake on the part of both the
victims and on the shooters, but with the way things had been
going, it was predictable. It was a very bad situation for the
government, because there was no solution to the problem. The
most significant result of this entire incident was a new fear
of danger in the protesters. As with all major incidents, it just
kind faded away with time. Now it is just another history lesson,
but for someone who looks closely, it could be much more.
Works Cited
1. ?Guard Fired in Self Defense? U.S. News & World Report
69:33-35 N
2. ?Four Deaths at Noon? Life 68:30-35 My 15 ^I70
3. ?Kent State Continued: Justice Department Summary of FBI
Investigation? Time 96:16 N 9 ?70
4. Olson, James. A Dictionary of the Vietnam War. West Port,
Conn:Greenwood Press,1988
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