Kent State Univ Essay, Research Paper

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 suscessful, 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.

1. ?Guard Fired in Self Defense? U.S. News & World Report 69:33-35 N

2 ^?70

2. ?Four Deaths at Noon? Life 68:30-35 My 15 ^?70

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