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Nopardons, I agree. I think this may have been a statement made by one of the young guardsmen AFTER he was charged with manslaughter. In a way he was right: He SHOULD NOT have been there. He shouldn't have had a reason to be there. I don't blame the guardsmen in the LEAST for what happened and I was a "card carrying hippie" at the time. I didn't blame them then either.

Remember, this was before rubber bullets, and other non-lethal mob control methods. These guardsmen were faced by a mob, at very close quarters, that dramatically outnumbered them.

The urban legend of the time was that a female student abruptly reached out, allegedly to "put a flower in the barrel of a guardsman's gun", and he, interpreting the move as a grab for the gun, shot. Then, in the melee that followed, the guardsmen thought they were being attacked.

I always felt there was a "guiding force" behind this whole incident that intended for something like this tragedy to happen. It suited their purposes. Having had some personal experience with the SDS, I can certainly imagine their participation.

Thanks for the agreement! :-)

There were a LOT of "URBAN LEGENDS" back then, which were so ridiculous, that it's a wonder that they got the traction they did. Though some were later ( YEARS later ) refuted and disputed, sadly, some people still believe them. *sigh*