Today is the 43rd Anniversary of Kent State.

[Are_grits_groceries]

Never forget....

Sigh......

[struggle4progress]

1. :cry:

[Lifelong Protester]

6. Thank you for posting

I was going to go looking for this.

I remember this sad day like it was just last week.

Very sad.

[kiva]

2. Courtesy of Tahiti Nut in 2009

Remembering May 4, 1970 in Viet Nam -- 24 dead, many wounded.

THOMAS OLIVER AHLBERG, Army - SGT - E5, Age: 19
DEAN L AITKEN, Army - SGT - E5, Age: 20
JAMES GERALD ANDERSON, Army - SGT - E5, Age: 23
DEAN LOUIS BONNEAU, Army - WO - W1, Age: 20
RONALD CHISOLM, Army - PVT - E1, Age: 20
STEPHEN BRADFORD EMERY, Army - 1LT - O2, Age: 23
LEON GARNETT, Army - PFC - E3, Age: 19
JAMES FREDRICK HOPKINS, Air Force - A1C - E3, Age: 20
GEORGE ELLERY HUSSEY, Army - MAJ - O4, Age: 35
TOMMY L KEARSLEY, Army - CWO - W2, Age: 22
FLOYD WATSEL LAMB, Army - SP4 - E4, Age: 20
ARMANDO CERVERA LUNA, Army - CPL - E4, Age: 20
LARRY FRANKLIN MATTINGLY, Army - 1LT - O2, Age: 27
RICHARD WALTER PAQUETTE, Army - SGT - E5, Age: 21
JAMES EDWARD RIMMER, Army - CPL - E4, Age: 22
THEODORE IRWIN ROBERTS, Army - SFC - E7, Age: 35
ALBERT CHARLES SMITH, Army - SSGT - E6, Age: 27
RODNEY ALAN TAYLOR, Army - SGT - E5, Age: 18
EDDIE GEAN TERRELL, Marine Corps - PFC - E2, Age: 20
ROBERT VINCENT THOMPSON, Army - SP4 - E4, Age: 20
WAYNE LOUIS TORSIELLO, Marine Corps - SGT - E5, Age: 20
MICHAEL ANTHONY VANCOSKY, Marine Corps - LCPL - E3, Age: 19
LARRY LANCE WATKINS, Army - PVT - E2, Age: 22
DOUGLAS NELSON WINFREY, Army - CAPT - O3, Age: 25
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5593607

NOTE: I do not post this to dismiss the deaths at Kent State, they were horrible, but I think we need to add the rest of the American victims from that day. I would add the number of Vietnamese killed that day, but cannot find that number.

[struggle4progress]

12. The National Guard at Kent State shot at anti-war protesters, though their bullets also hit

a number of people who were simply passing by

By 1968, a majority of Americans opposed the war, and by the end of that year only about a third did not think the war a mistake. Nixon's 1968 victory resulted in part from his promise to end the war, but instead he escalated it: had he kept his promise, none of these fatalities (US soldier, Vietnamese soldier and civilian, or US student) would have occurred

The loss of life in the Vietnam war, of course, was tragic. Anti-war protests had helped galvanize opposition to the war, shaking people from complacency. Kent State shocked many Americans who had expected it would be safe in our democracy to protest administration policies that most people opposed

[kiva]

15. I know about Kent State.

But several here seem to not know that many soldiers in Vietnam were drafted or enlisted a step ahead of the draft - if we are talking victims that died that day, they belong on the list.

[lastlib]

3. RIP, Alison, Jeff, Bill, Sandy!

Healing vibes to the wounded, and all who they loved and who loved them--and to America.

"What if you knew her, and found her dead on the ground?"

[lastlib]

4. "The Kent State Massacre March":

(Sung to the tune of "The Caissons Go Rolling Along"...)

In a fight, on a hill,
We will shoot them all to kill,
And the Guardsmen go shooting along....

Fire at will, use live shells,
Shoot those Commies all to hell,
And the Guardsmen go shooting along....

And it's hi-hi-hoo,
Let's all get one or two,
Count off your victims loud and strong!
(ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!)

We will lose our cool
When we hit another school,
And the Guardsmen go shooting along....

--author unknown.

I don't remember where I saw this...Mad magazine, maybe? or Cracked? couldn't tell ya, but it stuck with me all these years. But it pretty well nails the attitudes of the perpetrators and their supporters. Still burns me up that there was never any justice for the Kent State massacre victims. It was the beginning of my seething hatred of Nixon and his cronies--and the right-wingers who followed them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I remember that day so well...

Hard to believe it was so long ago.

What an incredible shock that was - American soldiers shooting unarmed college students. Unbelievable. Still.

[rurallib]

7. I was acting as a student body guard for our senator

God, it was tense that day - the night erupted in violence - school closed the next day.
When I realized what I had done the day before I just kind of sat down and had a good think.

ETA - I cry when I think about what went on at Kent State every time I hear this song.

[annabanana]

8. 43 years.. sweet jumping jesus

does NOT feel that long ago

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. The UCLA Marquee had "National Guard 4 - Students 0 the next day.

[spanone]

10. 'four dead in ohio'

[HeartLikeAWheel]

11. Kent State In Memoriam

Bless everyone for remembering! I was a 14 year old student at the Kent State University lab school that day and can remember it clearly. I saw on another thread that someone was claiming the students bore some responsibility too because there was "rioting." Then, the poster compared the "rioting" to the Rodney King riots in LA. THIS IS NONSENSE!!! My mother always said--that week and ever after--that she was in San Francisco on VJ Day, knew what a riot looked like, and knew that what we experienced was no riot. Much worse has happened in Columbus after Buckeye football games. A better comparison: Tienanmen Square.

[Live and Learn]

13. Yeah, a riot where the protestors were handing out flowers.

We certainly can't have that!

[OnyxCollie]

14. I just came back from the May 4th commemoration.

The speakers I heard (Bill Ayers and Tom Haydn) were good.

The May 4th museum had some powerful displays.

I couldn't help but think of the Occupy movement, and how nothing has changed.

[Raine]

16. Such a waste of four lives, so sad

I can't help but wonder what they might have become and what they might have accomplished.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. "Tin Soldiers and Nixon's coming . . ."

I remember