What Happened at Kent State?
On 4 May 1970, a thirteen second volley of gunfire ended the lives of four Kent State University students and wounded nine others. The tragic event became known simply as “Kent State” or the May 4th Shootings. Some popular culture historians consider the events and aftermath of Kent State as the figurative death of the 1960s counter-culture movement. The Kent State shootings certainly had a chilling effect on domestic opposition to the Vietnam War. For some, Kent State became a rallying cry against government oppression, while others saw it as an attempt to re-establish a sense of law and order. It seems the truth lies somewhere in-between. In 1968, Richard Nixon was elected president based partially on a campaign promise to end the war in Vietnam as quickly as possible. Nixon not only failed to reduce the number of troops in Vietnam, but also approved a covert plan to invade neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos. When news of this secret expansion of the war reached the Unit
” And he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and said, “What happened at Kent State?” And I said, “You mean you don’t know?” And he said, What happened when we were at Kent State?” And I handed him the front page of the New York Times and told him that National Guard and shot and killed four students. And he looked like he had been hit in the face with a two-by-four. It sent him reeling. He was very agitated. And he asked me, “What started the demonstrations at Kent State?” And I said, “Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia.” And he looked at me and said, “What invasion? I’ve been in Cambodia for a year.” And I told him as much as anybody knew in August of 1970, which was not very much. But he went through his briefing packet, and when the date — when the month of May came up, there was no event for May 4th. So he called the briefing officer in Saigon, who prepared the packets for these men coming out of the jungle on Jamie’s project, and his briefing officer said, “We didn’t put i
