four dead in ohio

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio." "Ohio", lyrics by Neil Young

On May 4, 1970, a student demonstration at Kent State, Ohio left four students dead, one paralyzed, and eight others wounded. This demonstration, meant to be one of many peaceful demonstrations against the war, was ended abruptly and violently when the National Guard fired into the crowd for 13 seconds. The brief shootings ended the lives of students Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer. The distances ranged from 270 feet to 390 feet. Some of these students were not even directly involved. Justified or not by self-defense, the "massacre" sparked a nationwide student strike that closed many colleges and universities.

I was in my sophomore year of college when I heard a rumor that college students were killed while a protest was going on at Kent State University. My first response was, "Wow, I almost went to school there, I could have been there".

Then I saw video of the protest, and remember thinking, "All of this because of a protest." And finally as I heard the details from sketchy rumor to journalists on local news shows feeding the facts, I remember wondering, "Is this America, is this true, our Troops killing our people."

This blog is not a rehash of the politics surrounding the Viet Nam War, it is not about the pro's, con's, dissertations, consensus or lack of it for that war, nor is it about who or what was right and how the hell all the wrong happened. It is about how some Americans responded to an event in our history which did not resonate the same for those in favor of fighting the war and those who felt whatever truths we were told were in fact fabrication. It is also about my pretend involvement which only included purchasing one pair of army fatigues, standing at the periphery of a protest at the University of Pittsburgh, and having declared my self 1-A eligible for the draft to fight in Viet Nam hoping once my amount of time to enlist ended I would never have to worry about it again.

And it is about my conscience since then and my witness to Occupy Wall Street, and how once again we view people against and people for. It is about the fear, loathing, understanding, misunderstanding guided and misguided principals expressed and espoused by Americans. It is about a cause that has become so important to some that it has ruptured the ordinary liaise fare attitude of others.

It is about watching a boiling point that is about to explode, a wound that is about to fester, a divide so well hidden suddenly about to implode this nation, and it is about anyone who sits at home and is not sure why all this ruckus in the first place. It is about FOX News dismissing the whole thing as random hooliganism, and Keith Olbermann spending 45 minutes of his nightly news reporting it. It is about seeing the reality in front of you but refusing to admit that it is anything but chaos and noise, soon to be quieted. And once again, it is about my frustration in wondering what should I do, what might I do, what can I do.

I was a young kid in the 1950's and during that decade, was told via television, my teachers, my Rabbi's that everything had it purpose and everything had its place. The world in which we lived was black and white and anyone or anybody creating gray, was not a good American. In the late 60's, early 70's volumes of color suddenly appeared straight lines found themselves curved and whatever we thought we knew was not making sense. And in 1970, for the first time in my life, my Troops marched upon and used deadly force on my fellow Americans.

We may call it Class Warfare, 99%, Occupy, dissatisfied maleficence's, a Communist affront to capitalism, a bunch of hippie's. We may call it any name we wish, some names to make us feel better about our lack of involvement or some names to justify our anger. But once again, we are watching something emotional, something immense, something real taking hold in this nation.

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio." "Ohio", lyrics by Neil Young

I can't sit by idly like I did when Kent State erupted and the lives of some ended and the lives of many changed. I MUST do something now because life as I know it in my America is changing, and if I do not drive the car a little, the change may take me to places I can never return.