Monday marks the 50 th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State when Ohio National Guardsmen shot 13 university students, killing 4. For the past three decades eyewitnesses have been traveling back to campus to record their memories for an oral history project at the library. These are their memories of May 4, 1970.
Kent State had been a fairly active school for protests going back to the early 1960s. By 1970 opposition to the Vietnam War was large and growing. President Richard Nixon鈥檚 announcement on April 30 that the war would be expanded into Cambodia sparked outrage among students who hoped the conflict would be winding down.
Chuck Ayers, a junior graphic design major, recalls each student's focus on their draft lottery number. It could decide whether they would be shipped off to war.
鈥淭he first draft lottery in 鈥�69 - if you didn't go through those times it鈥檚 hard to understand what was going through people鈥檚 heads,鈥� Ayers recalled. 鈥淭here was a tension in almost everything that people did at that time. Things in the war were just building up. The antiwar feelings were getting stronger and stronger all the time.鈥�
On Friday night May 1, a mix of protesters and partiers lit a fire in a barrel on Water Street and began blocking cars. Mayor LeRoy Satrom and his police chief, Roy Thompson, already nervous over rumors that 鈥渉ippies鈥� were going to attack the city鈥檚 water supply, called a curfew and closed the bars. That led an angry crowd to empty onto the streets in a small riot, breaking some shop windows. Satrom called Columbus to inquire about help from the National Guard.
The next evening some students set fire to a one-story wooden building on campus used by the Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps (ROTC).
鈥淚t was just all kinds of kids scattered around the hill, cheering the fire,鈥� said freshman marketing major Denny Benedict. 鈥淣ot that I agreed with burning the building, but it was an old, World War II, 1940s, old wooden barracks that should have been torn down.鈥�
Sociology major Ellis Berns watched students throw rocks at firefighters, 鈥渁nd what really pissed me off was my peers, my [fellow] students, my people protesting were actually cutting the fire hose, which made absolutely no sense to me.鈥�
Ohio National Guard units had already been deployed at a truckers鈥� strike in Akron, Richfield and Cleveland when they got the call to head to Kent. One Kent State student had been called up for his first deployment in the Guard. In telling his story he wished to remain anonymous.
鈥淎s we approached campus, which was evening鈥ou could see the fire, the glow of the fire on 76 as we approached Kent,鈥� he said.
The Guard deployed with fixed bayonets on their M1 rifles and sealed off the town with road blocks.
On Sunday, May 3, Gov. James Rhodes arrived in Kent and denounced the protesters as 鈥渢he worst type of people that we harbor in America.鈥� Rhodes was running for the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race. The primary election was coming up on May 5, and he was running as a law and order candidate.
鈥淣o one is safe,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 think that people understand the seriousness of these individuals organized in a revolutionary frame of mind, believe me.鈥�
Many students who had been off campus over the weekend returned to Kent Sunday to find the school had an occupying force of several hundred guardsmen.
鈥淲hen I got back on Sunday 鈥� Sunday late afternoon,鈥� recalled Joseph Sima, 鈥淚 thought I was in a war zone of Vietnam: helicopters that were three times anything I had ever seen, armored cars, jeeps, machine guns, mini-tanks, soldiers everywhere.鈥�
鈥淪o Sunday, when we came back on campus and we saw all these tanks and troop carriers and jeeps all over campus, we thought it was funny,鈥� recalled Diane Yale-Peabody, a sophomore journalism major.
But when night came 鈥渢hings got ugly,鈥� the KSU student/guardsman remembered. Students rallied on Main Street at the front of campus waiting for Mayor Satrom to come and hear their demands.
He arrived incognito and never showed himself. The Guard then moved in and used tear gas and bayonets to chase students back to their dorms as helicopters with searchlights hovered overhead.
鈥淥K, we had bayonets and they didn鈥檛,鈥� the anonymous guardsman remembered. 鈥淭hey ran. They were stabbed. One was stabbed in the hand. It was pinned against the building. They ran the bayonet through his hand into the building. Another individual was slashed. We had masks on. We were anonymous. We had taken our name tags off our jackets. We were anonymous.鈥�
By Monday morning when students were taking midterm exams, guardsmen holding rifles with bayonets stood outside every building on campus. Freshman Janice Marie (Gierman) Wascko lived in town and was angered when she saw the Guard presence.
鈥淲e get up to campus, and it is like the war had come home,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was all these guys, and it was like we were the enemy. It is a state university. I worked my buns off to get through school. I paid my way through school. And it鈥檚 like, Who are you people?鈥�
A rally was planned for noon, but student Curtis Pittman was not going.
鈥淢onday, we was aware 鈥� well, I was aware 鈥� of the rally that was supposed to take place on the commons,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the same time, the Black United Students, which I was a member of, had encouraged the Black students to stay away from the rally because they felt that if there had been any kind of trouble, that most likely we would be the first ones targeted.鈥�
鈥淭here were maybe 40 people really protesting, the hard core protesters,鈥� said Denny Benedict, a freshman marketing major who watched the noon rally from a hilltop. 鈥淢ost everybody was onlookers, because it was at noon, right in the center of campus, change of class.鈥�
Berns said Vietnam was no longer the issue.
鈥淢y protest became more and more adamant towards getting the National Guard off of the university more than anything, because I felt passionate about, as students, that we had the right to protest,鈥� he said.
Junior Ken Hammond, who had been active in the Students for a Democratic Society a year earlier, spoke to the crowd from the brick wall where the 鈥渧ictory bell鈥� was mounted on the south end of the commons.
鈥淎nd so I said, 鈥榃hat do you want to do? Should we have a strike?鈥� And people who could hear me 鈥� of course, we didn鈥檛 have any mics, we didn鈥檛 have a bullhorn, we didn鈥檛 have anything like that 鈥� started chanting, started going, 鈥楽trike, strike, strike.鈥� But that was maybe a few hundred people out of a couple thousand people that were out there.鈥�
National Guardsmen were stationed about 100 yards away at the north end of the grass expanse. Three soldiers and a school police officer drove toward the students in a jeep.
KSU police officer Harold Rice ordered the crowd to disperse. "Leave this area immediately! Leave this area immediately, for your own safety,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 where the mistake was made,鈥� said Benedict. 鈥淪omebody decided to clear the area. If they would have just let it go on, it would have just been a protest, petered out, and that would have been the end of it, in my opinion.鈥�
Bill Barrett, a Kent State employee, was observing the demonstrators for the university news and information office.
鈥淭hey paid about as much attention as protesters will pay, throwing rocks and things,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淣one of them that I could see were reaching the jeep; it was a little too far in front of them, but they were more or less letting them know that they had no intention of going.鈥�
As Chuck Ayers saw it, 鈥渢he army itself was the symbol of what everyone was angry about.鈥�
About 75 guardsmen marched with bayonets out to drive the students up a hill where Taylor Hall stood and then continued down the other side to a practice football field where they stopped. Some students tried to hit them with rocks but most fell short.
To aerospace student Jim Sprance, the conflict didn't seem serious.
鈥淚 can remember seeing the tear gas thing. It was a big game of catch with the tear gas canisters going on, but again, it was still a game in my mind,鈥� Sprance said. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a violent demonstration going on. I did not see any rocks being thrown at that point. I did see canisters being traded back and forth.鈥�
Nearly 100 yards away, Henry Mankowski was walking with a friend when about a dozen troopers raised their weapons.
鈥�And when they knelt and aimed, Ken and I were at the point where they were aiming at us because I remember I turned to him and said, 鈥榃ho are they aiming at?鈥欌��
After a pause the troops began to head back to the commons.
鈥淭hey began to come back up the hill and at that point I kind of felt like things were winding down,鈥� said architecture student John Cleary who was taking photos as the guards walked by him. 鈥淵ou know, they made their advance, they pushed the students off of the commons, so now they were going back to the commons.鈥�
At that time sociology major Ellis Berns saw his friend Sandy Scheuer.
鈥淪he was next to me, and I said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go. I'm tired of this. Let鈥檚 just get out of here. I鈥檝e got to see my girlfriend. You鈥檝e got to get to class.鈥� And so we were actually heading away,鈥� said Berns.
University employee Bill Barrett was in front of the Guard, beginning to head downhill to the commons. He looked back to see the soldiers stop.
鈥淚 was probably 20, 25 yards behind where the Guard stopped at the top of the hill, and I watched them as they turned,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淚 know student accounts and some other accounts from the other side talk about them whirling around, but they certainly didn鈥檛 whirl; they were pretty deliberate about turning around and forming a line there by the pagoda.鈥�
Student John Cleary: 鈥淎s they got near the top of the hill, I wanted to get one last picture of them before they went over the crest of the hill. So I was kind of getting my camera, I was winding it, getting ready to take another shot and suddenly, they just turned and fired. It was like this volley of gunshots.
鈥淎nd then I got hit in the chest. I guess the best way I can describe it is like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. It just really knocked me down. I don't remember too much after that. I don't remember the ambulance ride.鈥�
Ellen Mann was walking with her friend Joseph Lewis 30 yards below the retreating Guard.
鈥淎t that point I looked at Joseph, and I saw he was giving them the finger,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he next thing I know, he falls, he screams, 鈥極h my God, they shot me!鈥� And he falls to the ground.鈥�
Berns and Scheuer dove to the ground. 鈥淚t just seemed to last forever. We both hit the ground. I had my arm around her, my left arm around her.鈥�
Henry Mankowski heard bullets whiz past his head.
鈥淎nd right off to my right, I saw someone get hit in the chest, and it turned out to be [William] Schroeder. I mean, the impact of the bullet just picked him up off the ground and thrust him backwards, arms and legs. I mean, it鈥檚 burnt 鈥� burnt into my mind and my memory.鈥�
鈥淪o we looked around, and you noticed in the parking lot,鈥� said Benedict, 鈥渟ome of the kids weren鈥檛 getting up.鈥�
Berns still had his arm over his friend.
鈥淚 remember calling out to her, 鈥楽andy, it鈥檚 over. Let鈥檚 go, let鈥檚 go.鈥� I remember calling out to her, and there was no response,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then I looked. And then I realized that I believe she had been, she was hit鈥� The bullet had not just grazed her but had severed a carotid artery. So there was a lot of blood.
鈥淚 was in a state of like, I don鈥檛 know what to do. I remember trying to administer first aid. I remember trying to reach in to try to stop the bleeding into her neck.鈥�
One guardsman who wishes to remain anonymous was also a Kent State student. He never heard an order and wasn鈥檛 sure why his fellow soldiers were shooting, but he was ready to join them.
鈥淎nd I鈥檓 sayin鈥� to myself, 鈥楽hould I shoot? Shouldn鈥檛 I shoot?鈥� I couldn鈥檛 shoot, there was someone in front of me鈥everal of us were lowering our weapons into the firing position, but our own men were in front of us. We would have probably turned right and fired. I would have. I can鈥檛 speak for anyone else in the Guard, but knowing that there was firing going on, I would have more than likely emptied my weapon.鈥�
鈥淏ut their leaders, they were halfway down the hill,鈥� noted Benedict. 鈥淭hey were running back up, hitting these guys, telling them to stop and pushing their rifles out of the way, trying to get them to stop.鈥�
After the shootings a silence fell over the area. Then the survivors began to scream.
The debate continues on whether there was an order or signal to shoot.
Bill Barrett didn鈥檛 notice any from his viewpoint: 鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to say that there was any signal given. They were simply ready and somebody pulled the trigger. That was my impression, and the rest just followed suit.鈥�
Mann and other students began to attend to Joseph Lewis, who had been shot in the stomach and leg.
鈥淚t was really gory and really bloody. So we knew we had to put some pressure on that. So we used my shirt that I had gotten wet, and we wadded it up and put pressure on it because there was nobody helping. It was just us there,鈥� said Mann. 鈥淭he guardsmen standing there and then they just left, they disappeared.鈥�
Senior arts major Carol Mirman said she was in the line of fire but was not hit. She heard bullets pass by. When she got up she saw the body of Jeffrey Miller. He was 265 feet from the shooters.
鈥淚鈥檇 never seen blood like that. I鈥檇 never seen anything like that. It was a complete shock,鈥� Mirman said. 鈥淚 wanted to touch him. I remember wanting to hold him, but I was afraid of the blood. I did touch him, I did touch and hold his hand 鈥檆ause I didn't want him to feel alone. I figured how can anybody live with this, his life was running down the sidewalk. Running. Just kept flowing.鈥�
The Guard retreated to the commons and students, outraged over the shootings, wanted to attack them.
Student Steve Titchenal had been tape recording much of the conflicts that weekend.
鈥淭he afternoon after May 4 I think was actually almost more scary than the shooting because I think it came very close to additional casualties occurring because students were very upset, obviously, by what had happened,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淎nd the guardsmen seemed to be very intent on just clearing everybody out.鈥�
National Guard Captain Ron Snyder said the soldiers were reloading. 鈥淭here was a point in time when General Canterbury came up, and I don鈥檛 recall the exact words, but pretty much it was to the effect that if we had a huge assault on our position, was to fire.鈥�
After Sandy Scheuer had been taken away in an ambulance, Ellis Berns ran to the Guard.
鈥淚 remember the Guard was not letting anybody in, and they were pointing guns,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 remember I ripped my jacket off, this green fatigue jacket with Sandra鈥檚 blood, and I threw it at them. And I told him to go f*** himself. I was just livid. I didn鈥檛 know what to do.鈥�
Geology Professor Glenn Frank, a faculty marshal trying to maintain peace that weekend, urged National Guard leaders to not march toward the students again. They refused so he went to the students.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care whether you have never listened to anyone before in your lives, I am begging you right now,鈥� Frank shouted to the students. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 disperse right now they are going to move in, and it could only be a slaughter! Would you please listen to me? Jesus Christ! I don鈥檛 want to be a part of this! Please!鈥�
鈥淎nd people listened, and we dispersed,鈥� recalled Randy Gardner, a freshman interested in studying psychology and mental health. 鈥淎nd we slowly walked up the hill. Some people didn鈥檛, I mean some people were still angry and just full of rage and everything, and you know, rightfully so for the massacre we had just witnessed.
鈥淵eah, I was stunned. I was stunned. I remember I was angry. And I was kind of closed in to myself, I think.鈥�
Nine students were wounded, four killed. Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer, William Schroeder and Allison Krause were all dead on arrival at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna. A physician who wished to remain anonymous, performed one of the autopsies.
鈥淭hat was a terrible day for us. Mr. Krause drove over from Pittsburgh. The poor man came over and identified his daughter, it was terrible.
鈥淚 can recall leaving that evening, coming home, and driving through downtown Ravenna and the streets were just absolutely deserted. Everybody was home and there was just absolutely no traffic on the roads other than myself. And I鈥檓 thinking to myself, 鈥楳y goodness, this is terrible. This is the United States of America and this should not be happening.鈥欌��
In the immediate aftermath, students were blamed for the killings. James Stroh was a student but also a veteran of the Vietnam War.
鈥淲hen I got home, my father was very upset. I mean totally upset,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淢atter of fact, the words were such that my mother started shutting windows because it was getting loud and she didn鈥檛 want the neighbors to hear. My father鈥檚 only comment was they should鈥檝e shot them all, and I said, 鈥榃ell if they did, they would鈥檝e shot me too.鈥� And he goes, 鈥榃ell, if you were there they should鈥檝e.鈥� That was in 1970.鈥�
Art professor Brinsley Tyrrell heard from other students with similar stories.
鈥淚 suppose it鈥檚 about two days after the shootings, when I start to get students turning up on my doorstep, pretty incoherent, bursting into tears,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was one person whose name I don鈥檛 remember who鈥檇 been in my class who came back. His parents had not allowed him in the house, screamed through the letterbox at him that they never wanted to see him again.鈥�
Even faculty members like Tyrrell paid a price.
鈥淏oth my kids were not allowed to play with any of their friends simply because they were children of someone who worked at the university,鈥� Tyrell said. 鈥淢y wife reminded me last night that they were both stoned at one point by other children. In fact, William got hurt鈥攓uite a nasty cut from a stone.鈥�
That semester, the university never reopened and students reported having difficulties getting jobs when their school affiliation became known.
A special state grand jury exonerated the guardsmen but indicted 25 students. By the end of 1971 those indictments would be dropped. The Nixon administration鈥檚 justice department flip flopped over a federal indictment against the National Guard until finally indicting eight guardsmen almost four years after the shooting.
Criminal cases became civil cases until 1979 when the state of Ohio settled out of court and issued an award of $675,000 to the victims, half of which went to Dean Kahler, a freshman who was permanently paralyzed by a bullet.
The state did not apologize but issued a 鈥渟tatement of regret.鈥� On May 4, 1990, then-Ohio Governor Richard Celeste went to campus and apologized on behalf of the state.
