Anyone remember Kent State 40 years ago today?

[Hibidder]

May I ask the hippy hater if you ever were close enough to know anything about what
nonsense you are spewing? Were we all the elite rich kids protesting the war? Were we Manson
wannabes? Were we just lazy, police-hating, anti-government thugs sitting around smoking grass,
dropping acid and making love 24/7? The ones I knew (including myself) lost family and friends
in Vietnam and no way did we believe they died in vain - war protesters denigrated their deaths.
Kent State? How many of you knew that the Ohio National Guard Unit there were recent returnees
from Vietnam where they had seen unspeakable horrors? They are made to stand at the ready on a
college campus where students/outside agitators had burned buildings, flowers were put in their
rifle barrels, they endured non-stop taunting and obeyed orders to fire. Those who felt the bullets
were never looked upon as martyrs/victims by anyone I knew - we were on soldiers' side. We were
able to locate illegal abortion doctors and able to work our own sort of magic. Many of us smoked
grass - I did twice; it just was not for me; I prefer clear-mindedness. We wee able to get close to
young teens starting on the drugs/grass trip and turn them in other directions. We worked - enough
to survive and help others less fortunate. We did not wallow in the mud of Woodstock. And, yes,
we wore flowers in our hair.

[mick e]

Now he's projecting both sides of the argument with his sock puppets. Someone might want to call the blabberwagon.

[the_poochies]

I was only a wee babe on 4/4/70.

Devo's Jerry Casale was present at the shootings and mentions how that influenced the formation of the seminal new-wave band.

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/04/dev...feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20boingboing/iBag%20(Boing%20Boing)&utm_content=Google%20Reader

[Silencio]

Keep digging that hole, Shakeman. You'll pop up in China soon enough!

[Bobby Dooley]

And those were obviously LOADED guns. It would have to be some really
good acid to get me to do something that dumb. Ohio National Guard 4, Kent State 0
I was sorry for the innocent bystanders, even though my righteous radical friends and
acquaintances made sure to tell me that "This is the revoluuuuuution, man. There are
no innocent bystanders." Seems several eyewitnesses and evidence shows at least three
shots and perhaps more fired at National Guardmens prior to Guardsmen opening fire.
Puts a whole new light on the matter. The Guardsmen were simply returning fire.

[Dennis S]

You'll forgive me if I don't immediately believe an account that Shakeman "The Moron" offered from a "newspaper" owned by the "Reverend" Moon.

[mick e]

[BCam]

I graduated in 1970 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I was tear gassed by Hamilton County Deputy Sheriffs. I carried a close friend to the campus hospital in a fireman carry as he had been shot point blank in the back by a tear gas gun. An 80 year old Professor Emeritus was nearly mauled to raw meat by a dog under the control of the "authorities" until the Brothers at a frat house killed the dog and dragged the man into their house.

Miami was shut down. The faculty had an emergency meeting with the more right wing professors demanding that educators take turns guarding campus buildings to "protect the University". One teacher rose and correctly stated, "We sent the University home. What have here now is merely real estate."

I lived in a rented home with two roommates. We had 14 people living with us while the school was closed. But, the education did not stop. No matter a dawn to dusk curfew, no matter patrols by armed Deputies, if you went to the town square you could find little notes pinned to the kiosk there, "Bio 304 meets at ...." "Engineering 345 at Prof. Jones home at 2 PM", etc.

Learning went on. Knowledge was shared almost as a tribute to those who died at Kent State.

Did Kent State mean something to me and my generation. In the long run - yes. As no one was ever held accountable for the murder of four people and the wounding of many more, it became perfectly clear then that the US and State Governments would use any means, including shooting unarmed people, to protect themselves and their interests.

May 4, 1970 was the date that a generation of Americans became cynical - and I dare say we still are.

[bruceko]

"tin soldiers and Nixon coming"

[The UnDoug]

"four dead in O-hi-o"