"The War Comes Home: The Kent State Shooting at 50" Topic

"Fifty years ago, Ohio National Guardsmen fired sixty-seven rounds over thirteen seconds on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Thirteen bodies fell to the ground; four of them died. At that moment, a largely complacent anti-war movement was electrified. The students had been protesting America's movement of ground troops into neighboring Cambodia during the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon had hoped to settle the war by turning the fight over to America's allies in South Vietnam and cutting a deal with the enemies in Hanoi. But as the feckless South Vietnamese regime crumbled, and the protest movement gathered steam, Nixon was forced to delay negotiations.

While not a turning point in the politics of the war, the shooting revealed the administration's failed strategy. In the subsequent years, Kent State, much like the Tet Offensive, the My Lai massacre, and the release of the Pentagon Papers, became a cultural event unto itself. Like these moments, the Kent State shooting has become the subject of mythology and misunderstanding, its meaning shifting over time. Today, the iconic photograph of the event—a horrified young American lady crouched over the dead body of an American student—endures as an expression of a disastrous foreign policy's impact on the lives of Americans at home.

Across the United States, Kent State pitted Nixon's "Silent Majority" (older suburban whites, World War II veterans, and veterans of Vietnam) against a burgeoning counterculture movement that openly rejected the war, advocated for civil rights, and questioned the construct of patriotism. A divide broader than the war revealed itself at the core of the nation. While this dark moment grew of issues larger than the war in Vietnam, it began with a critical decision in that conflict…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I was in Vietnam at the time of the KSU shootings. In my unit our thought was if the ONG wanted to shoot people we would've been glad to trade places with them. I was surprised that the Army let AFVN play Crosby, Stills and NAsh's song, "Four Dead in Ohio". H

Funny thing and often missed (esp on the Internet) it was actually performed by CSN and Young. I did not know it, but he even composed the song. Nearly as good as "Don't let it bring you down" and, by his standards, almost a cheerful little number!

I love the comment about swapping places with the ONG.

Fault? I don't know though. Maybe a bunch of scared kids, dressed up like soldiers and armed as such, poorly led, are suddenly backed up against a fence by stone throwing protestors and fear for their lives. They blaze away and hit passers by and spectators instead. It is a version I recall and may be totally untrue, but something very different happened here, compared with countless other demonstrations.

I was still in high school when this happened but remember it well. I like only about a hour away from Kent.

I do like the song …

But like any event like this, there still are some grey areas. And very polarized. But it was a another tragedy because of our involvement in SE Asia.

One of the many things that had changed in the USA. Many didn't and still don't trust their gov't. And I can see no reason to deny this. In the long run it is probably a good thing. Too bad we had to lose so much blood & treasure. The ghosts of this war still haunts many in the USA today …

Ferd45231 – Thank you very much for your service.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I was not active duty yet but my father was a E7 in the Alabama Guard. After the incident, every drill that year focused on crowd control. Things like the use of shields, bayonet wedges and how to advance, the use of tear gas and how to function wearing a gas mask during a riot.
So for that year the focus shifted from combat readiness to crowd control.

As tragic was it was I think the Kent State shooting broke the back of the intense anti war demonstrations on college campus'.

That makes sense Rudy … too bad it had to go that way.

You may be correct oldnorthstate. It was a very turbulent and confusing time.

Actually, journalists enjoyed a golden era from WW2 to Vietnam when they and the government were on good terms. Vietnam simply changed the relationship back to the way it was before WW2. Papers all the way back to the Revolution prove it.

"The Cat from Hue" is a great read on the changing nature of the press/military relationship and progressive disillusionment.

Yeah the reporters were not real happy during Desert Storm. When the military had learned it's lesson with the media during Vietnam.

The Military kept a short leash on them. Generally only allowing them to go to certain place, at certain times, etc.

When dealing with the jihadis/terrorists in the Mid East, etc. A reporter would just make a good target. Turning them into a hostage needing to be rescued. Or worse yet star in a Jihadi/terrorist version of a horror "slice & dice flic" … E.g. Dan Pearl … to name a few …