kent state 40th anniversary!

[drychlick]

40 year ago at kent state university 4 students was kill by Ohio national guardsmen! what i am asking is is there any 1 here that was at kent state that day? or what do you think about it? i thank they did the right thing you had to restore order! ps i am reading a book about it by James A Michener a good read but very long lol What ever you thing about it it a very sad thing that happen love dr

 

[Canadave]

There are places and times for exclamation marks. There are others where they seem very much out of place...

 

[Squiggy]

There are places and times for exclamation marks. There are others where they seem very much out of place...

My thoughts exactly!

 

[sidious618]

I have no idea what the original post said but I think it's safe to assume that this thread is about the Kent State killings. One that note I think it's an event that is often overlooked by people when it should, in fact, be a reminder of how even our own (the U.S.) government can become tyranical in a split second.

 

[Roger Wilco]

There are places and times for exclamation marks. There are others where they seem very much out of place...

My thoughts exactly!

I disagree somewhat! Exclamation marks always fit!

 

[Miss Chicken]

If I remember correctly at least a couple of the people killed were not taking part in the protest at all. In fact they were well away from the area of the protest.

I remember it making the news here in Australia. I was 12 when it happened in it made an impression on me.

 

[RandyS]

I have no idea what the original post said but I think it's safe to assume that this thread is about the Kent State killings. One that note I think it's an event that is often overlooked by people when it should, in fact, be a reminder of how even our own (the U.S.) government can become tyranical in a split second.

I was three weeks old when this happened, so I have no memories of it at all, but I agree completely with this post.

 

[pookha]

40 year ago at kent state university 4 students was kill by Ohio national guardsmen! what i am asking is is there any 1 here that was at kent state that day? or what do you think about it? i thank they did the right thing you had to restore order! ps i am reading a book about it by James A Michener a good read but very long lol What ever you thing about it it a very sad thing that happen love dr

some of the students shot and killed were not even part of the demonstation.they were just going across campus on the way to class.

 

[Mallory]

Tensions were pretty high everywhere, but in Kent things were especially tense after the rioting in town the night before and the burning of the ROTC buildings. What followed was a tragedy that didn't have to happen.

As an aside, my birthday was the sixth one selected in the draft lottery. I'm glad I was still only 15 at the time because I surely would have been chosen had I been a few years older.

One that note I think it's an event that is often overlooked by people when it should, in fact, be a reminder of how even our own (the U.S.) government can become tyranical in a split second.

The federal government had nothing to do with this. The National Guardsmen there had been activated, dispatched and were operating under the sole direction of the Governor of Ohio. None of the countless lawsuits that followed made any attempt to attach blame for the event to the feds.

 

[gturner]

The just released FBI files indicated that a small outside group of activists actually shot first with the intention of drawing counterfire into the crowd. They'd been heard earlier bragging how they turned the previous day's protest into a violent riot.

 

[pookha]

The just released FBI files indicated that a small outside group of activists actually shot first with the intention of drawing counterfire into the crowd. They'd been heard earlier bragging how they turned the previous day's protest into a violent riot.

oh please have a link for this.

 

[gturner]

The just released FBI files indicated that a small outside group of activists actually shot first with the intention of drawing counterfire into the crowd. They'd been heard earlier bragging how they turned the previous day's protest into a violent riot.

oh please have a link for this.

I do!

As the nation marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State antiwar protests Tuesday, previously undisclosed FBI documents have emerged, showing that one or more gunshots may have been fired at embattled Ohio National Guardsmen that day in May 1970 before the Guard killed four students and wounded at least nine others.

May 4 Fox News link

 

[Miss Chicken]

So a shot or two MAY HAVE been fired by a student whereas there is absolute proof that 67 shots were fired at the students.

And how strong is the evidence that a student (or someone else) might have fired at the guardsmen

Among the strongest pieces of evidence was a pre-dawn conversation -- never before reported -- between two unnamed men overheard inside a campus lounge later that night. Their discussion was witnessed by the girlfriend of a Kent State student and conveyed up the FBI chain of command 15 days later.
"We did it," one man exulted, according to the inquiry. "We got the riot started."

Notice that even if this discussion did take please the man only mentioned that they got the riot started not that he fired a gun at the guardsmen.

And even if shots had been fired that doesn't excuse the fact that the killing of students that were not a part of the riot and in fact were more than 380 feet away from the guardsmen.

 

[iguana_tonante]

May 4 Fox News link

Fox News. How... surprising.

 

[gturner]

So a shot or two MAY HAVE been fired by a student whereas there is absolute proof that 67 shots were fired at the students.

And how strong is the evidence that a student (or someone else) might have fired at the guardsmen

Among the strongest pieces of evidence was a pre-dawn conversation -- never before reported -- between two unnamed men overheard inside a campus lounge later that night. Their discussion was witnessed by the girlfriend of a Kent State student and conveyed up the FBI chain of command 15 days later.
"We did it," one man exulted, according to the inquiry. "We got the riot started."

Notice that even if this discussion did take please the man only mentioned that they got the riot started not that he fired a gun at the guardsmen.

And even if shots had been fired that doesn't excuse the fact that the killing of students that were not a part of the riot and in fact were more than 380 feet away from the guardsmen.

One of my friends, a college history professor at UK (and a former card carrying communist) used to be on some of the SDS planning committees for the anti-war protests in Berkeley. He said they planned for the protests to turn into violent street riots and were always hoping the police would kill some of the protesters. He also mentioned that he despised the hippies but regarded them as useful cannon fodder for the revolution.

That said, what's so wrong about shooting students? It's not like they weren't going to choke on their own vomit or OD at a frat house anyway. Heck, half of them were probably drummers.

 

[scotpens]

. . . That said, what's so wrong about shooting students? It's not like they weren't going to choke on their own vomit or OD at a frat house anyway. Heck, half of them were probably drummers.

Come on. I've got nothing against bad taste, but that's REALLY going too far.

 

[gturner]

. . . That said, what's so wrong about shooting students? It's not like they weren't going to choke on their own vomit or OD at a frat house anyway. Heck, half of them were probably drummers.

Come on. I've got nothing against bad taste, but that's REALLY going too far.

You've never shot at a hippy?

What do you do with your spare time?

 

[sidious618]

One that note I think it's an event that is often overlooked by people when it should, in fact, be a reminder of how even our own (the U.S.) government can become tyranical in a split second.

The federal government had nothing to do with this. The National Guardsmen there had been activated, dispatched and were operating under the sole direction of the Governor of Ohio. None of the countless lawsuits that followed made any attempt to attach blame for the event to the feds.

Whether the feds had anything to do with it is irrelevant. What we saw was a government (state level) using violence against its own citizens and we saw just how easily and quickly such a thing can occur.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

There's also this.

 

[gturner]

There's also this.

That was interesting, especially:

But Allen and Owen said the initial three gunshots sound lower-pitched than the rest of the volley. "It suggests a lot of things, but we're not certified ballistics examiners," Owen said. Pistols typically are lower-velocity, lower-pitched weapons. Several Guard officers carried .45 caliber pistols, but the Bolt Beranek and Newman analysis identified .45-caliber fire later in the gunshot sequence, not among the first three shots.

So the first three shots don't match an M1 or a 1911.

I agree that "guard" and "prepare to fire" don't make any sense, as they aren't commands used by anyone.