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Chris Coyne

Ms. Reid

U.S. History

10 May 2019

The Tragedy at Kent State

The students were in chaos after a hectic and shocking event had just occurred in the

common area of the Kent State University campus. The students at the college had been

protesting peacefully about the Vietnam War during wartime. Mark Maedeker, a student at Kent

State during the shootings, was interviewed by Constance Rambo, a college student doing a

History assignment in 2006, to discuss his opinion on the shootings that took place at his

university. This is the best perspective of the Vietnam War protests, because he is an eyewitness

account and was neutral with the situation of what side he stands on. Maedeker gives the world

his version of the story and his version of what he saw happen that week and how he saw it. The

horrid event took America by surprise and many people could not believe what they were

hearing. The shooting that took place at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970 was

monumental in relation to topics of the Vietnam War, student protests, and the tragic results of

the shootings. The students at Kent State were harmless and unarmed, they also had the right to a

peaceful protest, so they should not have been shot for what they were protesting.

The entire reason that students were protesting at Kent State University was because they

did not believe that the Vietnam War should have been happening. Students and people all over

grew angry as President Richard Nixon broke his promise to try and end the Vietnam War.
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Nixon then broke this promise later in his presidency, by sending United States Military forces to

go invade Cambodia. According to Mark Maedeker in his interview, when asked about his

feeling at the time of the Kent State shootings regarding the Vietnam War, he stated, “There was

a very anti-war feeling on campus at the time, with at least 70% of the people against the

Vietnam War” (Maedeker). Also, when Maedker was asked about what he think caused the

unrest that started on May 1, 1970, he replied, “Friday nights were big "party nights" at Kent

State.” Maedeker added, “The bars were closed early on Friday night, so a lot of people got

really mad about that.” (Maedeker). Mark Maedeker added on to that by saying, “I don’t know

how it all started, but I heard some people broke bank windows…there was a thought among

some students that banks were making money on the war. Stories about police beatings were

heard” (Maedeker). Students at this time started to grow uneasy, still aggravated by the Vietnam

War. The next day, a state of emergency was declared on May 2, 1970. The Mayor had requested

that the Governor send the Ohio National Guard to Kent State to help maintain order and peace

on the campus. When Governor Rhodes had been ordered to do this by the Mayor, “Rhodes

agreed, and the National Guard members began to arrive the evening of May 2. As the soldiers

arrived, they found the Reserve Officer Training Corps building at Kent State University in

flames” (“The May 4th Shootings”). The ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) building was

burnt to the ground. Mark Maedeker was a part of the ROTC and his buddy had left his

motorcycle outside the building. Someone knocked over the motorcycle and soaked things in gas

to get the fire going. The ROTC building had a gun range and barracks in it like the ones from

WWI. This was suspicious because Kent State students were protesting the Vietnam War which

was a significant war, much like WWI. This fire occurred two days before the student protests
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and shootings happened. The fire injured no one, and it is still unknown who started the fire,

whether it was a student protester or just a simple accident.

Over 1,000 men in the Ohio National Guard swarmed the Kent State campus because of

the protests that were underway by the students. The National Guard often used tear gas if

students got too unruly. Tear gas is a chemical weapon that can cause bleeding, blindness or

respiratory pain.This gas is also what they used in the Vietnam War against enemies, “Tear gas

was used against enemies in the War” (Burgan). Then came Sunday May 3rd, which was the day

before the shootings took place. The Students on campus were quiet that day. There were no

protests or significant events that took place on this day, except for a peaceful rally in which

students spoke about “Love Your Neighbor” slogans. For example, something that the students

had participated in was stuffing gun barrels with flowers. These simple gestures were still

interrupted, “The National Guard continued to break up these demonstrations, including

threatening students with bayonets” (“Kent State Shootings”). Students at this rally did not feel

safe in their environment because, “Across the Commons at the burned-out ROTC building stood

about 100 Ohio National Guardsmen carrying lethal M-1 military rifles” (“The May 4th

Shootings”). Seeing this on a college campus from a student's perspective was frightening.

Nobody knew if the Guards would pull the trigger or if it was only a matter of time. Finally, on

the day of the shootings, Monday, May 4, 1970, there was a rally/protest in the common area on

campus of about 200 students, according to Maedeker in his interview. Out of the 8,000 - 10,000

students on campus only about 150 - 200 students participated in the rally. Mark lived in Stopher

Hall, which was a quad or dorm that was near the common grounds when the shooting had taken

place. Maedeker stated, “It was like a "Boom …Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom," type

sound” (Maedeker). This is indicating that the Guards were shooting at a rapid speed and it was
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not just one waring shot, but multiple purposeful shots. Maedeker also claimed that he is almost

sure that some of the guards shots were to intentionally hit some of the students. He states, “One

noticeable issue was that the Black community at Kent State University boycotted the

demonstrations on Monday. It was said that their thoughts were: If the Guards shoot, they’ll

shoot Black people first” (Maedeker). According to multiple sources, all students involved in this

rally were unarmed. The Ohio National Guard fired multiple shots and were also throwing tear

gas into the crowd of students. These shootings killed four students and injured or wounded nine

others. Two students that were killed, Jeffrey Miller and Alison Krause, were involved in the

protest. The other two students who were shot and killed were on their way to class. A friend of

one of the students had claimed, “she was on her way to a speech-therapy class when she was hit.

"Sandy must have thought it was over and stood up," said Sharon Swanson. "I saw her lying

there, hit in the neck" (“My God, They’re Killing Us”). This is interesting because it is indicating

that the Guards were shooting wildly into the crowd. If the Guards were being calm and

reasonable, they would have never hit a bystander or killed anybody. All of the students that

were shot, were struck in the back by the bullets. Furthermore, there was also a total of 61 shots

fired in only a matter of 13 seconds. This means that the Ohio National Guard was trying to

strike many students and not only one, because that is a ton of bullets to be used in a span of only

13 seconds.

The shootings that occurred at Kent State University were significant historical events in

the United States. Many people nationwide had various feelings about how the protests were

handled and about the details of the event. The shootings caused Kent State to close down on the

Monday when the shooting occurred, and for the rest of the term. Adding on to that, the tragedy

triggered a nation wide strike on college campuses throughout the country. This event also led to
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and forced approximately 100-500 college universities to close or shut down. These colleges

included Jackson State, and the entire California University. Four days later, Jackson State held a

protest about the Vietnam War as well. This protest resulted in killing a total of two students and

wounding another 12. The students that were injured in the Kent State shooting, the families of

the students that had been shot and killed, and guardsmen who had done the killing went to

court. The families and students settlement in court was a total of $675,000 to the wounded

students, and the family of the students who had been killed. The settlement money was paid by

the state of Ohio, and not by the Ohio National Guard. People did not hear about many more

protests after this. Also, the protests came to a conclusion because, “President Richard Nixon,

who served from 1969-1974, began to withdraw U.S. soldiers from North and South Vietnam,

with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973” (“Kent State Shootings). The Paris Peace

Accords pretty much got rid of all American involvement in the Vietnam War.

The students at Kent State were harmless and unarmed, they also had the right to a

peaceful protest, so they should not have been shot for what they were protesting. This

unforeseen was monumental in the United States because it reminds people of a shooting that

occurred during the peak of the controversial Vietnam War time, where many people in this

nation were politically and culturally divided. It also stands as a preamble that hopefully will

never be used again. Not only is it still important today, but it was even more important back

during it’s time because the students that were protesting were having a protesting peacefully,

which is a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, and were all unarmed. Students

were aggravated at the constitution and the president, it was almost like America was falling

apart in front of their eyes. The fact that all students were unarmed with weapons caused an

outrage from students of the university and the parents of the students. The event was also
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significant back then because it got people to think that officers are corrupt and made many

people fear them instead of feeling like they are there to protect them. Finally, the impact today

is to remember what happened at that University so that we do not make the same mistake and

we learn from our errors. The Ohio National Guard is wrong for what they did. According to all

of my sources, there was approximately 1,000 National Guards and only about 200 students at

the most that were participating in the protest. Furthermore, the students were all unarmed and

did not deserve to be shot and killed. As mentioned before, all of the students that were struck

with the live ammunition were shot in the back with the exception of one bystander who was

shot in the neck. This is indicating that the students were not a threat if they were shot in the

back because it means they must have been facing the other way or had their backs turned to the

guards. If the students started to become uncontrollable then the National Guard should have just

handcuffed them, instead of using guns and violence, because that clearly was not the answer.

This Nation needs to become united and have more trust in one another so that everybody feels

safe.

Works Cited
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Burgan, Michael. Death at Kent State: How a Photograph Brought the Vietnam War

Home to America. North Mankato, Compass Point Books, Capstone Press, 2017.

Caputo, Philip. 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings. New York,

Chamberlain Bros., 2005.

"Interview with Mark Maedeker about the Kent State Shootings." Novaonline.nvcc.edu,

Nov. 2006, novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/events/kentstate70/Interview.html.

Interview.

Kent State Shootings. www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Kent_State_Shootings.

"My God, They're Killing Us!" Newsweek, www.newsweek.com/my-god-theyre-killing-

us-our-1970-coverage-kent-state-328108.

"The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy."

WWW.kent.edu, www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy.

Bibliography
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Burgan, Michael. Death at Kent State: How a Photograph Brought the Vietnam War

Home to America. North Mankato, Compass Point Books, Capstone Press, 2017.

This book was based off of a famous picture taken at the time of the shooting. It

really helped me realize why these shootings were so significant.

Caputo, Philip. 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings. New York,

Chamberlain Bros., 2005.

This book by Philip Caputo helped me a great amount trying to understand the

feelings of the students who were involved in the protest.

"Interview with Mark Maedeker about the Kent State Shootings." Novaonline.nvcc.edu,

Nov. 2006, novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/events/kentstate70/Interview.html.

Interview.

The interview with Mark Maedeker helped me get an understanding of the events

that led up to shooting and gave me details of the events.

Kent State Shootings. www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Kent_State_Shootings.

The “Kent State Shootings” website gave me lots of great information about the results and

aftermath of the Kent State shooting.

"The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy."

WWW.kent.edu, www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy.

This article helped me understand the legitimate facts of the shootings and really

focused on the event of the ROTC building burning down.

"My God, They're Killing Us!" Newsweek, www.newsweek.com/my-god-theyre-killing-

us-our-1970-coverage-kent-state-328108.
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This Newspaper article gave me details of how students on campus were feeling and

how they felt this would affect the rest of the nation