Laurel Krause (@laurelk.bsky.social)

KENT STATE TRUTH - The Day That Changed America A very emotional vid for me. I failed to notice how hard the type was to read and that more than about 5 lines on a single frame is ridiculous. I was editing the vid and new Comments posted on the facebook page, that could not be denied, where moments before there had been none; were appearing. It got kinda hectic. Un edited facebook comments. truth. VIETNAM PROTEST Richard Nixon was elected to office in 1968 on the promise that he would remove American GIs from Vietnam. Since the 68 election tensions had slowly been rising in America and especially on University campuses. Events such as the exposure of the secret bombing campaigns in Indochina, the My Lai massacre in November 1969 and then in December of the same year the first draft lottery in decades did nothing to calm campus life. On April 30th, 1970 President Nixon in a televised announcement told America that US forces had 5 days earlier invaded Cambodia to destroy Vietnamese bases there. Students felt betrayed by Nixon. Instead of removing American forces from Indochina, with the Cambodian invasion, it appeared that Nixon was escalating the war. Protests were organized throughout the US including Kent State University. May 4, KENT STATE MASSACRE On Fri, May 1st, a protest was planned for noon on Mon May 4th and students attempted to follow through with the May 4 protest. However the University attempted to stop the event and handed out thousands of leaflets that said the protest was canceled. Despite the University efforts about 2,000 people gathered on the university's Commons. Kent University breaks the crowd into: " about 500 core demonstrators were gathered around the Victory Bell at one end of the Commons, another 1000 people were "cheerleaders" supporting the active demonstrators, and an additional 1500 people were spectators standing around the perimeter of the Commons. Across the Commons at the burned-out ROTC building stood about 100 Ohio National..." Even though the protest was going on the campus was still open, people where going to class, having lunch and doing University things. FIX BAYONETS General Canterbury the commander of the Guardsmen ordered that the demonstration be dispersed to prevent any more outbreaks of violence. The protesters where first told to break up through loudspeakers and when that didnt work teargas was fired into the crowds. However, the wind that day quickly dispersed the gas making it unsuccessful in breaking up the rally. Canterbury then ordered the Guardsmen, with bayonets fixed, to march across the commons in an effort to break up the crowd. The crowd was forced up, Blanket Hill, and down the other side towards the parking lot and practice football field. The Guardsmen with little or no crowd control experience, soon became separated, with most of the men following the students directly. The 77 men who followed the students soon became trapped when their march lead them to a football field surrounded on three sides with a fence. Students at this time had still not dispersed and started to yell and throw rocks at the Guardsmen. There is some debate about how threatened this rock throwing was with protesters claiming that because of the distance only a few rocks hit the Guardsmen. PREMEDITATED MASSACRE The Guard stayed on the field for about 10 minutes and it was here that several Guardsmen could be seen huddling together as if planning something. The Guard then began marching back the way they came, off the practice football field and back up Blanket Hill. When they got to the top of the hill 28 of the 77 Guardsmen started firing their rifles and pistols. Investigations after the Kent State Shooting determined that altogether between 61and 67 shots were fired in a 13 second period. KILLED (estimated distance from the National Guard line): Allison Krause (343 feet/105 meters) Jeffrey Glen Miller (265 feet/81 meters) Sandra Lee Scheuer (390 feet/119 meters) William Knox Schroeder (382 feet/116 meters) WOUNDED (estimated distance from the National Guard line) Thomas Mark Grace (unverified; between 60 and 200 feet/18 and 61 meters) Joseph Lewis (71 feet/22 meters) John Cleary (110 feet/34 meters) Alan Canfora (225 feet/69 meters) Dean Kahler (300 feet/91 meters) Douglas Wrentmore (329 feet/100 meters) James Dennis Russell (375 feet/114 meters) Robert Stamps (495 feet/151 meters) Donald MacKenzie (750 feet/229 meters) The Kent State shootings have never been thoroughly examined. Forty years later, family members of those killed have initiated the Kent State Truth Tribunal to preserve and honor the stories of those whose lives have been touched by this tragedy. The Truth Tribunal will generate the only comprehensive historical record and live archive of the Kent State massacre. ► http://truthtribunal.org/ ◄ SONG: Salif Keita's "Tomorrow" from the 1999 Album "Papa". https://bit.ly/PXeRpW