The Kent State Massacre - History and Legacy of the Shootings

The Vietnam War was one of the most contentious events in American history, sparking massive cultural changes across the country during the 1960s. The conflict fueled the hippie counterculture, and anti-war protests spread across college campuses and city streets. While some protesters advocated for peace and love, others resorted to riots, as seen in the violent clashes between National Guardsmen and 10,000 anti-war rioters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

By the end of the decade, Vietnam had claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, spawned a counterculture with millions of protesters, and contributed to the downfall of a presidency. However, the turbulence was far from over. As the war's unpopularity continued to grow, President Nixon's announcement of the bombing of Cambodia on April 30, 1970, triggered a new wave of protests on college campuses, including those at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

On May 4, 1970, a Monday, thousands of Kent State students skipped classes to participate in the protests. Jeff Miller and his friends were tear-gassed by the Ohio National Guard, and in the ensuing chaos, Miller picked up a tear gas canister and threw it back at the Guardsmen. At 12:24 p.m., some of the Guardsmen opened fire with live ammunition. Miller was instantly killed by a shot to the mouth, and three other students lay dead. None of the victims were within 70 feet of the Guardsmen when they opened fire.

The shootings of unarmed protesters shocked the nation and led to further protests and hardened feelings. In the aftermath, other college students hung banners that read "They Can't Kill Us All," and hundreds of campuses were brought to a standstill by the protests. It is estimated that 4 million students joined the demonstrations across the country, and a protest in Washington, D.C. attracted about 100,000 people in the days following the Kent State shootings.

While both supporters and opponents of the war continued to debate, the Kent State tragedy prompted President Nixon to establish the President's Commission on Campus Unrest. The commission's report concluded that "even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force," and that "the 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified." The report went on to claim that "the Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators."

The Kent State Massacre chronicles the events that led to this notorious campus shooting, which became a watershed moment in the Vietnam War era. The book includes pictures of important people, places, and events, as well as a table of contents and a bibliography for further reading, providing a comprehensive understanding of this pivotal moment in American history.

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