Kent State
I’ve shared with you some of my reflections on the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., and it’s inspiration for ‘A Pact with the Living.’ To balance the account as I’m hoping the book does, I’d like to share with you thoughts on the events that took place at Kent State University, May 4, 1970. As I tried to present in the book, descriptions and interpretations of that day vary depending on perspective, nonetheless, it was the day our (National Guard) troops fired on our citizens. The resulting outcry was a major turning point in the public’s feeling about “Nixon’s” war.
To walk the hallowed ground of the Kent State Memorial is as solemn as standing in front of The Wall. I have been there a couple times, including the 45th annual commemoration of the event. I am confronted with remembrances as soon as I park my car in the Prentiss Hall lot (4). Three spaces are cordoned off, commemorating the places where 3 of the victims died; the fourth is across the road behind me. At the top end of the lot is a low marble stone, etched with the names the four: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder. I head up the hill to walk counter-clockwise around the Taylor Hall. A memorial of four beveled blocks of granite are situated among benches and spaces for reflection and meditation.
Behind the building is Blanket Hill and the Commons where the anti-war demonstration started. Nestled at the bottom of the hill is a low brick landmark which holds the Victory Bell (1). The National Guard troops chased the protestors up the hill and around to the front of the building. Under an eclectic structure called the Pagoda (3), the troops confronted the crowd, many of whom had turned and were throwing rocks at them. Accounts were varied and never confirmed, but the soldiers thought they heard rifle shots, so they turned, knelt and fired back. The parking lot was about 200 yards below them. In-between was the tall metal edifice called the Don Drumm Sculpture (2). In one of its ¾ inch thick panels is a bullet hole (5) from that day. I shudder to think of a rifle shot that could pierce that metal, striking a human body.
‘A Pact with the Living’ strives to fathom the pain felt by people on both sides of the war debate. My visits to The Vietnam Wall and Kent State memorial, provide me with all-too-real exposure to the tragedy of war.
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Key to the Kent State collage:
- The Victory Bell and Blanket Hill
- Don Drumm Sculpture
- The Pagoda
- Prentiss Hall parking lot with sites of victims’ deaths cordoned off
- Bullet hole in the Don Drumm Sculpture