VIETNAM WAR - 12. THE KENT STATE MASSACRE

1. VIETNAM
WAR
THE
KENT STATE
MASSACRE
12

2. THE KENT STATE MASSACRE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pwro3vCUdU

3. RICHARD NIXON
Richard Nixon was elected
President in 1968.
Nixon said that he wanted to
achieve ‘peace with honour’. In
reality Nixon had a secret agenda.
He said ‘I will not be the first
President of the US to lose a war.’
As the war had grown unpopular
after the Tet offensive, Nixon
wanted to be seen as wanting to
withdraw from Vietnam. In reality
he was prepared to escalate the
conflict.

4. CAMBODIAN INVASION
On April 30, 1970, Nixon appeared
on television to announce the
invasion of Cambodia by the US
and the need to draft 150,000 more
soldiers for an expansion of the
Vietnam War effort.
This provoked massive protests.
At Kent State University in Ohio,
protesters launched a
demonstration prompting the
governor of Ohio to dispatch 900
National Guardsmen to the campus.

5. 28 GUARDSMEN KILLED 4 STUDENTS
During an altercation on May 4, 28
guardsmen opened fire on a crowd,
killing 4 students and wounding 9.
Following the killings, the unrest
across the country escalated even
further.
500 colleges were shut down or
disrupted by protests.
A grand jury indicted 8 of the
guardsmen, but the charges were
dismissed for lack of evidence.

6. PROTEST MUSIC Neil Young is a famous Canadian
musician. After seeing photos of
the Kent State massacre in life
magazine he wrote the song
‘Ohio’.
It was recorded by his band
‘Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’. The
song was recorded live in the
studio.
Young wrote this about the
recording:
"It's still hard to believe I had to write this
song. It's ironic that I capitalized on the death
of these American students. Probably the
biggest lesson ever learned at an American
place of learning. My best CSNY cut. Recorded
totally live in Los Angeles. David Crosby cried
after this take."

7. NEIL YOUNG’s “OHIO”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy7FgTKPaMc