http://www.opednews.com/articles/Shining-a-Light-on-the-Ken-by-Laurel-Krause-100813-207.html
By Laurel Krause
August 13, 2010
This last weekend on August 7 and 8, the Kent State Truth Tribunal
(KSTT) traveled to San Francisco to record and preserve narratives
from west coast-based original witnesses to and participants in the
1970 Kent State shootings.
My sister Allison Krause was one of the four students killed at Kent
State and our tribunal has provided an opportunity forme to follow in
my father Arthur Krause's footsteps and discover the truth for my
family. My father, who for over ten years fought for justice in the
courts, would add, "and not let our government get away with murder
at Kent State".
Throughout our recording sessions with the KSTT, I have felt the
presence of Allison and my dad and I wanted to share him with you in
this photograph, taken in 1975 at a candlelit memorial on the fifth
anniversary of Allison's death. After we lost Allison, Arthur Krause
made it his business--until the end of his life--to get the truth out
about Kent State and this year I feel he is joining our call for
truth at Kent State in 2010.
Our second KSTT session in San Francisco (our first was this year at
the 40th anniversary of the shootings, in Ohio in May) enabled us to
see, hear and record critical details and first-hand observations.
Our west coast participants, coming from vastly different walks of
life, gave testimonials that provided greater insight and detail into
the lead up to the Kent State shootings, the shootings themselves and
the events that followed. A clearer picture is beginning to emerge
about the 67 shots fired over 13 seconds by the national guard at
unarmed students protesting the U.S. expansion of the Vietnam War
into Cambodia at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4th 1970.
For the first time at the KSTT, we heard from participants with
military training and background shine a light on the mechanics of
the shootings at Kent State and the factors that came together to
create this egregious military action.
Take a look around today and you'll see that the lessons learned 40
years ago had a pronounced effect in silencing a generation. Despite
the perspective we now have as a nation that the Vietnam War cost us
dearly, the spirit of protest has only diminished over the past four
decades. I think back on the passion and social consciousness of my
peers and the older kids I admired when Allison was at Kent and I can
see how badly scarred this feisty, compassionate sixties generation
eventually became. Pulling out weapons set aside to defend America
and turning them on its children betrayed for many some of the basic
social contracts we all took for granted. I believe those wounds have
still not healed and continue to plague this country.
We learned about live ammunition and training procedures from a
former member of the Ohio National Guard, stationed in the same
shooting troop deployed to Kent State. This brave Guardsman from the
sixties reported on the use of steel-jacketed, armor-piercing
bullets--bullets designed to be used against tanks and structures.
These deadly bullets were deployed against Kent State students that
day, shooting into a peaceful assembly of unarmed 19- and 20-year-old
college kids as they changed classes during lunch time and attended a
peace rally on that Ohio spring day.
Howard Ruffner, a student at Kent State and a stringer for Life
Magazine at the time of the shootings, arrived at KSTT-SF with a huge
stack of photographs he took on May 4, 1970. As an independent
observer that weekend, Howard told us he photographed whatever he
found--chronicling the exact movements before, during and after the shootings.
Howard shared, "The worst thing that happened to the guard from my
perspective is: they were being yelled at and given the finger. It's
hard to understand what would cause people, close to their age, to
turn and fire at people, and willingly do so."
He shared with us his firm belief that the shootings were planned and
intentional. "I have no idea what caused that first shot unless it
was a planned activity because they got to a marked place, there's a
dirt path between that corner [of Taylor Hall] and the pagoda,"
Ruffner told us. "You wouldn't even have to give an order if you
wanted to make a plan, because it's right there. You get to that
place, turn, shoot."
Ruffner went on to describe how he believed the Kent State students
were specifically targeted by the national guard. "It had to be a
planned event because of the soldiers turn[ed] in unison. The firing
of the weapons and so many shots in such a very short period of time.
The fact that they could turn and have specific targets in mind when
they got to the top... Some of the guardsmen turned and looked back
on occasion on the way up the hill so that by the time they got to
that high point they knew who they were going to shoot at."
Gail Ewing, the first Ohio National Guard to participate, bravely
offered his experience from 1964-67, with the same unit involved in
the shootings at Kent State 1970.
Sharing chilling, military detail Ewing commented, "We had no
training for riot control. I was sent to Cleveland for the riots in
1966 and we were given tear gas grenades and live ammunition and put
on guard duty with no instruction on when to load your weapon or when
to use tear gas. They just passed it out and put us on guard duty."
This is not unlike the behavior of the Ohio National Guard troop on
Blanket Hill at Kent on May 4th.
Ewing added, "In terms of the decision-making, that order of live
ammunition probably came from higher than local company commanders,
it was at the state level or maybe even federal level," confirming
that government officials were directly involved in the killings at Kent State.
Linda Seeley, an activist witness to the events of May 4th, provided
a heartfelt look into the elements of fear utilized that day. Here's
her take on the aftermath of Kent State, "The idea that these people
could get away with cold-blooded murder in the face of
witnesses--hundreds, thousands of witnesses--and never have justice
done, only have the innocent being[s] accused [as] perpetrators and
only have the witnesses live in fear" There's a key here to looking
at ourselves as a society and what we can do, not only realizing what
[we] can do, the power, but realizing how long a wound lasts."
We're still processing all of this new information and insight from
the narratives we recorded and preserved in San Francisco, and I
invite you to take a look at our findings to discover the truth for yourselves.
Remembering the efforts of my father Arthur S. Krause to 'shine a
light on Kent State' gives me renewed inspiration to pursue our right
to know the truth and renews our commitment to not let these events
get swept under the carpet again.
I'm also drawn to a recent comment from a facebook friend on the
relevance of what we may learn from Kent State:
"Freedom of speech and the right of assembly must be protected. The
ability of the government to preserve order is a necessity in a
civilized nation. These two elements must be balanced, but it is
incumbent on those who are armed to ensure that ONLY those who cannot
otherwise be prevented from harming others be subject to potentially
lethal violence."
Our San Francisco event also brought Lester Chambers of the Chambers
Brothers to "share his truth' on Kent State as his recording of "Time
Has Come Today' was at the top of the charts when the Kent State
shootings happened. For us, he performed "People Get Ready',
expressing his wish to amend the words of this song to: "People get
ready there's a CHANGE a'coming!" Please listen and get ready for the
change a'coming!
If you'd like to support our continuing efforts at the Kent State
Truth Tribunal, please visit www.truthtribunal.org
.
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