James Rhodes also signed a what was called a statement of regret. It acknowledged that "better ways could have been found to resolve the confrontation. But freedom of guns to shoot you down was also real. Search Query Show Search. Classical Show Search Search Query. Play Live Radio. Next Up:. Available On Air Stations.
This was met with angry shouting and rocks, and the jeep retreated. Canterbury then ordered his men to load and lock their weapons, tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd around the Victory Bell, and the Guard began to march across the Commons to disperse the rally. The protestors moved up a steep hill, known as Blanket Hill, and then down the other side of the hill onto the Prentice Hall parking lot as well as an adjoining practice football field. Most of the Guardsmen followed the students directly and soon found themselves somewhat trapped on the practice football field because it was surrounded by a fence.
Yelling and rock throwing reached a peak as the Guard remained on the field for about 10 minutes. Several Guardsmen could be seen huddling together, and some Guardsmen knelt and pointed their guns, but no weapons were shot at this time.
The Guard then began retracing their steps from the practice football field back up Blanket Hill. As they arrived at the top of the hill, 28 of the more than 70 Guardsmen turned suddenly and fired their rifles and pistols.
Many guardsmen fired into the air or the ground. However, a small portion fired directly into the crowd. Altogether between 61 and 67 shots were fired in a second period. Four Kent State students died as a result of the firing by the Guard. The closest student was Jeffrey Miller, who was shot in the mouth while standing in an access road leading into the Prentice Hall parking lot, a distance of approximately feet from the Guard. Allison Krause was in the Prentice Hall parking lot; she was feet from the Guardsmen and was shot in the left side of her body.
William Schroeder was feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when he was shot in the left side of his back. Sandra Scheuer was also about feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when a bullet pierced the left front side of her neck. Nine Kent State students were wounded in the second fusillade. Most of the students were in the Prentice Hall parking lot, but a few were on the Blanket Hill area.
Joseph Lewis was the student closest to the Guard at a distance of about 60 feet; he was standing still with his middle finger extended when bullets struck him in the right abdomen and left lower leg. Thomas Grace was also approximately 60 feet from the Guardsmen and was wounded in the left ankle. John Cleary was over feet from the Guardsmen when he was hit in the upper left chest. Alan Canfora was feet from the Guard and was struck in the right wrist.
Dean Kahler was the most seriously wounded of the nine students. He was struck in the small of his back from approximately feet and was permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Douglas Wrentmore was wounded in the right knee from a distance of feet. James Russell was struck in the right thigh and right forehead at a distance of feet. Robert Stamps was almost feet from the line of fire when he was wounded in the right buttock. Donald Mackenzie was the student the farthest from the Guardsmen at a distance of almost feet when he was hit in the neck. The most important question associated with the events of May 4 is why did members of the Guard fire into a crowd of unarmed students?
Two quite different answers have been advanced to this question: 1 the Guardsmen fired in self-defense, and the shootings were therefore justified and 2 the Guardsmen were not in immediate danger, and therefore the shootings were unjustified.
The answer offered by the Guardsmen is that they fired because they were in fear of their lives. Guardsmen testified before numerous investigating commissions as well as in federal court that they felt the demonstrators were advancing on them in such a way as to pose a serious and immediate threat to the safety of the Guardsmen, and they therefore had to fire in self-defense.
Some authors e. Much more importantly, federal criminal and civil trials have accepted the position of the Guardsmen.
In a federal criminal trial, District Judge Frank Battisti dismissed the case against eight Guardsmen indicted by a federal grand jury, ruling at mid-trial that the government's case against the Guardsmen was so weak that the defense did not have to present its case. In the much longer and more complex federal civil trial of , a jury voted that none of the Guardsmen were legally responsible for the shootings. This decision was appealed, however, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a new trial had to be held because of the improper handling of a threat to a jury member.
The legal aftermath of the May 4 shootings ended in January of with an out-of-court settlement involving a statement signed by 28 defendants 3 as well as a monetary settlement, and the Guardsmen and their supporters view this as a final vindication of their position.
This money was paid by the State of Ohio rather than by any Guardsmen, and the amount equaled what the State estimated it would cost to go to trial again. Perhaps most importantly, the statement signed by members of the Ohio National Guard was viewed by them to be a declaration of regret, not an apology or an admission of wrongdoing:.
In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, should not have occurred. The students may have believed that they were right in continuing their mass protest in response to the Cambodian invasion, even though this protest followed the posting and reading by the university of an order to ban rallies and an order to disperse.
These orders have since been determined by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have been lawful. Some of the Guardsmen on Blanket Hill, fearful and anxious from prior events, may have believed in their own minds that their lives were in danger. Hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation. Better ways must be found to deal with such a confrontation. We devoutly wish that a means had been found to avoid the May 4th events culminating in the Guard shootings and the irreversible deaths and injuries.
We deeply regret those events and are profoundly saddened by the deaths of four students and the wounding of nine others which resulted. We hope that the agreement to end the litigation will help to assuage the tragic memories regarding that sad day. A starkly different interpretation to that of the Guards' has been offered in numerous other studies of the shootings, with all of these analyses sharing the common viewpoint that primary responsibility for the shootings lies with the Guardsmen.
Instead, these authors argue that the evidence shows that certain members of the Guard conspired on the practice football field to fire when they reached the top of Blanket Hill. Other authors e. Experts who find the Guard primarily responsible find themselves in agreement with the conclusion of the Scranton Commission Report , , p. While debate still remains about the extent to which the Guardsmen's lives were in danger at the moment they opened fire, little doubt can exist that their lives were indeed at stake in the immediate aftermath of the shootings.
The second shooting that resulted in four deaths and nine wounded could have been followed by an even more tragic and bloody confrontation. The nervous and fearful Guardsmen retreated back to the Commons, facing a large and hostile crowd which realized that the Guard had live ammunition and had used it to kill and wound a large number of people.
In their intense anger, many demonstrators were willing to risk their own lives to attack the Guardsmen, and there can be little doubt that the Guard would have opened fire again, this time killing a much larger number of students.
Further tragedy was prevented by the actions of a number of Kent State University faculty marshals, who had organized hastily when trouble began several days earlier. Led by Professor Glenn Frank, the faculty members pleaded with National Guard leaders to allow them to talk with the demonstrators, and then they begged the students not to risk their lives by confronting the Guardsmen.
After about 20 minutes of emotional pleading, the marshals convinced the students to leave the Commons. Back at the site of the shootings, ambulances had arrived and emergency medical attention had been given to the students who had not died immediately.
The ambulances formed a screaming procession as they rushed the victims of the shootings to the local hospital. It prompted changes in state law regarding campus protests and violence. Some universities enacted more controls on events. And the shootings spurred people to action.
The May 4, , Kent State shootings shaped the city of Kent for decades to come. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, most people in the city supported either the students or the National Guard. Alan Canfora, one of the nine wounded, was an expert on the Kent State shootings whose mission was to educate and bring to light what happened that day. Dean Kahler walked onto the campus full of hopes and dreams. He left some years later, degree in hand in a wheelchair and with a new path in life.
Tom Grace, a wounded survivor of the Kent State shootings, told his story of May 4 so many times that he was ready to move on to the bigger picture — exploring the origins of the student protest movement at Kent State. After going through this [telling his story] for five decades, to a certain extent you get talked out. Nothing brought the Vietnam War home more dramatically than a photograph taken that day by a Kent State photojournalism major -- young Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling next to the dead body of student Jeffrey Miller, her hands turned upward in despair, a look of horror on her face.
It was the face that launched a thousand protests. Robert Canterbury took matters into his own hands before noon on May 4, It was 50 years ago, but at Kent State, May 4 is a looming presence. The reminders, from memorial markers to bullet holes, are everywhere. But activism is still strong at Kent State, and for those who have picked up the baton — leading campus protests and letter-writing campaigns or fighting the university administration for more mental health support for students — May 4 serves as both a motivation and a stark reminder of what can happen when students speak out.
Others said the guardsmen were congenial and chatted with the students, with no sense that violence would soon overtake the grounds. Guardsmen patrol the area around the burned-down ROTC building. A student throws a tear-gas canister back at guardsmen during clashes on May 4, After several standoffs, the troops headed back up a hill in the direction of the ROTC building.
As they reached the top, they turned toward the demonstrators and opened fire.
0コメント