re: #247 HappyWarrior

I know. Last night was very sad. I hadn’t heard about what happened at Jackson State following Kent State. And of course My Lai. Hugh Thompson was a hero. Makes me sick that the Nixon administration tried to smear the men who sought to report the truth on that.

I’m not watching because I just can’t.

When they discussed Kent State, did they mention the riot on the Ohio State Campus in the spring of 1970 just prior to Kent State?

Many people think that caused Ohio Governor Rhodes to freak out and get mean since the student protesters marched from OSU campus straight down High Street (a little over 2 miles) to the Ohio State House Capitol where they were met by a large police presence.

A few days later Students called a strike to call for some demands from the University. That was to happen on the huge Ohio State Oval at the center of the campus. That turned into a huge confrontation that led to an all out riot and later at night Rhodes called in the Ohio National Guard.

Supposedly, that led to Rhodes and Nixon talking about getting even tougher and then came Kent State where it all blew up. There were rumors that SDS was on campus stirring stuff up. Both politicians may have decided to make Kent State an example of the U.S. getting tough on protests.

(Where are we hearing this again???)

I was a little disappointed reading a few comments from some LGF members on their take on Kent State and the shootings. I won’t get into why as I don’t want to start the same debate wars I have been in since 1970 that can get really heated. Yes, I have heard all types of takes about the students weren’t saints and they had it coming to them.

Everyone saw the results, and not one of those kids killed or maimed had it coming to them. I wonder if Burns mentioned the one kid in the famous photo, Jeffrey Miller, who was directly targeted and shot in the head. There is much speculation that he was one of the kids that ran from the line the students were supposed to keep and either tossed back a gas canister or threw a rock and was seen well enough he could be followed and identified from the hill where the guard stopped and fired. Again, he was shot dead in the face,

What does that say? Well, a lot of people say “He had it coming”

One other thing. Did Burns mention the ROTC building that was burned down was empty and probably would have been torn down later that summer?

I know Kent State was only a part of the whole Vietnam war mess. But it happen in Ohio not far from where I lived as a kid and it was when I was 15 and very impressionable. I will never forget it and I have studied and read about it unlike anything else. I still get pissed off. It was needless.

Anyway here is a link about the OSU riot of 1970. It is covered in a pretty good story at BeachDem’s favorite Ohio political site Plunderbund.

The 1970 Ohio State Riots: Bigger And More Violent Than Kent State