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Personal Remembrances of the Kent State Shootings, 43 Years Later
Slate ^ | 05/04/2013 | David Rosenberg

Posted on 05/04/2013 9:27:17 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen

On May 4, 1970, four Kent State University students were killed and nine injured when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire during a demonstration protesting the Vietnam War.

In 2010, the site of the Kent State University shootings was placed on the National Register of Historic places by the Department of Interior with support of the Ohio Preservation Office. Carole Barbuto, a communication studies professor at Kent State University who was a junior there in 1970, spoke to Behold about some of the more than 4,000 images (many from student photographers) the university has in its archive related to the events around May 4. Since 2001, Barbuto has taught a course titled “May 4, 1970, and Its Aftermath” and she also led the photo selection process for the May 4 Visitors Center. “It’s a difficult story to tell,” Barbuto said. “It’s a very complex story. There are still many unanswered questions.” Barbuto spoke about her personal and historic knowledge about the famous images, sharing her insight and observations about the killings 43 years later:

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: kentstate
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1 posted on 05/04/2013 9:27:17 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen
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To: Kid Shelleen

There is no mystery....the press just doesn’t want to tell the whole story.

This small college town had a couple of cops. As things were getting fairly peppy and a lot of weird stuff was happening down on the streets of the town (not even the university)....the mayor got pretty worried. He wanted protection. The campus cops were non-existent, and the local cops could do nothing. The governor? He did the only thing possible....he sent the national guard in.

The punks? They were all being pushed around and led by people who felt they’d just continue to challenge authority and get away with just about everything.

So the day finally came....the challenge authority crowd met up with the state national guard. Some dead students on the ground. Some journalists write a fifty-percent story because they really can’t tell the whole thing.

What happened in the year or two after that? That’s the interesting part. A lot of parents got real scared and felt their kids were in the wrong kind of campus. The state and the administrators were all fearful of a massive curtailment of students.

So all of the trouble-makers were identified, and sent packing. They kept names and when other colleges asked about records....some comments were made. The trouble-makers weren’t going to get free tickets elsewhere.

Campuses across the nation? They all added more cops. Cities with colleges? They went and added more cops. Any hint of trouble? You got lectured and given one chance to straighten up. No college in America today will allow this kind of trouble to repeat. It would be massive destruction if you had twenty kids killed today....with hundred of millions in lawsuits possible....and few colleges could recover from a situation like that.


2 posted on 05/04/2013 9:35:32 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Kid Shelleen

Hillary: “What difference does it make now?”


3 posted on 05/04/2013 9:39:06 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Kid Shelleen

I grew up 35 mile from there.
It did not go down the way journalists have painted it.

The Kids were totally out of control. They were attacking the ROTC and then the National Guard when Gov Rhodes called them in..

When they ran out of rocks to throw they commenced to mixing redi crete and pouring it into dixie cups to huck from the dorm windows at the guard.

It was cacophonic chaos.
At some point while under heavy assault the Guard fired warning shots over the heads of the mob.

Sadly what goes up must come down and 4 kids that were not part of the mob were hit with the stray bullets.

One of them Sandra Lee Scheuer grew up just a few mi from me.


4 posted on 05/04/2013 9:42:42 AM PDT by mylife (Opinions $1, Half Baked Ideas 50c)
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To: Kid Shelleen

National Guard 4, Kent State 0: Final


5 posted on 05/04/2013 9:43:02 AM PDT by Ken522
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To: pepsionice
I think there are two lessons here.

One, do not send in troops to do police work.

Two, as you said, identity troublemakers early, and send them packing.

Of course, both of these are easier said then done.

6 posted on 05/04/2013 9:43:06 AM PDT by Leaning Right
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To: mylife
It did not go down the way journalists have painted it.

Naaah, really....how shocking.

7 posted on 05/04/2013 9:43:08 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Kid Shelleen
Thanks for posting.

I've debated with others on this forum whether or not US troops would fire on American citizens if ordered to do so by the 0bama regime. Kent State always comes to mind. Even if troops have no intention of doing so, when armed confrontation occurs in tense situations, the outcome is never certain.

8 posted on 05/04/2013 9:44:40 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (It's not "GUN CONTROL"! It's "PEOPLE CONTROL"!)
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To: Kid Shelleen
Better times on Water St.

15 60 75~The New Matchbox Blues

9 posted on 05/04/2013 9:45:59 AM PDT by mylife (Opinions $1, Half Baked Ideas 50c)
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To: Kid Shelleen

I was a college student in May 1970.
I joined the national guard in May 1971.
Those were some strange days, indeed they were.


10 posted on 05/04/2013 9:46:38 AM PDT by Repeal The 17th (We have met the enemy and he is us.)
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To: mylife
The Kids were totally out of control. They were attacking the ROTC and then the National Guard when Gov Rhodes called them in...

I seem to recall reading somewhere that they had trashed the downtown area, too.

11 posted on 05/04/2013 9:49:41 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: dfwgator

Think it’s possible that “csny” will put out a song about “Four dead in Benghazi”? “Tin president and hillary ain’t comin’. You’re finally on your own”. Animosity for the way I and many others were treated in uniform in the late ‘60’s/early ‘70’s? Yeah I got some feelin’s about that. Proud to have served? You bet your ass. Not proud of the way congress left the country and those serving twisting in the wind. As much as I dislike fdr, the one thing that he said rings true today. UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! Them, not us. Wonder which way we’re going today.


12 posted on 05/04/2013 9:51:28 AM PDT by rktman (BACKGROUND CHECKS? YOU FIRST mr. president(not that we'd get the truth!))
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To: The Sons of Liberty
Even if troops have no intention of doing so, when armed confrontation occurs in tense situations, the outcome is never certain.

You don't confront the troops; you locate and terminate THOSE WHO GIVE THEM THE ORDERS. Cut off the head, the snake will die.

13 posted on 05/04/2013 9:52:08 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: rktman

FDR was terrible domestically, but he was a damn fine wartime President.


14 posted on 05/04/2013 9:52:15 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: JimRed

It was nationally stoked chaos.

Kent is normally a very sleep tight knit town.


15 posted on 05/04/2013 9:53:35 AM PDT by mylife (Opinions $1, Half Baked Ideas 50c)
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To: mylife

The most iconic picture of the incident showed a girl kneeling over a student who had been shot. Ironically, she was not a student, but a 14 year old runaway from Florida who was hanging out on campus enjoying the demonstration activity.


16 posted on 05/04/2013 9:54:01 AM PDT by Baynative (Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.)
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To: Kid Shelleen
I know that at the time of the Kent state shooting I hoped that it indicated that the government(which we still respected) had finally learned to deal with "protestors." I had long believed, and still believe, that the troops should read the protestors the "Riot Act" and if the "protestors" refuse to disperse and go home then shoot them down without restraint.

I am surprised that nobody ever notices that "protests" of whatever nature or extent are never really "peaceful" They inevitably become a riot.) (Look at Seattle's recent Commie Day celebration.)

17 posted on 05/04/2013 9:56:04 AM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: Kid Shelleen
The very first line is a LIE.

They were not ALL students. If memory serves correctly, TWO of them were just hanging out with the hellraiserss.

I was a student at Ohio State at the time. I observed the "spontaneous" demonstrations firsthand, directed by people much older than most students who carried walkie-talkies. I also observed the "injured" carries out of "battle" multiple times for benefit of the tv crews.
18 posted on 05/04/2013 9:56:29 AM PDT by Nepeta
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS
read the protestors the "Riot Act" and if the "protestors" refuse to disperse and go home then shoot them down without restraint.

Seig heil!!!

19 posted on 05/04/2013 9:58:44 AM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS

Because the Left employed the tactics the Bolsheviks used in 1917, always place plenty of “agent provocateurs” into the crowds.


20 posted on 05/04/2013 9:59:58 AM PDT by dfwgator
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