“Not the same. Those “peace protesters” were chucking rocks and other things at those ONG members. Also there were reports of gunfire.”
There were many non-Kent State riff-raff from other protests around the country instigating the riots. The protesters smashed store windows in Kent, started fires, and attacked gaurdsmen in the street (several were knee-capped) a day or two before it all came to a head. And by the way, the girl in that famous picture planting a flower in the barrel of a guardsman’s gun was not a student, and was not from Kent.
From the song of that period, Four Dead in Ohi-o:
Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down,
Should have been done long ago...
I must admit I was one of the “should’a been done long ago” guys back then. Peaceful protests? Ok, even if I didn’t agree with their cause. But rioters, arsonists and looters get shot, period.
The shooting should have properly been aimed at the actual arsonists and rock throwers, but hey, you pick a war and you might get killed.
No argument from me. JimRed did not seem to get the reference so I filled in the bare details of the incident.
Still, the important take-away from this is that it is naive to think that American soldiers, even National Guard troops, will disobey orders to fire on citizens who disagree with the government.