Two weeks from today marks the 49th anniversary of the Kent State shootings or what’s also known as the Kent State Massacre.
On May 4th, 1970 twenty-eight Ohio National Guardsmen opened up fire on unarmed college students protesting the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces. They fired off 67 rounds over 13 seconds and killed four students, wounded nine others and one was permanently paralyzed.
Here’s a list of who was killed and wounded on that horrific and shameful day in American history. Their names should go down in history but sadly so many people will never know them.
Killed
William Knox Schroeder; age 19; Fatal chest wound; died almost an hour later in a local hospital while undergoing surgery.
Allison B. Krause; age 19; Fatal left chest wound; died later that day.
Jeffrey Glenn Miller; age 20; Shot through the mouth; killed instantly.
Sandra Lee Scheuer; age 20; Fatal neck wound; died a few minutes later from loss of blood.
WOUNDED:
Joseph Lewis, Jr.; Hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg.
John R. Cleary; Upper left chest wound.
Thomas Mark Grace; Struck in left ankle.
Alan Michael Canfora; Hit in his right wrist.
Douglas Alan Wrentmore; Hit in his right knee.
James Dennis Russell; Hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot, both wounds minor.
Robert Follis Stamps; Hit in his right buttock.
Donald Scott MacKenzie; Neck wound.
Dean R. Kahler; Back wound fracturing the vertebrae, permanently paralyzed from the chest down.
It should be noted that all those who were shot were students in good standing at the university. None of them were, “bums” as that fucking asshole and beady-eyed crook Richard Nixon described the protesters just three days earlier in 1970. It also should be noted that Nixon resigned in shame and guilt four years later to avoid being impeached for his criminal activity in the Watergate scandal. He slunk out of the White House in an historical walk of shame.
Below are six links to online articles about this day that truly was the end of the starry-eyed love and hope of the ‘60’s and the start of the age of cynicism and hate that sadly continues on to this day. Below that are what’s happening on the blog next week.
May 4 Chronology - A timeline of the three days leading up to the shootings and the day of the protest and massacre.
Four Kent State Students Killed by Troops - This is the original piece on the Kent State Shootings from the NY Times in 1970. Note the bold-faced lie told by Sylvester Del Corso, Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard. He said at the time that a sniper had opened fire on the Guard, which was a complete lie, of which he was never reprimanded for.
Personal Remembrances of the Kent State Shootings, 43 Years Later - There’s historical photos and lots of memories in this article from Slate.
Speaking out: Kent State photographer on iconic photo - John Filos was a student at Kent State and he took the iconic photo that would be seen all over the world.
40 Years After Kent State Shooting - This article details what happened to some of the kids who were wounded at the Kent State shooting, plus coments from John Filos and Mary Ann Vecchio, who was the girl in the iconic photo from the above link.
Decades Later, No Justice for Kent State Killings - Allison Krause was just 19-years-old and was one of the four kids killed unjustly by the National Guardsmen. This is a moving article that was written 44 years later by her younger sister who is now the Co-founder and Director of the Kent State Truth Tribunal. It serves as a sad reminder that justice does not always happen in America, the so-called "land of the free."
Well, it’s time for a whole week of new MBIP posts and here’s what you’re going to get!
Monday, April 22: Last Friday was a fun night at Peoria Pizza Works. They had a four band live concert featuring the headline band, Divine Dirt with Bloody F. Mess on lead vocals! Bloody Mess was one of Peoria’s premier punk rockers and you can read his history here! Also on the bill were: The Sadistic Cowbys, Super 88 and The River Bottom Scum. I have photos from the entire show, plus special guest stars and a pizza party with Super 88!
Tuesday, April 23: We continue the 13 month chicken tour with one more chicken and waffles dish in our chicken and waffles mini tour within a tour! Tune in to see where we spent the 26th motherclucking week of chicken at!
Wednesday, April 24th: The reason the blog has been on hold is I needed some time to prepare the last Marty Monologues show that happened a week ago last Sunday. The show was called, “I Was a Pre-Teen Hippie - Sweet and Savage Memories About Growing Up in the ‘60’s.” Sunday night I performed the show along with Sarah Marie Dillard and Brandon Mooberry singing the opening and closing songs and DJ juanGoblin spinning the tunes. The show went over great and we just about sold out the Apollo Theatre on Main Street. On Wednesday we’ll feature photos and text from that show.
Thursday, April 25th: After we did the show on Sunday in Peoria, we traveled to Chicago on Tuesday and did it at the Cornservatory Theater on Lincoln Avenue. That show also featured the musical stylings of Noion Cities and we’ll have photos and highlights of the Chicago show on Thursday.
Friday April 26th: The last stop on this three city Marty Monologues tour was the town I called home for 19 years, New York City! I performed the monologue show at The Kraine Theater on 4th Street along with musicians Chris Erikson and Cliff Westfall and that show went just as well as the other two and I was exhausted when it was over!
Saturday April 29th: I’m starting a new Saturday series here on MBIP called, “Random Saturday Snapshots” which will feature random snapshots taken through the week with the MBIP Camera. Lights, Camera...MBIP!
It’s going to be a fun week and I hope you tune in for all the new adventures!
Related Posts: Sunday Links: Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys, The 55th Anniversary of the Beatles First Ed Sullivan Appearance and Groundhog Day.