The ghosts of Kent State

Baltimore Red Sun ^ | 04/13/03 | John Woestendiek

[foreverfree]

American Places

The ghosts of Kent State

A famous Vietnam War protest -- and its tragic consequences -- still haunts an Ohio college campus.

By John Woestendiek

Sun Staff

April 13, 2003

KENT, Ohio - Sun plays off the streaks of gray in Alan Canfora's ponytail as he strolls the same green hills where he and 12 other Kent State University students were shot by National Guardsmen in 1970.

He was a longhair then, too - opposed to the Vietnam War and the invasion of Cambodia; opposed to how, after student rioting, rifle-toting National Guard units had been called on campus; opposed, like many of his generation, to a lot of things, including what they liked to call "the system."

[foreverfree]

Care to comment?

foreverfree

P.S. I was 9 years old on 1970, and the closest I've been to Kent was when I drove through Akron on my way between the Pro Football and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame in 1999.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

My mother might say, the most tragic thing about Kent State is that there weren't more of them.

[Malsua]

I am a graduate from Kent State University. I have a BBA from KSU.

Alan Canfora is, frankly a jerk. On a personal level, I ran into him a dozen or so times during the late eighties during the time when a memorial was planned, derired, planned, derided, planed, derided, etc. I shook his hand at one point and on the personal level he was kind and polite. I disagree with him like you can't believe.

He was rabidly against every memorial proposal during that time.

I took the class by the prof(gads, forgetting his name) who walked us thru event and why it was that the professional protesters were not those who were shot.

You have to stand on the hill outside of the Taylor building to realize why this happened. The National Gaurd soldiers shot over the heads of the protestors. These protestors were moving from campus to campus and fomenting this rebellion.

Standing on the hill at Taylor and shoot over the head of the protestors, what happens is that the people BEYOND the protestors, down the hill are the vicitims. When you shoot over the head of someone down hill to you, you hit the Taylor parking lot...where all the casualties occured. The most innocent of the bunch, Allision Krause died in the arms of her friend. It was very sad going thru the events of that day.

The gaurd blew it in that they should have aimed way higher. No one would have died. Canfora however has been a rabid anit-anything proposed by KSU. I don't understand what he wanted, but nothing would have made this guy happy.

The memorial behind Prentice Hall is fitting, and respectful. If you are in the area of Kent Ohio, go spend 20 minutes and see it. It is a piece of history now and it can help you reflect on the past. May 4th 1970 is a day that America changed. Not perhaps as much as 9/11 by any stretch, but it certainly was a boot that kicked the country.

-Mal

[Malsua]

FYI, just reading the original article.

Jerry Lewis was the prof I referenced. I can't recall what class he held...he was a good prof, interesting class :). He was also on of the guys who was a leader of the Candlelite vigil that is held each year.

I'm going to say also that there were a bunch of bleached and blacks(hair colors) that protested everything during my time at KSU from 85-90. They wore those ugly ass converse sneakers and were at the student center all the time protesting everything.

Much of the membership of students at the campus were anything but leftists. I was not alone. There was a guy handing out the Socialist Worker newspaper all the time outside the "hub" constantly.

I had my fun with him twice. I stood there, read the headlines of his paper..nodded, agreed with his position...then BLASTED his stupid ass for being a commie...at one point he ran at me and tried to hit me while I was laughing my ass off. Of course, he was 55+ and I was in my teens . It was a regular source of fun, heh.

-Mal

[RLK]

The move is still on to idealize the so-called students there. They were burning down buildings. "Minutes later, shots rang out, and Filo heard the scream of Mary Ann Vecchio. She was kneeling over the body of Jeff Miller. Filo snapped away." Vecchio was not a student there. Neither was she just a runaway. She was part of s youth subculture who traveled from demonstration to demonstration. The universities of the period had thousands of hangers-on who weren't students, but were professional agitators.

I remember the period well as I was an adult. I would never want to live through it again. There was nothing to be idealized in what happened.

[BenLurkin]

As a young teenager living in City of East Cleveland, I remember well the local news footage of the event. What the netwroks showed nationally, however, edited out a significant portion of the riot, most notably when the rioters charged and attacked the National Gaurd immediatley preceeding the shooting.

Watching it on the National news left the impression that the Gaurd fired on peaceful "demonstrators". It just wasn't so. My reaction and that of many friends to the shooting was "It's about time."

[SuperLuminal]

She's got that right!

[RussRoberts]

Ben, your comment: "My reaction and that of many friends to the shooting was "It's about time."

Those that died were not in the rock throwing crowd. One of those that died, Bill Schroeder, was a ROTC student on his way to meet with his instructor. I was friends with his younger brother in junior high school, and we were in boy scouts together, in the same troop that Bill was an Eagle Scout. Your comment that "it's about time" is disgusting to those of us who knew a victim and also know the facts. It was NOT about time.

[Malsua]

>>Those that died were not in the rock throwing crowd. <<

Perhaps because my original message was so long many folks didn't read it.

The dead at KSU were in the parking lot. The proffesional protestors were in the face of the guard. The guard shot over the heads of the pros and killed innocents in the background.

[Malsua]

>>Not to dispute you Russ (I don't doubt that you knew Mr. Schroeder or that he died innocently)...but I thought the Kent State rioters burned the ROTC building down around that time>>

Nothing was burned at KSU.

-Mal

[Malsua]

>>visited a friend who was doing grad work at KSU once, and knowing my politics, she jokingly said “Tony, I bet you can't wait to go see the hippie monument!” While there, I observed that if I'd been governor, there would be a monument to the National Guard instead.

The monument behind Prentice Hall is not a hippie monument. It is a fitting monument to the 4 dead and 9 injured.

Believe me... I read the daily Kent Stater about the designs that were proffered for 6 years. They got a good design, and they built it. It is a nice and fitting tribut e.

-Mal

[Freee-dame]

>>but I thought the Kent State rioters burned the ROTC building down around that time>>

I think you are correct that the ROTC building was burned.

[Malsua]

>>I think you are correct that the ROTC building was burned.
<<


Do Over?

I can't recall anyone saying that the rotsee building was roasted. That said, it wouldn't be out of the question for me. I'd buy it coming from someone who was there.

The point of the thread though is a bit off of that.

-Mal

[mrs fat city]

The ROTC bldg was burned down. I don't remember if it was on Sunday 5/3 or Monday 5/4.

[Malsua]

Go back during the Black Squirrel Festival.

It's a fun event the campus holds for the city.

Of course these tree rats have invaded the countryside. Don't get me wrong here, black squirrels are equal to fox, grey or red squirrels but black squirrels are taking over this part of Ohio. I'm ok with it...but some folks prolly aren't.

-Mal