Kent State, The True Story

American Opinion ^ | June, 1974 | Alan Stang

[nopardons]

Still ignoring my one very simple query, I see. That can only mean one thing! LOL

Hmmmmmmmmm...okay, so forgetting the sniper for a bit, the throwing rocks, bottles, and all manner of other things, wasn't cause to shoot, either, I suppose?

The nonmilitary casings, found ( please read the article; I don't believe you've really read it in its entirety.), the trajectory of the holes in the metal statuary, etc., all add up to "nothing", and what the doctor's report stated, is also of no consequence too?

And what about the rest of this article and the facts therein, which thoroughly dispute that this was just a bunch of "innocent students", who were mowed down by National Guardsmen, which WAS what the MSM was shoveling at the populace back then?

I didn't need this article, nor a thread on FR to inform of the facts; I've known them for decades. Sadly, you appear to be hung up on one tiny bit of minutia and have nothing of worth to add to the thread. Pity that.....:^)

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>It's a cliche, and a lie, that the National Guardsmen acted wrongly at Kent State. It's a testiment to their maturity and fortitude that they restrained themselves so well in the face of violence. On this day, the anniversary of their heroism, and also the tragedy that befell those manipulated by the Communist leaning SDS, let the TRUTH be read!<<<

Amen.

[ndt]

You are pointing out items (casings, trajectories, etc) that are second hand testimonials. What became of this "evidence" when put under the scrutiny of an actual investigation? Absolutely nothing.

What reason does the government have to cover up evidence that would exculpate them? None.

"Still ignoring my one very simple query, I see. That can only mean one thing! LOL"

Not that it matters, but I was -1.5 years old. Unless you were physically present, then we have exactly the same access to evidence.

[tang-soo]

... and Plain Dealer staff writers Joseph Eszterhas ...

Wonder if this is the same guy who writes in Hollywood now.

[singfreedom]

Being an Okie, I'd like to answer that if I might. Since the OK NG was posted to New Orleans, they were operating under the auspices of the New Orleans city government. When the city government told them to confiscate weapons, they confiscated weapons---although it is not included in their usual job description.

[wildcatf4f3]

Putting down a communist revolution in heartland America is a job for the military

[Nova Reservist]

This is an extremely complicated situation, I will have to read further on the info presented because there is a lot here I have never heard of. I do think the Guard was put into an extremely difficult position of riot control and I don't think they had much training in that area.

But, without having been there and without extensive study, they probably should not have fired into the folks on the campus that they could not see were armed nor were attacking them directly.

Having said the above, my next door neighbor growing up was a Fireman called to Kent State. I remember as a kid him telling me of the bricks thrown at him riding to the campus and that when he was fighting the fire at the ROTC building, having his fire hose cut.

I think there was a organized element to many of the college "riots" and that the students who opposed the war were being used by professionals. But I do think the shootings were a very unfortunate situation and I'm sure the Guardsmen wished they had never happened.

[truth_seeker]

Later

[mkjessup]

This is an excellent article, our then 1-1/2 year old critic notwithstanding.

BIG "TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT KENT STATE" BUMP!

Thank YOU Motorcity, and thank YOU, each and every National Guard member for defending America. :)

[singfreedom]

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.

[singfreedom]

Yeah, Bill and I grew up. Unfortunately, too many didn't.

[phil1750]

I watched the whole thing live on tv and knew that the guardsmen had reasons to fire. The riots on all campus' were getting way out of hand dukring those years.
I enlisted in '68. US Army

[mkjessup]

I watched the whole thing live on tv and knew that the guardsmen had reasons to fire. The riots on all campus' were getting way out of hand during those years. I enlisted in '68. US Army

I was in high school, an endangered species in that when the anti-Vietnam protests were going on, I was calling for the unlimited bombing of the North, the mining of Haiphong Harbor, and not a negotiated settlement, but for military victory over Hanoi, because the U.S. was kicking their Commie asses all over the landscape. Needless to say, I was not very popular in my extreme liberal, dope-smoking, flag-burning, hippie-infested secondary school, but I didn't back down.

I saw all that spin from the alphabet networks regarding Kent State, and the Communist fifth column operating on our home soil, and this article puts the truth out there, exposes the traitors, and sets history straight.

And thank YOU for your service!

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Note to commie agitator's fools, never use sticks and stones to threaten men with guns.

[singfreedom]

Yes, thank you for your service. I had a best friend that enlisted in '66, right after we graduated. He was the closest thing to a brother I ever had. After 4 years in the service, Airborne 101st, he came home and started to college, married, divorced, and committed suicide.

I think he was made to feel like such an outsider by all those asses at university, that he just couldn't deal with it. Being married to a 'Nam vet, myself, I remember how they were treated. I've always felt responsible in a way. If I had just been there more....

[TAdams8591]

"They also set a toolshed in the vicinity on fire, producing a considerable blaze. All twenty-four Kent city policemen and sixty-five Portage County sheriff's deputies were ordered to duty, and told that they had to handle a "riot in progress." Michener writes that a curious student asked a stranger what it was all about and was told: "It's a planned movement to strain the National Guard. They're tied up at Columbus and on the truck strike in Akron and Cleveland, and we don't think they have enough men to cover this too."

Just before midnight the mob marched to the center of town, threw things at police, and began breaking windows. Among the victimized businesses were the City Bank, First Federal Savings & Loan, City Loan, Home Savings & Loan, the Captain Brady restaurant, Hickman Jewelers, W.W. Reed real estate, Ohio Edison, Revco drugstore, Thompson Drugs, and Getz Hardware. Somebody took a lawn spreader from the hardware store and heaved it through a window of the Portage National Bank. Sheriff's sergeant Tony Messina drew a broken collarbone, and four other police officers were injured. Seven students and seven non-students were arrested. On the next day, Saturday, May second, Kent businessmen were receiving calls warning that if they did not put anti-war posters in their windows they would be burned out. In fact, Roy Thompson, who was Kent Chief of Police at the time, tells your reporter that reliable informants were reporting that the revolutionaries planned to burn the downtown banks, the U.S. Army recruiting station, the post office, and the R.O.T.C. building on campus."

I was in High School in the mid seventies, and our Social Studies teacher left out all the above information when teaching us about the shooting by the National Guard at Kent State. He made it sound as if the students were protesting peacefully. His rendition didn't sound right to me so I questioned him about it. And still he insisted the student protestors were peaceful.

Still suspicious, I went to the Library and researched the incident and read the above.

The next day in class, I asked him why he would have left the above details out, well understanding it was for propaganda purposes. He of course downplayed the reports of the above student "activities."

I told him he just wanted to make the National Guard look wrong and the students look right full well understanding he was attempting to promote the whole sixties revolution.

That was the beginning (that I can recall), and the first of many times, I was to QUESTION and sometimes CORRECT the many Liberal teachers who came after that one.

I had always liked that particular teacher who was also my track coach. That he was so deliberately deceptive was not something I enjoyed learning about his character, but it was an important lesson which taught me to more carefully scrutinize my educators.

Recently, I came upon a copybook with notes in it from that class. Everything Liberal was GOOD, everything Conservative was bad right down to the ideological definitons.

[TAdams8591]

"It's a cliche, and a lie, that the National Guardsmen acted wrongly at Kent State. It's a testiment to their maturity and fortitude that they restrained themselves so well in the face of violence. On this day, the anniversary of their heroism, and also the tragedy that befell those manipulated by the Communist leaning SDS, let the TRUTH be read!"

Very much agreed and thank you for the post!!

But don't count on the truth from the MSM, it will be spun!

[Proud Conservative2]

Thanks for posting this. Most of the youth today don't have a clue what really went down at Kent State.

[TAdams8591]

LOL! Amazing and TOO funny!!! : )

[Doe Eyes]

Two of the four students killed at Kent State were just walking to class and had nothing to do with the protest.