On this date in 1970, the nation was stunned by the massacre of four unarmed students engaged in a lawful protest against America's involvement in the war in Vietnam and President Nixon's escalation of that conflict into Cambodia. After a volley from Ohio National Guard troops, four young students lay dead and nine others were wounded.  



Kent State University was never known as a hotbed of radical anarchists, but a protest on May 1st had caused some property damage and the mayor declared a state of emergency.  Governor James Rhodes sent in the National Guard.  

On May 4th, Kent State students against the war had scheduled a rally on the university Commons.  Guns drawn, the National Guard used tear gas to disperse the students.  

The Guardsmen then marched up a hill, turned, and opened filre on students in the parking lot.  61 shots were fired in 13 seconds.  

The Adjutant General, Sylvester Del Corso, said that the Guard had been fired on by a sniper.  John Kifner, a reporter for the New York Times, denied the story.  "...“this reporter, who was with the group of students, did not see any indication of sniper fire, nor was the sound of any gunfire audible before the Guard volley.”  The government still does not acknowledge that the Guard commander ordered his men to fire, despite tape recorded evidence suggesting otherwise.

Killed by Ohio National Guard soldiers were 19-year-old Allison Krause; William Schroeder, 19; Jeffrey Miller, 20; and Sandra Scheuer, 20.  Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis D. Scott MacKenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps, and Douglas Wrentmore were wounded.  Dean Kahler was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down.

Nixon's response to the Kent State Massacre was cold and indifferent.  “This should remind us all once again that when dissent turns to violence it invites tragedy,” he said. The number of Cambodians killed and wounded is still unknown.

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.