Kent State Shooting
Dylan Roskopf and Jake Vecitis, Hour 6, Chapter 22 project
The Kent State Shooting
The Kent State shooting also known as the May 4th massacre occured in Kent, Ohio, at Kent State University on a monday, May 4th 1970. 67 rounds were fired by guardsmen over a period of 13 seconds that resaulted in the killing of 4 students and wounding of 9 others.
Why?
Students on campus were protesting against the Cambodian Campaign. Students held rallies in their commons protesting the war and the national guard was called to calm things down. The students even burned a building to the ground, so the next day 1000 guardsmen walked the campus. When guards tried to break up a rally on May 4th, they were met by shouting and rocks being thrown their way. This caused the guards to shoot their weapons, some up in the air, some towards the crowd. Some of the people shot were just innocent bystanders.
Jake's Reaction
The Kent State shooting is a low point during the Vietnam war years. Anyone who was alive that can remember knows the shooting by name. I asked my mom if she knew Kent State University and right away she did. This shows me that this impacted not only the kids that were there but everyone in our country at the time. We have the right to PEACEFUL protest but when did the kids take it too far and when did the guards is the real question. Another thing is I am confused on why a procedure or plan of action wasn't known throughout all the guards. Some shot into the air but some shot into the crowd. Was it to show their power or their own personal emotions getting in the way? The shooting has taught me that protests are hard you have to be careful on both sides on what to do and when to do it.
Dylan's Reaction
After reading about the Kent State shooting i couldn't believe that most of the people killed or injured, were not even participating in the protests. I was also amazed that 1000 guards were needed to try and calm things down. It shows how crazy and out of control these protests were. One question i still have is did these men have the intention to kill someone? Some fired into the air, but some fired into the crowd so i wonder if these guards had the intention to hurt people