Do you think the Kent State tragedy was necessary in defence of social order, peace and respect for the State?

Question

Do you think the Kent State tragedy was necessary in defence of social order, peace and respect for the State?

Answer 1

Two studies were conducted which pointed the finger at the National Guard being in the wrong.  One done by the Akron Beacon Journal and Knight-Ridder newspapers.  I can't remember who did the second.  But then the Governor of Ohio (who ordered the National Guard into Kent in the first place) hand picked a group which blamed the students.

I was there:  and I can tell you the National Guard was over-zealous.  I saw numerous occasions when they went after the students for doing nothing.  I'm not blaming them necessarily - they shouldn't have been there in the first place, and they were not trained for that type of thing.

Answer 2

Obviously the death of those 4 students was a tragedy, but some order had to be restored. The ROTC building was burned several days before. The problem was with the NG trying to do a job they were not trained for.

So I guess what I am saying is yes some type of force needed to be there, and no they shouldnt' have fired into the crowd.

Answer 3

No, not remotely.  The State police at the time pulled out so as not to deliberately provoke or heighten the trouble.  These were the professionals in crowd control, who knew what they were doing.  Unfortunately, Rhodes felt the need to appear to be taking a hardline and ordered in troops completely unexperienced with crowd control.

If anything the shootings destroyed respect for the state.  I've met many people who look at this event as the point where they stopped trusting the government.

Answer 4

NO WAY!!!  I saw what happened!

Answer 5

NO. And it pains me when I hear it stated this way. I had a class in college where this statement was made. And it struck me that this is what is being taught to the young who were not there and may not be interested in investigating to find the truth. Horrible.

Answer 6

No it was not necessary for those people to throw stones bottles etc... at a armed soldier YOU know the old line do not take a rock to a gunfight

Answer 7

Nope

Answer 8

It was a demonstration of constitutional free speech and a trigger happy tragic accident.

Answer 9

PLEASE!!!!!  It's too bad Hitler's dead; although there are some good substitutes around.  If you believe any of what you asked you should find one.

Answer 10

No, I don't. It was only a few college kids. It was overkill beyond belief, and I feel it was a much greater crime against the nation than Watergate.

This is supposedly the kind of thing that only happens in communist countries, or dictatorships.