05 04 00

four dead in ohio

You might have heard the song that was written about my hometown.

Thirty years ago today, at 12:24pm, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a group of Vietnam War protesters at Kent State University. In thirteen seconds, seventeen rounds of ammunition were fired. Four students died. Nine were wounded.

Ohio National Guard

But for a twist of fate, I might have ceased to be a possibility on that day. You see, both of my parents were Kent State students who participated in protests against the war in Vietnam. My father was late for the protest that day; he was walking up Blanket Hill with some friends when he heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. When he and his friends came around Taylor Hall, they saw students lying prone in the parking lot, in pools of blood. Twenty years later he would take his oldest daughter - me - up that same hill to tell me the story. He'd missed the shootings by about one minute.

My mother was in the parking lot. The tear gas that had been used against the students was stinging her eyes. For years afterwards, she was unable to wear contacts. She stepped into Taylor Hall in an attempt to get some clean air. Seconds later, gunfire erupted outside the door. She turned and saw students fall to the ground, never to rise again. She'd gotten out of the line of fire just in time.

Aim

May 4, 1970 is a date that has been burned into this town's unconscious. Every year, the media descends. On this, the thirtieth anniversary of the shootings, the crowds of people who have gathered to pay their respects have drawn international attention.

It's a date laden with controversy. What exactly happened? Why did the guard start to fire? Was there really a sniper? Many of the students who were there maintain that the troublemakers were out-of-town rabble rousers, not students. No one deserved to die. On the other hand... For days after the shootings, the National Guard office fielded calls from people congratulating them for what they had done. "Why didn't you kill more?"

Fire

I've heard both sides. Despite my parents' involvement, I have tried to maintain an objective view of the event. And, in the end, I can see both sides. Most of the students shot were not active protestors. (One was just there to watch, since he'd never been to a protest before. Another was just walking through on her way to class.) The guardsmen were tired and scared. The national climate had reached a point where this would have happened anyway... If not at Kent, then someplace else.

The shootings occurred almost four years before my birth. I have always known about them, or so it seems. Yet it is strange to see my home listed in a history book. It's strange to see reporters descending on my town every spring, looking for a story. Aging hippies also arrive with the spring, looking like caricatures of themselves.

Aftermath

A lot has been written about what happened that day. The only thing that I can add is a selfish thank-you to Fate. I give thanks that it was not my parents killed thirty years ago. I give thanks that they were content to give me their side of the story, and allowed me to make up my own mind. I give thanks that more people weren't killed.

But most of all, I hope that the incidents at Kent State taught my generation something. I hope that we have the wisdom to listen - so that they didn't die in vain.

Memorial

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