Ten Seconds At Kent State That Changed A Nation Forever: May 4, 1970

Today is the 52nd anniversary (1970) of the Kent State University massacre in Ohio. On that day four unarmed students were killed and nine others injured by members of the Ohio National Guard. Years of conflict over the nation's role in the Vietnam War had millions of Americans on edge. On April 28 President Richard Nixon announced an expansion of the US ground war into Cambodiaa. In response to a massive wave of student protests Nixon fueled more anger by referring to some campus protesters as "bums." For three days prior to the massacre Kent State had been hit with violent demonstrations threatening both the campus and downtown commercial district. The Ohio National Guard had been on scene by the evening of May 2. From a city firehouse, Governor James Rhodes fueled the conflict by referring to the protesters as "brown shirts...the communist element... night riders... and the vigilantes."

On May 4, 67 shots fired into a crowd of defenseless students marked the beginning of the end not only of an already very unpopular war but also a controversial president well-known as "Tricky Dick."

That fateful day began with university officials attempting to ban a campus protest that had been planned days earlier. The result was a loose gathering of around 2000 persons met by guardsmen armed with tear gas and fixed bayonets. For reasons undetermined shots were fired into the unarmed crowd. The average distance of those killed was 345 feet from the guardsmen. The event incited a strike involving millions of students across the nation, forced the closing of hundreds of universities and colleges, and marked a turning point in national opinion among many who had supported American involvement in Vietnam, a escalating action that began in 1959.

A week after Kent State, police killed a student and a passerby at a demonstration at Jackson State College in Mississippi. An unquestionable sense of rebellion began to grip the nation. The Nixon administration was well aware of the situation and took steps to mitigate the danger and political erosion. One of those steps was the creation of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest- the Scranton Commission - in June 1970. The commission was tasked with reviewing the incident. After three months of work the commission concluded:

Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators.

Location map, Scranton Commission report

In 2016, Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, designated the seventeen acre site a National Historic Landmark.

Kent State Shooting Remembered

Today is the 48th anniversary (1970) of the Kent State University massacre in Ohio. On that day four unarmed students were killed and nine others injured by members of the Ohio National Guard. Years of conflict over the nation's role in the Vietnam War had millions of Americans on edge. Days before the event President Richard Nixon referred to some campus protesters as "bums." In seconds, 67 shots fired into a crowd of defenseless students marked a turning point in national opinion and the beginning of the end of an already very unpopular war.

For three days prior to the massacre Kent State had been hit with violent demonstrations threatening both the campus and downtown commercial district. The Ohio National Guard had been on scene by the evening of May 2. From a city firehouse, Governor James Rhodes fueled the conflict by referring to the protesters as "brown shirts...the communist element... night riders... and the vigilantes."

May 4 began with university officials attempting to ban a campus protest that had been planned days earlier. The result was a loose gathering of around 2000 persons met by guardsmen armed with tear gas and fixed bayonets.  For reasons undetermined 67 shots were fired into a crowd of defenseless students, the average distance of those killed being 345 feet away. The event incited a strike involving millions of students, forced the closing of hundreds of universities and colleges across the nation, and marked a turning point in national opinion and the beginning of the end of an already very unpopular war.

A week after Kent State, police killed a student and a passerby at a demonstration at Jackson State College in Mississippi. An unquestionable sense of rebellion began to grip the nation. The Nixon administration was well aware of the situation and took steps to mitigate the danger and political erosion. One of those steps was the creation of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest- the Scranton Commission - in June 1970. The commission was tasked with reviewing the incident. After three months of work the commission concluded:

Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators.

Location map from the Scranton Commission Report

In 2016 the seventeen acre site of the massacre was designated a National Historic Landmark by Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Kent State - 45 Years Later

Today is the 45th anniversary of the Kent State University massacre in Ohio. On that day four unarmed students were killed and nine others injured by members of the Ohio National Guard. Years of conflict over the nation's role in the Vietnam War had Americans on edge.  Days before the event President Richard Nixon referred to some campus protesters as "bums." In seconds, 67 shots fired into a crowd of defenseless students marked a turning point in national opinion and the beginning of the end of an already very unpopular war.

Location map from the Scranton Commission r

In the days following the killing strikes involving more than 4 million students took place on almost 900 campuses across the nation. And barely a week after Kent State, police killed a student and a passerby at a demonstration at Jackson State College in Mississippi. An unquestionable sense of rebellion began to grip the nation. The Nixon administration was well aware of the situation and took steps to mitigate the danger and political erosion. One of those steps was the creation of  the President's Commission on Campus Unrest- the Scranton Commission - in June 1970. The commission was tasked with reviewing the incident.  After three months of work the commission concluded:

Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators.

I have a feeling it is going to be a very long, hot summer of protest this year. Although the nature of the protests has changed, the right to protest remains intact. Let us hope that the lessons learned in 1970 will be uppermost in mind when the National Guard walks the streets to both insure our constitutional rights and also protect people and property from harm. Such an outcome would be a fitting memorial to the Kent State and Jackson State victims.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Marxism/Socialism/Communism But Were Afraid To Ask

Real-world experience beats the classroom every time.

H/T to Smorfia48 via Moonbattery

May Day 2012

On the eve of May Day about sixty years ago, OTR was likely more concerned about his partner for the Maypole dance at Hammond Street Elementary than any demonstrations by the lefties in urban America. Today, most kids will never have a Maypole dance at school, but they may learn plenty about the day as The People's Holiday. And who is the army behind this holiday. Victor Davis Hanson has some enlightening commentary about the new reactionaries who will be in the streets tomorrow and why they may not be so different from those in the 1960s.

Occupy DC: Dying Media And Depressing Entropic Urbanism

You're going to enjoy Steven Hayward's superb six minute Power Line production on the Washington Post's interpretation of the Occupy DC settlement. The Post writes that the new town in McPherson Square is "a mix of both admonition and promise," and "something new" for the arts and design community.  Hayward proceeds to show and tell us otherwise.

Note on the video: If you were like OTR, the amazing clip on proximity in Bangkok likely piqued your curiosity in the rest of this TED program by futurist, Stewart Brand. Here's the link to this sixteen minute video.



H/T to OTR's daughter, another observer of the American experience.

Gandhi: The Mortal Side Of A Demi-God

As readers know, OTR enjoys exploring perceptions and realities of the world around us. He realizes more often than not, that Lewis Carroll was on to something when he wrote about life on the other side of the looking glass. In the words of Alice speaking from Wonderland:

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?

"If I had a world of my own. . . ." OTR thinks most of us do have worlds of our own. And most of those worlds are small, manageable for the most part, likely quite satisfactory, and just what their owners want. But some seek much larger worlds. Others have larger worlds thrust upon them. Some worlds grow so large and universal that they approach the divine. There is even a term, hagiography, for the study of the "saints" among us. In time the term, as defined by Wikipedia, has come to "refer to the works of contemporary biographers and historians whom critics perceive to be uncritical and even 'reverential'".

For early Baby Boomers, there is probably no better person elevated to "sainthood" by the hagiographers than Mohandas Gandhi. The man had his critics, but OTR cannot recall them or what they said. Today, there is a new Gandhi biography (Great Soul) by Joseph Lelyveld, and it has been reviewed in The Wall Street Journal by the British historian and biographer Andrew Roberts. Roberts writes that Lelyveld has promoted a generally positive view of Gandhi, but neither has he shied away from the remarkable dark side of the Great Soul. Roberts's assault on the hagiographic image of Gandhi elaborates on many of the mortal realities most of us know little or nothing about. It will leave some readers astounded in addition to selling Lelyveld's books.

OTR , news junkie that he is, thinks the world would be such a bore if the personal worlds of our saints really matched those of their hagiographers. Thankfully, there are those who explore the mortal sides of our demi-gods. After all, it is the flaws and foibles we recognize. That divine status is a bit more difficult for us mortals to discern.

Archiving A Decade Of Progressive/Lefty Hatred

Today, Michelle Malkin posted an outstanding progressive/lefty "climate of hate" archive in response to those who blame conservative rhetoric for the Tucson murders. Here is your link to 36 photos, fourteen videos, 28 mugshots and scores of links to hundreds of examples of progressive/lefty "hate speech" in the U.S. in the last decade. It's the best of the best brought to her readers with discretion as many examples of leftist protest are quite crude.

OTR knows that there has been plenty of loony behavior from the right over the same period. The only difference is that our leftist media--ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR, PBS, NYTimes and WaPo--rarely, if ever, want their readership to see such behavior from their allies. This is not healthy for the republic. Informed citizens need to see both sides of this sordid picture.

Care For Some Tea?

Hundreds of tea parties across the U.S. today will draw millions of concerned taxpayers from the left, the right and in between. My son will be attending the Atlanta party. OTR will have a report up early tomorrow.

UPDATE: OTR's reporter will not be on site; however, do look for a post, as planned.