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"Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming - 4 dead in Ohio"

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    "Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming - 4 dead in Ohio"

    Note: I posted this about this about 5 years ago - thought I would bring it back for some of our younger folks who may not know about it.


    May 4th, 1970 - 48 years ago today. I was 13 years old. I pedaled my bike to a vacant lot where I picked up my newspapers to fold them, stuff'em in my basket and go throw my route. I remember breaking open that first bundle and seeing the headline:
    Guardsmen Shoot four dead at Kent State
    and this picture:

    Click image for larger version

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    That picture stuck in my brain for years. An anti-war protest at Kent State had turned violent with rock throwing and the torching of buildings. Some young, scared and poorly trained guardsmen panicked and opened fire, killing four students. Reading accounts of it today brings back alot of memories - it seemed like the whole country was coming apart at the seams. I remember people of my parent's WWII generation saying "Out-of control, knucklehead college students! It was a tragic mistake but they brought it on themselves!" . It was a strange, crazy time. With our country so divided these days and emotions running high we need to remember we've been through worse before. May God grant that cooler heads once again prevail

    link to song referred to in thread title:
    Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

    #2
    I was 16. Very un-cool................

    Comment


      #3
      I had a Sgt that worked for me in 1980 that fancied himself a sniper even though he had no formal training. I remember him saying those Guardsmen sucked because they wasted so many bullets. He was a little psycho.

      Comment


        #4
        I brought this up before when people start talking about the USA coming to an end due to current events and how horrible it is right now.

        Is the current situation bad, you better bet it is!

        Is this going to be the end of our country? Absolutely not!

        Seems like we go through cycles like this every so often and then it dies down and its life mostly as usual. Not sure what the trigger is or what causes it to end. I wasnt born yet, but, from the history I know, there seems to be a lot in common between the counterculture movement of the 60's/70's and what is happening today. Yes, todays "activists" seem to be more violent, but, while very vocal, they are a vast minority.

        Maybe im dreaming, but it there sure seems there is a lull in the news coverage of the antifa, blm and other liberal terrorist groups. Maybe we are nearing an end to their crazyness, maybe they are quietening down for the upcomong elections, hell, its more likely they are all back in class trying to cram for their upcoming finals!!! Who knows, bit it sure has been kinda nice!

        Guns have only two enemies: rust and politicians!

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          #5
          Thanks for posting Jerp. It is easy to think things are crazier than ever now here in this country but history tells us otherwise.

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            #6
            There were 159 race riots in major US Cities in "The Long Hot Summer of 1967" of which the Detroit riots were the bloodiest. These riots were much more violent than what we're seeing today.

            The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot was the bloodiest race riot in the "Long, hot summer of 1967".[2] Composed mainly of confrontations between black people and police, it began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967 in Detroit, Michigan. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, on the city's Near West Side. It exploded into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in American history, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit's 1943 race riot 24 years earlier.

            To help end the disturbance, Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in the United States Army's 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. The scale of the riot was the worst in the United States since the 1863 New York City draft riots during the American Civil War,[3] and was surpassed by the 1992 Los Angeles riots 25 years later. The riot was prominently featured in the news media, with live television coverage, extensive newspaper reporting, and extensive stories in Time and Life magazines. The staff of the Detroit Free Press won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for its coverage.

            Comment


              #7
              The next one will be far, far worse.




              ANTIFA (Red Brigade) speech.


              “We stand in solidarity with the Red Guards and principally Maoist collectives who are working towards the creation of the Maoist Party. We stand in solidarity with Maoist parties across the world who are committed to building socialism and fighting revisionism through People’s War!”
              Here they make it clear that they seek to militarize the masses and create an army:

              “What needs to be done is the concentric construction of the three weapons of revolution: the Maoist Party, the Maoist People’s Army, and the Maoist United Front. What needs to be done is to militarize the masses and all the pre-Party Maoist formations!”

              Here they openly call for “military actions” against their enemies (basically anyone who is not a communist):

              “We must prepare today, yesterday and tomorrow for the prolong confrontation, the protracted war, against the capitalist state. We must carry out military actions against the enemies of the people!”

              They then declare war on a bunch of different groups of people and follow that up with several quotes about how they are committed to revolutionary violence:

              “Our country’s working class knows only two roads: barbarism or socialism. And both require violence but only in the latter is that violence revolutionary and mastered by the proletariat, its Party and the masses.”
              Our task is clear: only through revolutionary violence can the masses create real political power!
              The masses are fighting back and we will guide them toward victory through revolutionary violence and warfare!

              Comment


                #8
                How well I remember. I was 24 years old at the time and still an active US Army reservist. To say it got my attention would be an enormous understatement.
                There ain't no excuse for murdering college students or anybody else for peacefully protesting. And there never will be.


                Thanks Jerp.
                Bob Lee

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                  #9
                  My grandpa owned a machine shop In Detroit during the riots. Heard a lot of interesting stories from him and my mom who was 19 at the time. Not a good time for anyone involved in that whole thing I am sure.

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                    #10
                    If I recall the Kent State riots were set off because Nixon sent the troops into Cambodia. The mission of the Cambodian incursion was to disrupt the supply lines from North Vietnam headed down the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos into Cambodia, to be used to kill Americans.

                    I was part of that incursion as a grunt serving with the 1st. Air Cavalry Division.

                    In May thru June of 1970 we were in the Fishhook area of Cambodia and after days of intense combat found a large cache of weapons and supplies intended for use against American troops in South Vietnam.

                    A majority of my unit were draftees who never understood or supported what we were doing there. Most of us were fighting for the guys who were to our left and right, just trying to survive and make it back to the "World on the Freedom Bird".

                    The killing of those students is a sad part of American history. Even sadder were the deaths so many American soldiers for a people who hated us.
                    Last edited by Froggy; 05-04-2018, 11:32 PM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      So the guards just opened fire for no reason? I was only 4 so I really never heard anything about it

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The most well known protest involving the Vietnam War occurred at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970. On May 1, Kent State students held an anti-war protest. That evening several incidents occurred, including rocks and bottles being thrown at police officers and the lighting of bonfires. These incidents led to the closure of bars by authorities before normal closing time to reduce alcohol consumption. Eventually students, other anti-war activists, and common criminals began to break windows and loot stores.

                        The mayor of Kent, Leroy Satrom, declared a state of emergency on May 2. He requested that Governor James A. Rhodes send the Ohio National Guard to Kent to help maintain order. Rhodes agreed, and the National Guard members began to arrive the evening of May 2. As the soldiers arrived, they found the Reserve Officer Training Corps building at Kent State University in flames. It is unclear who set the building on fire. It may have been anti-war protesters, but it also could have been someone seeking to have the protesters blamed. Interestingly, Kent State officials had already boarded up the ROTC building and were planning to raze it. Protesters were celebrating the building's destruction as fire fighters arrived. The protesters, who included both students and non-students, jeered the fire fighters and even sliced the hoses that the fire fighters were using to extinguish the flames. National Guard members arrived to reestablish order and resorted to tear gas to disperse the protesters.

                        On May 3, approximately one thousand National Guard soldiers were on the Kent State campus. Tensions remained high, and Governor Rhodes further escalated them by accusing the protesters of being unpatriotic. He proclaimed, "They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America." Some Kent State students assisted local businesses and the city in cleaning up damage from the previous night's activities, but other students and non-students continued to hold protests, further exacerbating the situation. The National Guard continued to break up these demonstrations, including threatening students with bayonets.

                        On May 4, a Monday, classes resumed at Kent State. Anti-war protesters scheduled a rally for noon at the campus. University officials attempted to ban the gathering but proved unsuccessful in their efforts. As the protest began, National Guard members fired tear gas at the demonstrators. Due to wind, the tear gas proved ineffective. Some of the protesters threw the canisters, along with rocks, back at the soldiers. Some of the demonstrators yelled slogans, such as "Pigs off campus!", at the soldiers.

                        Eventually seventy-seven guardsmen advanced on the protesters with armed rifles and bayonets. Protesters continued to throw things at the soldiers. Twenty-nine of the soldiers, purportedly fearing for their lives, eventually opened fire. The gunfire lasted just thirteen seconds, although some witnesses contended that it lasted more than one minute. The troops fired a total of sixty-seven shots. When the firing ended, nine students lay wounded, and four other students had been killed. Two of the students who died actually had not participated in the protests.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          After the Cold War ended wasn't it found that Russia funded and organized this Vietnam war protest just like it did all across the country.
                          Films I watched the protesters were throwing rocks, bottles, bricks and setting fires, looting. Not exactly the peaceful non-violent protest as portrayed by the left.


                          -------------------------

                          "The most well known protest involving the Vietnam War occurred at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970. Kent State students held an anti-war protest. That evening several incidents occurred, including rocks and bottles being thrown at police officers and the lighting of bonfires. Students, other anti-war activists, and common criminals began to break windows and loot. "

                          ------------------------------

                          "The Soviet Union wisely spent more money on funding of U.S. anti-war movements during the Vietnam War than on funding and arming the VietCong forces.--- Stanislav Lunev, highest ranking GRU officer to defect from the USSR"

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Thumper View Post
                            After the Cold War ended wasn't it found that Russia funded and organized this Vietnam war protest just like it did all across the country.
                            Films I watched the protesters were throwing rocks, bottles, bricks and setting fires, looting. Not exactly the peaceful non-violent protest as portrayed by the left.


                            -------------------------

                            "The most well known protest involving the Vietnam War occurred at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970. Kent State students held an anti-war protest. That evening several incidents occurred, including rocks and bottles being thrown at police officers and the lighting of bonfires. Students, other anti-war activists, and common criminals began to break windows and loot. "

                            ------------------------------

                            "The Soviet Union wisely spent more money on funding of U.S. anti-war movements during the Vietnam War than on funding and arming the VietCong forces.--- Stanislav Lunev, highest ranking GRU officer to defect from the USSR"
                            Interesting......but not surprising.

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