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May 4: Our Place in History (Documentary on the Kent State Shootings)

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    >> Good evening, my
    fellow Americans.
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    Ten days ago, in my report
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    to the nation on Vietnam,
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    I announced the decision
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    to withdraw an
    additional 150,000
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    Americans from Vietnam
    over the next year.
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    I said then that
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    I was making that
    decision despite
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    our concern over
    increased enemy activity
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    in Laos in Cambodia
    and in South Vietnam.
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    North Vietnam
    has increased
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    its military aggression in
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    all these areas and
    particularly in Cambodia.
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    Tonight, American
    and South Vietnamese
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    units will attack
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    the headquarters
    for the entire
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    communist military
    operation in South Vietnam.
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    This is not an
    invasion of Cambodia.
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    Our purpose is not
    to occupy areas.
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    Once enemy forces are
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    driven out of these
    sanctuaries and once
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    their military
    supplies are
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    destroyed, we
    will withdraw.
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    >> We've seen here at
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    the city of Kent,
    especially, probably
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    the most vicious form
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    of campus-oriented
    violence yet
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    perpetrated by
    dissident groups
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    and their allies in
    the state of Ohio.
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    For this reason, most of
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    the dissident groups have
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    operated within
    the campus.
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    This has moved over
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    where they have threatened
    and intimidated
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    merchants and people
    of this community.
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    They only have one
    thing in mind,
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    that is to destroy higher
    education in Ohio.
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    They're worse than
    the brown shirt
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    and the communist element,
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    and also the night
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    riders and the
    vigilantes are
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    the worst type of
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    people that we
    harbor in America.
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    I want to say
    that they're not
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    going to take
    over a campus.
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    And the campus
    now is going to
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    be part of the county
    and the state of Ohio.
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    There's no sanctuaries
    for these people.
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    We are going to
    eradicate the problem.
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    We're not going to
    treat the symptoms.
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    And as long as
    this continues,
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    higher education in
    Ohio is in jeopardy.
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    >> In May of 1970,
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    I was a graphic
    design major at Kent.
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    I was a second-year
    senior already.
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    And I had my camera,
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    I had black and white film
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    loaded in the camera,
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    had actually been
    working on a cartoon
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    for the stator that
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    morning about
    how Campus Day,
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    which was coming up
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    the next weekend, was
    probably going to be a
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    little bit different
    because of
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    all the National
    Guard on campus.
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    >> Well, I was a
    junior in May of 1970.
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    I was a student
    at Kent State.
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    During the
    shootings, I was
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    actually on my way
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    to class from
    a lunch break.
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    I had attended the
    rally on Friday and had
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    every intention of
    attending the rally
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    on Monday because there
    was a continuation.
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    >> I was a
    freshman student.
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    I attended the
    demonstration.
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    I knew to attend
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    the demonstration
    because I had been at
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    the demonstration
    on Friday
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    that called for the
    rally on Monday.
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    >> After my morning class
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    had finished at 11:50 AM,
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    I was making my
    way to the Commons
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    because I had
    been on campus
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    the previous Friday
    when there was
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    a call to meet again on
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    the Commons on Monday
    at noon to discuss
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    participating in a
    national student strike.
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    So that was why I was
    heading the Commons.
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    When I arrived
    there, of course,
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    the National Guard
    was there based on
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    all the things
    that had occurred
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    the previous couple days.
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    >> On May 4th,
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    I was sitting in
    a finance class.
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    And the finance professor,
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    I remember raising
    my hand and saying
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    with all the stuff that's
    going on on campus,
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    it was right at 12
    o'clock, by the way,
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    would you mind
    postponing our midterm,
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    which was scheduled
    for the next day.
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    And he said, "I don't
    care what happens.
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    We're going to have
    that midterm tomorrow.
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    You guys need to
    buckle down to get
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    out of the stuff that's
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    going on around;
    you ignore it,
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    and pay attention
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    and think about why you're
    here in the first."
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    >> I went out to
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    the rally about noon
    as a faculty marshal.
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    Just as I got
    to Taylor Hall,
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    the National Guard Jeep
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    drove out and said,
    "You must leave.
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    This rally is illegal."
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    I said to my friend
    Norman Duffy,
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    let's go down and
    talk to the students,
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    convince them.
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    I wanted them to leave
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    because we were
    worried about
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    the bayonets
    on the rifles.
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    We had no
    inclination that the
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    guns were loaded,
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    which, of course,
    they were.
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    And as we were beginning
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    to walk down the hill
    from Taylor Hall
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    to where the
    activists were,
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    the National Guard
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    started coming
    across the Commons
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    and began to tear gas the
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    demonstrators and
    the observers,
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    and the faculty marshals.
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    >> I heard the
    bell outside by
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    the Commons and picked
    up my camera and
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    went out and saw the group
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    forming the victory bell
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    and the National Guard
    troops forming up
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    around the remains of
    the ROTC building,
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    captured parts of the
    tear gas being lobbed at
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    the students and
    the students
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    throwing the tear
    gas canisters back.
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    >> When the guardsmen
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    advanced toward
    the crowd at
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    the victory bell after
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    throwing tear gas, well,
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    after and
    continuing to throw
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    tear gas and then started
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    coming with their bayonets
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    pointed toward
    the students,
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    I left the Commons along
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    with 1,000 or more
    other people.
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    When I came up
    over the hill,
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    I didn't want to stay
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    out in front of
    the guardsmen.
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    I didn't know how
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    long they would
    keep marching.
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    And so I made a decision
    at that point to
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    go down the hill
    toward Lake Hall.
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    >> Then when the guard
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    went up across the hill,
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    I followed them up there,
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    and when I crested the
    hill by the pagoda,
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    they were in the
    practice football field.
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    The guard started
    to move away from
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    the students down
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    the long axis of
    the football field,
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    and I thought
    everything was over.
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    >> From where I was
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    standing behind Lake Hall,
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    I couldn't see them when
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    they were on the
    practice football field,
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    but then they reappeared
    into my line of
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    vision as they marched
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    back up the hill
    toward the pagoda.
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    I thought that
    they were marching
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    back to where
    they had come
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    from and that the rally
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    would reconvene on the
    Commons for a time.
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    >> I went up past
    Taylor Hall,
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    turned left, went down
    into the parking lot.
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    As I got to the
    parking lot,
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    Prentice Hall parking lot,
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    I saw a student
    some distance
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    off laying on the ground.
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    I went over to
    the student.
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    It turned out to be
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    a blind student who
    had been tear-gassed,
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    and I gave him a
    little first aid.
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    And then I walked
    back to the edge of
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    the parking lot and was
    just standing there.
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    >> The guardsmen
    were marching
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    in the direction
    of the Commons.
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    They appeared to be
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    going back where
    they came from,
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    and it was a
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    complete surprise
    that they turned.
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    And obviously a horrific
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    surprise that they
    started shooting.
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    >> The guard came up the
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    hill towards the pagoda.
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    When they got
    to the pagoda,
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    the right rear echelon
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    guardsmen turned
    and fired.
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    >> I was maybe
    30 feet south of
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    Don Drumm sculpture when
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    they actually turned
    and began fire.
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    First, I thought, well,
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    why are they firing?
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    We were not
    posing a threat.
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    And then I thought
    to myself,
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    I'm sure they're not
    firing live ammunition,
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    they're firing blanks
    as a way to try to
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    disperse the crowd.
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    >> I'd been in the army,
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    so I knew that those were
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    real bullets because light
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    travels faster than sound,
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    so I dove for cover
    behind a bush.
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    >> When they stopped
    firing it's when
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    I stood up, looked around,
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    and saw that clearly,
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    they had been firing
    live ammunition
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    because there
    were students
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    who were wounded
    around me.
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    >> I saw the guardsmen
    turn in unison,
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    I assumed it was
    180 degrees,
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    it turns out it
    was 135 degrees,
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    lift their rifles in
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    unison and began to fire.
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    The friend that I
    was with pulled
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    me into Lake Hall.
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    And then when we
    were in there,
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    after a minute or so,
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    someone came in and
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    said people had been shot.
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    >> Well, I remember
    saying to myself;
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    what should I do when
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    a student rushed up
    who knew me and said,
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    "Dr. Lewis, those were
    blanks, weren't they?"
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    And I said, No,
    and I pointed
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    to Sandy Scheuer's body,
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    I didn't know it was
    her at the time.
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    And I began to run around
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    the back of the
    parking lot saying,
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    "I'm Dr. Lewis,
    you must leave.
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    Those are real bullets."
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    >> John Cleary, who I
    didn't know at the time,
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    was at the base of
    that sculpture.
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    And he was the first
    person I saw who
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    wasn't getting
    up when the rest
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    of us were, so
    I went to him
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    and lifted his shirt
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    and saw that he had
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    a bullet wound
    in his chest.
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    I tried to put pressure on
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    the wound with my t-shirt.
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    >> I had only been
    in the Stater office
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    just a minute or
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    so when we heard
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    people screaming
    and running.
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    And I remember somebody
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    popped their head in
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    the door of the
    Stater and said,
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    'They just killed
    four kids."
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    And I just couldn't
    believe it at first,
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    but as more and
    more people were
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    screaming and running
    into Taylor Hall,
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    I knew something
    had happened.
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    >> I knew several
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    people that might
    have been there,
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    and I was fearful that
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    something might have
    happened to them.
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    My roommates did not
    come home for lunch,
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    so I thought maybe they
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    went to the rally as well.
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    >> And I remember looking
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    down the hallway and
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    seeing a trail of drops
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    of blood down the hallway.
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    And then we went out and
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    left Lake Hall and walked
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    along the access road
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    until we got
    close to where
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    Jeff Miller was lying.
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    >> I went outside,
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    the first thing I saw
    was Jeff Miller's body.
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    And I kept saying
    to myself,
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    "No, he can't be dead.
    He can't be dead."
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    Seeing an ambulance
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    come over the hill, and
    I thought, "Oh, good,
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    they're going to
    pick this guy up,"
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    and the ambulance just
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    went on by to
    somebody else.
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    >> Eventually,
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    when the ambulances
    finally arrived,
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    there were not
    enough ambulances
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    for the wounded students,
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    so we doubled up
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    two wounded students
    in one ambulance,
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    and I rode along.
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    >> I looked out
    over the scene and
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    saw what seemed
    like dozens
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    of clusters of people
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    standing in groups looking
  • 11:34 - 11:36
    down at the ground.
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    And I realized
    that what I was
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    seeing in this huge scene
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    was people standing over
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    bodies on the ground.
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    >> I went back to the
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    victory bell in
    the Commons,
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    where a couple of
    hundred other people
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    had started to reassemble.
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    It was a
    demonstration again.
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    It was in protest
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    against what the
    guard had done.
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    >> I went to the Commons,
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    and at that point in time,
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    Professor Glenn had gotten
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    everyone sitting down that
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    was there on the Commons.
  • 12:03 - 12:06
    And they were trying to
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    usher you out of
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    the area to the extent
    that they could,
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    this is the
    National Guard.
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    >> And the siege
    mentality took over.
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    We were actually looking
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    at the guard reform
    on the Commons,
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    and I thought if
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    they started to move
    on the students again,
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    people were going to
    run into Taylor Hall.
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    I was convinced that
    the guard would
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    follow them in this time
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    and probably be shooting.
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    >> The guard
    made clear that
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    they weren't going
    to stand for
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    us remaining by
    the victory bell.
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    And what people
    did was go over to
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    the slope by
    Stouffer Johnson
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    and stage a sit-in.
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    It was like being
    in a class.
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    I mean, people
    were sitting in
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    rows and what actually
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    made it more like
    a class for me was
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    that my geology
    instructor,
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    Glen Frank, was pacing
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    back and forth in
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    front of the
    rows of people.
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    >> Glen Frank gave a
    very emotional speech
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    and convinced the
    students to leave.
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    >> He was crying.
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    He was pleading with
  • 13:05 - 13:08
    us to leave because
    he was convinced
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    and he convinced
    the students who
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    were staging the sit-in
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    that if we didn't leave,
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    the guard would engage
  • 13:14 - 13:16
    in further violence
    against the students.
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    >> With the help
    of the marshals,
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    most of the
    students exited
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    to the right of where
    they were sitting.
  • 13:22 - 13:27
    Kent State then closed
    within 3 hours.
  • 13:27 - 13:28
    >> So I went into
    the Student Union,
  • 13:28 - 13:31
    which was in the old
    facility at the time,
  • 13:31 - 13:33
    which is now Oscar
    Ritchie Hall,
  • 13:33 - 13:36
    and proceeded to do
    the right thing,
  • 13:36 - 13:38
    which was call
    my mother to
  • 13:38 - 13:39
    tell her I was
    safe because,
  • 13:39 - 13:41
    of course, where I'm from
  • 13:41 - 13:42
    Philadelphia and back
    in Philadelphia,
  • 13:42 - 13:44
    this was going to
    be on the news.
  • 13:44 - 13:46
    In the middle of the
    phone conversation,
  • 13:46 - 13:48
    they cut all the
    lines out of Kent.
  • 13:48 - 13:51
    So as I'm saying
    to mom, I'm safe,
  • 13:51 - 13:52
    the phone went dead, and
  • 13:52 - 13:54
    I couldn't get
    back to her for
  • 13:54 - 13:55
    several hours
    because there was
  • 13:55 - 13:57
    no communication outside
    the city of Kent.
  • 13:57 - 14:00
    >> All of our phone
    lines were dead.
  • 14:00 - 14:01
    Nobody could call in
  • 14:01 - 14:03
    and nobody could call out.
  • 14:03 - 14:05
    So it was a very
    frightening time.
  • 14:05 - 14:07
    You only had the radio
  • 14:07 - 14:10
    to receive information.
  • 14:10 - 14:12
    And I didn't find out
  • 14:12 - 14:15
    until my mother came
    and broke through
  • 14:15 - 14:17
    the barricades
    to come and get
  • 14:17 - 14:20
    me to take me home to
    my home in Youngstown.
  • 14:20 - 14:22
    And it was then
    that I found out
  • 14:22 - 14:25
    that my childhood friend,
  • 14:25 - 14:27
    Sandra Scheuer had died.
  • 14:27 - 14:29
    And the next day,
  • 14:29 - 14:31
    when I read the newspaper,
  • 14:31 - 14:31
    I found out that
  • 14:31 - 14:33
    another acquaintance
    of mine,
  • 14:33 - 14:36
    Bill Schroeder,
    was also killed.
  • 14:36 - 14:39
    >> There was just
    no reason to fire.
  • 14:39 - 14:40
    It was a rather
    incredulous
  • 14:40 - 14:44
    response to the shootings
    and to this day,
  • 14:44 - 14:47
    I don't understand
    why they fired.
  • 14:47 - 14:49
    >> I was home before
    my mother got back
  • 14:49 - 14:51
    home and around
    six o'clock,
  • 14:51 - 14:53
    my father walked
    in the back door
  • 14:53 - 14:55
    and I was sitting at
    the kitchen table,
  • 14:55 - 14:58
    and he saw me, and
    the first words out
  • 14:58 - 14:59
    of his mouth were,
  • 14:59 - 15:01
    "They should have
    shot all of them."
  • 15:01 - 15:05
    And I said to
    him, "Don't you
  • 15:05 - 15:06
    know then that one of
  • 15:06 - 15:07
    those people would
    have been me,"
  • 15:07 - 15:11
    and he passed into
    the other room.
  • 15:11 - 15:14
    And I relate to
    that part of
  • 15:14 - 15:16
    my experience
    because it was
  • 15:16 - 15:19
    very representative
    of the times.
  • 15:19 - 15:21
    His attitude was the
    attitude of many people,
  • 15:21 - 15:25
    the attitude of some
    people even today.
  • 15:26 - 15:29
    >> May 4th was Monday,
  • 15:29 - 15:32
    Thursday, I was
    asked and brought
  • 15:32 - 15:34
    down by the Beacon Journal
  • 15:34 - 15:36
    to look at the
    bullet hole.
  • 15:36 - 15:38
    The guards,
    when they fired
  • 15:38 - 15:41
    at the students,
    pierced the sculpture.
  • 15:41 - 15:43
    But at the time,
  • 15:43 - 15:44
    they were saying
    the hole in
  • 15:44 - 15:46
    the sculpture was evidence
  • 15:46 - 15:48
    that they were
    fired on first,
  • 15:48 - 15:51
    and that's why
    they fired back.
  • 15:51 - 15:54
    We arrived about
    11 o'clock,
  • 15:54 - 15:56
    the students were
    off the campus.
  • 15:56 - 15:58
    There were men
    walking around,
  • 15:58 - 15:59
    which I assume were FBI or
  • 15:59 - 16:02
    investigative people in
    typical black suits.
  • 16:02 - 16:04
    I spoke to none of them.
  • 16:04 - 16:06
    I was taken immediately to
  • 16:06 - 16:07
    the sculpture in front of
  • 16:07 - 16:10
    Taylor and shown the hole.
  • 16:10 - 16:11
    And what was
    strange to me as
  • 16:11 - 16:12
    a metal worker, because
  • 16:12 - 16:14
    my specialty is working
  • 16:14 - 16:18
    in metals, is the
    side toward the guard
  • 16:18 - 16:20
    was flanged out or
  • 16:20 - 16:23
    pieces of metal
    were flanged out.
  • 16:23 - 16:24
    On the side toward
  • 16:24 - 16:27
    the student, it
    was concave.
  • 16:27 - 16:29
    Now, when you drill
    a hole in metal,
  • 16:29 - 16:31
    particularly this
    type of steel,
  • 16:31 - 16:32
    you would create that.
  • 16:32 - 16:34
    And that's why
    people thought
  • 16:34 - 16:37
    maybe that the guard
    were fired on first.
  • 16:37 - 16:40
    I brought with
    me a piece of
  • 16:40 - 16:44
    steel of the same
    thickness and told
  • 16:44 - 16:47
    the newspaper that we
  • 16:47 - 16:49
    wanted to get
    somebody with
  • 16:49 - 16:52
    the same ammunition
    and rifling
  • 16:52 - 16:55
    to fire on this piece.
  • 16:55 - 16:57
    And that afternoon,
    we went out
  • 16:57 - 17:01
    to somebody's farm and
  • 17:01 - 17:03
    I marked the sculpture
    with a big X
  • 17:03 - 17:05
    before we fired on it
  • 17:05 - 17:07
    to show the entrance side,
  • 17:07 - 17:10
    and we duplicated
    exactly what
  • 17:10 - 17:13
    happened to the sculpture
  • 17:13 - 17:16
    and showed that it
    came from the guard.
  • 17:16 - 17:19
    >> I feel very
    strongly that the
  • 17:19 - 17:22
    guys who were
    responsible for this,
  • 17:22 - 17:25
    the governor, the mayor,
    the guard commander;
  • 17:25 - 17:29
    those people,
    they're murderers.
  • 17:29 - 17:31
    They should have
    gone to jail.
  • 17:31 - 17:34
    They never even walked
    into a courtroom.
  • 17:34 - 17:37
    That pisses me
    off. I'm never
  • 17:37 - 17:39
    going to be
    okay with that.
  • 17:39 - 17:41
    Those guys killed
    those kids.
  • 17:41 - 17:43
    They made it possible for
  • 17:43 - 17:44
    those imbecile guardsmen
  • 17:44 - 17:46
    to shoot those children.
  • 17:46 - 17:47
    >> You have to remember
  • 17:47 - 17:49
    that the attitude after
  • 17:49 - 17:50
    the shootings was
    they should have shot
  • 17:50 - 17:52
    more people in
    Northeast Ohio.
  • 17:52 - 17:54
    People were dissatisfied.
  • 17:54 - 17:55
    They only killed
    four people
  • 17:55 - 17:56
    and only wounded nine.
  • 17:56 - 17:59
    >> I really didn't assess
  • 17:59 - 18:02
    until much later the
    long-term consequences,
  • 18:02 - 18:04
    obviously, but also
    the national and
  • 18:04 - 18:07
    international consequences
    of the shootings.
  • 18:07 - 18:09
    We were so focused locally
  • 18:09 - 18:10
    that we didn't
    realize that it
  • 18:10 - 18:13
    was becoming a cause
    celeb around the world.
  • 18:13 - 18:14
    And part of that reason
  • 18:14 - 18:16
    for the cause celeb was
  • 18:16 - 18:18
    the Mary Vecchio
    picture by John Filo,
  • 18:18 - 18:21
    which went all over
    the world and was on
  • 18:21 - 18:23
    all the national and
    regional newspapers.
  • 18:23 - 18:25
    >> I was at the
    house of a friend
  • 18:25 - 18:29
    in Butano Canyon
    in California.
  • 18:29 - 18:32
    And we heard about
  • 18:32 - 18:33
    it on the radio, we
    didn't believe it.
  • 18:33 - 18:36
    And Neil and I were out
    driving around in one
  • 18:36 - 18:37
    of his Woodies and we
  • 18:37 - 18:38
    went over to this
    friend's house,
  • 18:38 - 18:41
    and a friend came back
    from the store with
  • 18:41 - 18:42
    a magazine with
  • 18:42 - 18:45
    a girl kneeling
    over the dead kid.
  • 18:45 - 18:47
    And I watched
    and it hit Neil.
  • 18:47 - 18:48
    He opened the magazine
  • 18:48 - 18:49
    and looked at this thing
  • 18:49 - 18:53
    and hit him in the heart.
  • 18:53 - 18:59
    And I watched him write
    Ohio, right there.
  • 18:59 - 19:15
    [MUSIC] And I remember
    calling Nash and
  • 19:15 - 19:17
    saying, "Hey, get a
    studio right now.
  • 19:17 - 19:19
    We need a studio
    right now."
  • 19:19 - 19:21
    And we got it
    out right away.
  • 19:21 - 19:25
    So it was immediate.
    It was topical,
  • 19:25 - 19:27
    it was immediate, and
    it was the truth.
  • 19:27 - 19:33
    And you could feel [MUSIC]
    that we were angry.
  • 19:33 - 20:08
    [MUSIC]
  • 20:08 - 20:11
    We didn't realize it
    would be a gigantic hit.
  • 20:11 - 20:14
    We knew that there were
  • 20:14 - 20:16
    a whole lot of people
    like us who were
  • 20:16 - 20:20
    shocked that four of
    America's children had
  • 20:20 - 20:22
    been gunned down on
  • 20:22 - 20:23
    a campus doing something
  • 20:23 - 20:25
    they were legally
    allowed to do.
  • 20:25 - 20:27
    >> One of the
    important ways that
  • 20:27 - 20:29
    May 4th was the day
    the war came home,
  • 20:29 - 20:33
    was that Congress
    really rallied
  • 20:33 - 20:34
    and really came
  • 20:34 - 20:38
    together and began
    withdrawing in very
  • 20:38 - 20:41
    documental or very
    real ways, its support
  • 20:41 - 20:45
    for Nixon's war in
    Southeast Asia.
  • 20:45 - 20:48
    >> Certainly, Nixon
    said that it was
  • 20:48 - 20:50
    one of the worst moments
    of his presidency.
  • 20:50 - 20:54
    And so that suggests
    to me that he
  • 20:54 - 20:56
    felt that they had to do
  • 20:56 - 20:58
    something about the
    Vietnam situation.
  • 21:13 - 21:16
    >> I'm honored to
    be here today on
  • 21:16 - 21:18
    behalf of the Ohio
    Historical Society to
  • 21:18 - 21:21
    participate in this
    dedication ceremony
  • 21:21 - 21:24
    for the listing of
    the May 4th, 1970,
  • 21:24 - 21:26
    Kent State
    Shooting site in
  • 21:26 - 21:28
    the National Register
    of Historic Places.
  • 21:28 - 21:30
    Starting in the
    late 1970s,
  • 21:30 - 21:32
    I saw several attempts to
  • 21:32 - 21:35
    nominate this site to
    the National Register,
  • 21:35 - 21:36
    and none were successful
  • 21:36 - 21:38
    for a variety of reasons,
  • 21:38 - 21:41
    including the
    historical immediacy of
  • 21:41 - 21:43
    the event to
    the opposition
  • 21:43 - 21:44
    of then Governor Rhodes.
  • 21:44 - 21:48
    As a witness to the
    tragic events of May 4th,
  • 21:48 - 21:50
    I took personal
    satisfaction in signing
  • 21:50 - 21:52
    the nomination
    that officially
  • 21:52 - 21:55
    recognized this
    significant place.
  • 21:55 - 21:57
    It was a long
    time overdue.
  • 21:57 - 22:09
    [APPLAUSE]
  • 22:09 - 22:10
    The recent effort
  • 22:10 - 22:12
    spearheaded by faculty
    members Mark Seaman,
  • 22:12 - 22:15
    Laura Davis,
    Carol Barbado,
  • 22:15 - 22:17
    and Jerry Lewis
    was successful,
  • 22:17 - 22:19
    and it produced
    a document that
  • 22:19 - 22:21
    has received
    recognition from
  • 22:21 - 22:22
    the National
    Park Service for
  • 22:22 - 22:24
    its excellence in placing
  • 22:24 - 22:26
    this event into
    historical context.
  • 22:26 - 22:29
    I applaud the authors
    for their efforts,
  • 22:29 - 22:31
    and I thank the university
  • 22:31 - 22:34
    for their supporting
    this nomination.
  • 22:34 - 22:36
    In commemorating
    this site's
  • 22:36 - 22:38
    placement in the
    National Register,
  • 22:38 - 22:40
    I think it is fitting
    that we pause
  • 22:40 - 22:43
    in silence for a moment in
  • 22:43 - 22:50
    memory of Kent State
    students; Allison Krause,
  • 22:50 - 22:53
    Jeffrey Miller,
    Sandra Scheuer,
  • 22:53 - 22:55
    and William Schroeder.
  • 22:55 - 22:57
    Their personal
    destinies intersected
  • 22:57 - 22:59
    with our nation's
    collective destiny on
  • 22:59 - 23:01
    that tragic day
    40 years ago
  • 23:01 - 23:04
    and changed us
    forever. Thank you.
  • 23:15 - 23:19
    >> One thing I liked
    the best about it is it
  • 23:19 - 23:20
    put the events of what
  • 23:20 - 23:21
    happened here in
  • 23:21 - 23:22
    three or four days
    into context.
  • 23:22 - 23:23
    They made it clear it
  • 23:23 - 23:24
    wasn't about that one day.
  • 23:24 - 23:25
    But more important, it
  • 23:25 - 23:27
    wasn't just about
    Kent State.
  • 23:27 - 23:28
    I love the map that showed
  • 23:28 - 23:29
    all the college
    campuses where
  • 23:29 - 23:30
    the uproar happened.
  • 23:30 - 23:32
    I think for students
    today, this
  • 23:32 - 23:34
    has got to seem
    alien to them.
  • 23:34 - 23:35
    There's just not this kind
  • 23:35 - 23:37
    of engagement,
    this involvement,
  • 23:37 - 23:38
    certainly not the violence
  • 23:38 - 23:39
    on college campuses,
  • 23:39 - 23:41
    but mostly engagement is
  • 23:41 - 23:42
    what I'm concerned about.
  • 23:42 - 23:44
    >> These people
    were brave.
  • 23:44 - 23:46
    They were very brave,
  • 23:46 - 23:48
    and they got shot
    to death for it.
  • 23:50 - 23:53
    But they're still
    inspiring us.
  • 23:53 - 23:55
    >> Memory about that war,
  • 23:55 - 23:57
    Vietnam War is
    essential to
  • 23:57 - 23:59
    understanding our position
    in the world today.
  • 23:59 - 24:01
    Of course, the protests in
  • 24:01 - 24:03
    the 1970s play
    a huge role.
  • 24:03 - 24:06
    And Kent State is
    one of those things
  • 24:06 - 24:09
    that happened that really
    made a difference.
  • 24:09 - 24:12
    The move was a
    game-changer
  • 24:12 - 24:14
    also in the protests
    against the war.
  • 24:14 - 24:16
    There's quite
    strong stuff,
  • 24:16 - 24:19
    and it's very important
    for kids to see this,
  • 24:19 - 24:21
    for a new generation
    to understand
  • 24:21 - 24:23
    the anger on both sides,
  • 24:23 - 24:25
    the polarization
    that we now have
  • 24:25 - 24:28
    supposedly in our
    country is evident here.
  • 24:28 - 24:29
    I hope young
    people will take
  • 24:29 - 24:32
    away that there
    was a struggle.
  • 24:32 - 24:34
    There was a divide
    in this country,
  • 24:34 - 24:37
    and our country
  • 24:37 - 24:39
    continually has to
    grow and develop.
  • 24:39 - 24:41
    These four kids meant
  • 24:41 - 24:44
    a lot to the conscience
    of this country.
  • 24:44 - 24:46
    They died for a
    reason, sacrifice,
  • 24:46 - 24:47
    and that has to be
  • 24:47 - 24:49
    remembered because
    if you say that
  • 24:49 - 24:50
    no one's responsible and
  • 24:50 - 24:51
    it was just a
    misunderstanding,
  • 24:51 - 24:53
    it's an insult
    to their memory.
  • 24:53 - 24:55
    >> When they went to
    sit on that hill,
  • 24:55 - 24:57
    blood had already
    been shed.
  • 24:57 - 24:58
    You got to be that brave.
  • 24:58 - 25:01
    If you're not, what's
    your life worth?
  • 25:01 - 25:03
    If you don't stick
    up for what you
  • 25:03 - 25:05
    believe in, what's
    your life worth?
  • 25:05 - 25:06
    >> It's part
    of our legacy.
  • 25:06 - 25:08
    It's part of our history.
  • 25:08 - 25:10
    On the other hand,
    it's a distant memory
  • 25:10 - 25:12
    for most of the
    current students.
  • 25:12 - 25:13
    >> There'll be key
  • 25:13 - 25:14
    pieces like the
    Visitors Center,
  • 25:14 - 25:16
    the memorial,
    and the vigil,
  • 25:16 - 25:18
    which will
    continue to remind
  • 25:18 - 25:20
    this student body as well
  • 25:20 - 25:21
    as the nation
    about May 4th.
  • 25:21 - 25:25
    >> It also speaks to us
    about the importance
  • 25:25 - 25:28
    of respecting diversity of
  • 25:28 - 25:29
    opinions, of
    points of view.
  • 25:29 - 25:31
    You know, it's
    very difficult
  • 25:31 - 25:34
    to hear people dissent,
  • 25:34 - 25:36
    especially in
    a time of war,
  • 25:36 - 25:37
    but that's a principle
  • 25:37 - 25:39
    that our country
    is founded on.
  • 25:39 - 25:41
    >> The challenge,
    it seems to me,
  • 25:41 - 25:42
    for a place like
    Kent State,
  • 25:42 - 25:43
    which is now stuck in
  • 25:43 - 25:45
    the national narrative, is
  • 25:45 - 25:46
    to do something with that,
  • 25:46 - 25:48
    and that's what this
    Visitors Center does,
  • 25:48 - 25:51
    and it doesn't look
    away from its history.
  • 25:51 - 25:52
    It doesn't say, well,
  • 25:52 - 25:54
    that was an aberrational
    moment that
  • 25:54 - 25:56
    we have gotten past,
    and we've now moved on.
  • 25:56 - 25:58
    But you've taken
    it and done
  • 25:58 - 25:59
    what a university
    should do,
  • 25:59 - 26:02
    which is turn it into
    a learning experience.
  • 26:02 - 26:05
    And that way, as the words
  • 26:05 - 26:06
    Kent State become part of
  • 26:06 - 26:08
    the national
    historical narrative,
  • 26:08 - 26:09
    it means something more
  • 26:09 - 26:12
    than just a terrible
    thing happened here.
Title:
May 4: Our Place in History (Documentary on the Kent State Shootings)
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
27:51

English subtitles

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