It was forty-one years ago today that the Ohio National Guard murdered four students at Kent State University for the crime of disagreeing with what we were told was government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Despite years of coverups and denials, the Cleveland Plain Dealer is continuing to investigate the massacre at Kent State, and making progress. In part those investigations have centered on tape recordings of the events.
Here's a link to one recent article: KENT, Ohio — In the four decades since Ohio National Guardsmen fired on students and antiwar demonstrators at Kent State University, Terry Norman has remained a central but shadowy figure in the tragedy.
Despite numerous claims to self-defense, there has been no credible evidence presented that the National Guard contingent was in serious danger.
In fact, until the Guard began to be called-up for war in the Middle East and we had a proliferation of national disasters to contend with, this is what the words “National Guard” were instantly associated with in my mind (and in that of many other people of my generation, no doubt.)
It is worth noting that only two of the students who were murdered – Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller – were part of the protest. The other two – Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder – were walking to calls. Schroeder was an ROTC cadet.
Glad you posted this, Jack. I was going to repost my Kent State poem from last year cause I didn’t see any remembrance in our MSM, what with the bin Laden frenzy still going full blast. It’s a day of shame; perhaps that’s why we’re not supposed to have it called to our attention. Students in body bags. Oh, that’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. And National Guardsmen in body bags.
Nixon invaded Cambodia, and universities, colleges and high schools across the country had empty classrooms. Students and their parents in the streets. The whole world was watching. Now, another war in Libya is just another war, and the whole world watches the Royal Wedding (Boy, glad we held off on bin Laden so as not to fuck-up the Royal Couple’s fest).
If the Republicans pull a sweep next year, I suppose we can expect all those pesky workers, labor organizers, health care marchers, undocumented farm workers, day care and pre-school staffers, etc. to get a volley of lead someday soon. After all, America seems to have found a variety of other ways to kill its children. I hear BLACKWATER Inc. is hiring.