When I finished my training session at the gym this afternoon, I went to the locker room to change and get my eye protector and sunscreen for the tanning room. The locker room has about 15 televisions in it. Usually turned to sports stations, today they all seemed to be tuned to the Headline News Network. The words I was hearing hit me like a brick up the side of my head.
We know what happened in 13 seconds. Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on Kent State University in Ohio....I sat in numb disbelief at the words I was hearing, especially having had Kent State in my head just a couple of days before this.
The newsperson went on to describe, over actual video of what has been identified as the Kent State Massacre, a lost audio recording with the words:
"...GET SET... POINT... FIRE... (GUN SHOTS)"For the last 37 years it has been believed that the guardsmen panicked and fired at random. They were acquitted and the families of the slain and injured students accepted the verdict and moved on with their lives.
As I watched, I sat on the bench stunned by what I was hearing. I was transfixed on the T.V. I felt anger welling up inside me with each thing I saw and heard on the HNN video report. It was like everything was happening again.
As it finished I realized that everyone in the bank of lockers was watching me. I was shaking like a leaf. These were kids who not only hadn't been born but weren't even in the figment of their parents imaginations yet, and my immediate thought was for their safety. What I watched could happen to them. It happened to the students at Kent State and I was only 22 at the time. It could have happened to me.
At the time, in 1970, I realized that violence and the taking of a person's life was anethema to me. Though I had been opposed to the Vietnam Conflict, had friends who served and died there, and had professed to be a pacifist, Kent State affirmed and strengthened my belief. It also tore my psyche to its core.
By 1970, the majority of the American people by far were against the Vietnam disaster. The massacre at Kent State was indicative of how torn and embittered the fabric of the nation was. We were in an endless web of deceit and mistrust. The military-industrial complex, that President Eisenhower warned against, was in control of the leadership. The people had literally taken to the streets to protest and attempt to disengage the country from what seemed like an endless quagmire. The Phillip and Daniel Berrigans were being arrested for speaking up and civil disobedience. The words of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were echoing across the country. The music echoed the frustration felt everywhere. McCarthyism was taking a last gasp for air.
And then, May 4th happened. Every nightmare that everyone had imagined came true in 13 seconds. Vietnam casualties were no longer 8,190 miles away. They were now in Ohio. The warring had literally been brought home. There were four students shot dead and others wounded. No, it really wasn't a massacre in terms of numbers; it was a massacre in the way that it affected the nation. The grief became compounded by the senseless carnage both here and 8,000 miles away. Yes, it took another five years for the US to leave Vietnam, but those five years strengthened the resolve of what had to happen and no new troops were sent after 1973. It became just a matter of time.
The country was torn apart at the seams by Vietnam. Brother was against brother, father against son, neighbor against neighbor. The economy was in ruin. The military was in disarray. The moral authority of the nation was in question. Any thread of commonality was shredded. Trust had disappeared. Rebuilding was paramount. After the Vietnam Conflict the healing process for the nation was going to be slow and exhausting.
Richard Nixon pulled the country out of Vietnam. Gerald Ford continued with a focus on domestic problems. Jimmy Carter calmed the nation with a caring and smoothing personality. [Iran screwed that all up.] Ronald Reagon turned the focus to dismantling the premises of Soviet style communism. George H.W. Bush was confonted with a new conflict that had to be solved when Kuwait was invaded. William Jefferson Clinton again made domestic policy the number one focus. All of these men either through direct or indirect planning continued the national healing that was needed by Vietnam. It was almost complete by 2000.
I'm not really going to go where this is heading. Everyone is aware to what I'm referring. I don't have to outline or cite examples but the effects are the same.
Again, I feel the frustration of the nation being not just back to Vietnam and its after effects but even worse. Men and women again are being killed. People are against one another. The rule of law is not just in question, but also under siege. Groups are being attacked for what they believe, who they are and what they say.
I also feel helpless. At least with Vietnam there were outlets for protesting and resisting. This time the powers that be have people in fear of doing what could be taken as anti-American, when the act of rebelliousness is what helped found this country. If someone does make a statement or take a stand, they are instantly demonized. Think Cindy Sheehan and Judy Shepard.
I've tried to use this weblog as a means of asking questions that hopefully may get someone thinking. I don't expect or want anyone to think the way I do. What I want is for people to think. Think for themselves. Not just to ape what someone says or does but to take in all the information they can and to make deccisions for themselves. Most important is that they take a stand in what they believe and act on it...
just like the students at Kent State...
The CNN article can be found here: Kent State tape: 'Get set! Point! Fire!'. To see the actual HNN video click on "Watch scenes from the shooting and hear the tape" in the third paragraph.
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