Regina is in Ohio today standing vigil and taking part in the annual commemoration of the Kent State Shootings. Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, William Schroeder and the nine others wounded will be in my thoughts today and I hope yours.

http://www.kent.edu/may4/

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 2 times, lastly by JohnC on May 04, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

Monday morning, May 4, 1970, seemed to be quite peaceful at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Time magazine included a colorful description of the campus: "On Monday, the campus seemed to calm down. In the bright sunshine, tired young Guardsmen flirted with leggy coeds under the tall oaks and maples."

Around noon, 2,000 to 3,000 people began to gather on and around the University Commons. Some knew that a rally, called for on Friday, had been banned. Others did not know. When the Guard ordered the students to disperse, some in the crowd began to shout obscenities and throw stones at the Guardsmen. Tear gas was fired, but the winds altered its effects. Some of the students continued to throw rocks and shout at the National Guard. The Guard used their bayonets to force the students to retreat. The Guardsmen became cornered by a fence so they began to back up, but a few students followed them as close as 20 yards. Near the top of a hill, the Guard suddenly turned around and 28 Guardsmen fired between 61 and 67 shots in 13 seconds toward students at a parking lot.

Four students were killed and nine wounded, one of whom became paralyzed from the waist down. The closest one to the Guard to be killed was 85 yards away, the one farthest from the National Guard was 250 yards away.

Sandra Scheuer was killed while on her way to class
Jeffrey Miller was killed when taking part in the rally
William Schroeder was killed while looking at the fight between demonstrators and Guardsmen
Allison Krause was killed on her way to meet a friend for lunch

They were 19 and 20. Nine others were wounded.

That afternoon, University President Robert White ordered Kent State closed. It remained closed for the rest of the semester.

"What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground...?" Neil Young


So much trust lost.
So much innocence lost.
So much love lost.
Miss you

10 soldiers & Nixons coming... 4 dead in Ohio... ~CSNY~ Peace & God Bless... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her
and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

repeat second verse
repeat first verse

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by JohnC on May 05, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

Catching up on some time lost. Even tho I'm a tad bit late.

*TIME to dust off 'Strawberry Statement'.

that record says allot. It's a vivid reminder of what can happen in a pretty screwed with world!!!!!!!

tx. for the reminder JohnC. CANNOT believe I missed Dan's coverage. No news is good news. Right??...WRONG!!!!!.......<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

Here's the song that always makes me think of that tragic day. I played it in my 60's class to remember Kent State:
"There's somethin' happenin' here.
What it is, ain't exactly clear.
There's a man with a gun over there,
tellin' me, I got to beware.
It's time we stop hey, what's that sound?
everybody look what's goin' down.
There's battle lines bein' drawn.
nobody's right, if everybody's wrong
young people speakin' their minds,
gettin' so much resistence from behind.
(chorus)
What a field day for the heat.
a 1,000 people in the street.
they're singin' songs, and they're carryin' signs, mostly say "hurray for our side"
(chorus)
Paranoia strikes deep,
and into your life it will creep,
it starts when you're always afraid;
step outta line, the men come
and they take you away
it's time we stop children what's that sound, everybody look what's goin' down..."
---Buffalo Springfield

I remember when that song came out. They used to play it on the radio alot every day...

ShannonO,

"For What's It Worth" was written by Steven Stills around 3 years before the Kent State Killings.

rjr---I know, Stills was in CSNY after Buffalo Springfield. "For What It's Worth" was written in 1968. But the lyrics always struck me as having an eerie resemblance to what happened at Kent State 3 years following it's release. And the paranoia line sounds just like a direct reference to Nixon no matter when the song was released, lol. I just always associated this song with the event, but I know it was written before it happened.

My mom was in High School when Kent state happened, and they played 'For What It's Worth' over the intercom in her HS cafeteria. She said the silence was deafening with everyone listening to the lyrics, so I always kept it in mind whenever I heard it, or read about Kent State.
Thanks for the tip though...

Regardless of when either song was written, they are both fantawtic. It's just too bad that the circumstance surrounding their origins had to happen. I don't think I'll ever understand why people can't step out of the hate they carry in their hearts and realize that we all have to live in this world together.

Yes, the song definitely reflects the state of mind that led to the events at Kent State. I think the song was written around '66 and released by '67 at the latest.

Kent State was not the only University Massacre that happened that month...just a couple of weeks later there was one in Jackson, Mississippi...of course you never hear about that one....

I Wanna Go Down

I wanna go down to Jackson, Mississippi
I wanna go down, to protest the war
I wanna go down to Jackson, Mississippi
To hear, to hear the students roar

I wanna go down to the university
I wanna go down just to learn
I wanna go down to the university
To watch, to watch the fires burn

I wanna walk down around the school
I wanna walk down across the lots
I wanna walk down around the school
To feel, to feel the pistol shots

I wanna run down into the open door
I wanna run down into the women's dorm
I wanna run down into the open door
To smell, to smell the coming storm

I wanna go back into our tragic past
I wanna go back, back those thirty years
I wanna go back into our tragic past
To taste, to taste the stinging tears

I don't want this to ever happen again
We don't need to be caught within their net
This tragedy will never happen again
Unless, unless, unless we all forget

I wanna go down to Jackson, Mississippi
I wanna go down, to protest the war
I wanna go down to Jackson, Mississippi
To hear, to hear the students roar

Nathan Tompkins