Source: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
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| Student mourning death of friend following Kent State Shooting |
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Kent State Shooting
In April 30 1970 president Nixon authorized troops to invade Cambodia, which he did not get approved by anyone other than himself and was not voted on. The following day May 1, 1970, protestesters gathered at Kent State University, catching fire to the library and disrupting firemen’s attempts to put out these fires. Students were said to of created bonfires in the streets and were throwing bottles at police cars, which led to the Ohio National Guard being brought into Kent State. There were nearly 1,000 Guardsmen brought into Kent state, and it didn’t even look like a college campus anymore because of all the protesting and guards. The guards were carrying guns and ordered students that were protesting to leave, and the students refused. The General ordered the guards to load their weapons and to fire tear gas into the crowds. Witnesses say the guardsmen retreated up a hill and 28 of them turned around and fired their weapons in the air and directly at the crowd, killing 4 students and injuring 9 others that were attempting to protest the war. This was a huge moment in history for the Vietnam War and overall how America felt about it, and is said to of potentially added to the downfall of president Nixon. This Protest brought attention across America to what these rally’s can do, and also made citizens fearful of confrontation from law enforcement. Overall this was a eye opening moment in history and is said to of been what potentially ended the Vietnam war. (257 Words)
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
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I agree with what you're saying about bringing attention to the American people. To the American people, these students protesting had a right given by the Constitution and when the officers opened fire, it really solidified what the people saw the Vietnam War as, an ugly mess that just should not have happened.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this event made the American people afraid to protest against the government because they were scared of what may happen. This was a huge event in American history, that is still talked about to this day.
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting to think about because the students are trying to protest to stop the war and bring peace and stop the killings, yet the police officers do the exact opposite of what the students are fighting for and bring violence and force to the crowds. The students believed in something worth fighting for, but in result some of them died. It's weird to think about how differently the outcomes could have been if the police had not used force and violence to stop the protestors.
ReplyDeleteI think while the outcome of the protest was bloody and violent, it was ultimately successful in bringing to light the unrest that people were feeling across the country at the time. In way the horror of the event made it that much more successful in doing so.
ReplyDeleteI think this outcome was super unfortunate and possibly caused the whole United States to change their viewpoint on the war. It's also sad that it took until an incident like this for people to realize how maybe the war wasn't a good idea anymore. What was really interesting was that the shooting was committed by our own national guard which absolutely destroys any faith the American people had in our security.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe such an event happened here in Ohio. One of the biggest tragedies to come out of the Vietnam War era. Especially because college students, that are our age, were killed on American soil because of a war that was being fought on the other side of the planet.
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