Kent State by Brian VanDemark
On May 4, 1970, protestors at Kent State University confronted the Ohio National Guard with rocks and jeers. The soldiers responded with bullets. Four died that day and nine were wounded. Some say the incident marked the end of the ‘60s.
Brian VanDemark’s book details the conflicting accounts of what happened, the enduring toll on the lives of those involved and the varied responses in the aftermath. Interesting in light of our current political situation is VanDemark’s reconstruction of the tensions that roiled America as the Vietnam War continued. The U.S. appeared poised for another civil war. “The siren song that the end justifies the means became very seductive” to the far left, he writes. Backlash was almost inevitable, marching under the banner of law and order.
Kent State was only one among many protests that erupted across the nation in response to Richard Nixon’s “incursion” into Cambodia but it was the one that ended with the greatest violence. Although Nixon reasoned that the action might shorten the Vietnam War, many Americans saw the move as an expansion of the conflict. Students had reason for worry. The college draft deferments they once enjoyed had been replaced by a lottery. Everyone feared their number might be next.
Get Kent State: An American Tragedy at Amazon here.
Paid link
