Kent State 30 Years Later

Thousands of people gathered Thursday on a grassy hill at Kent State University as a bell rang at the exact time the National Guard opened fire there on students protesting the Vietnam War 30 years ago.

The Victory Bell, which was sounding when the shooting started, was rung 15 times, one for each of the four students killed and nine wounded at Kent State and for the two students killed at Jackson State University in Mississippi 10 days later.

It was part of ceremonies marking the anniversary of shootings that stunned the nation, galvanized the anti-war movement and left the wounded still searching for answers.

"We don't know why this happened to us. We don't know who said 'Shoot.' We don't know when they said it or why," said Joseph Lewis, 48.

Seven of the nine wounded students appeared at a news conference that was part of ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of the shootings. The two other survivors are on campus for the anniversary, marking the first time all nine were reunited at the campus.

The shootings happened after days of student protests and the burning of the campus Army ROTC building. The National Guard was sent in to quell the disturbances.

About midday, May 4, 1970, Guardsmen fired at least 61 shots in a 13-second burst, hitting protesters, bystanders and students walking to class at a distance. Some Guardsmen said they felt their lives were in danger.

Lewis said Guardsmen shot at him for no reason.

"I didn't do anything wrong. People who did something wrong were individuals of the Ohio National Guard who shot and killed them and shot and wounded us deliberately."

The survivors continued to blame the shooting on former Gov. James Rhodes, who ordered the troops on campus.

"You have to remember Rhodes virtually beat on the table, saying he was going to keep this university open and all the universities in Ohio," said Dean Kahler, paralyzed from the waist down because of the shooting.

Rhodes told The Columbus Dispatch for a story Thursday that he had to send troops to Kent State.

"It was a terrible thing," said Rhodes, 90. "But no one plans a train wreck, either. It just happened. And life goes on."

Earlier Thursday, dozens of people wandered through the parking lot where the students were killed, snapping pictures and reading messages scrawled in chalk.

"This brings back a lot of memories, not just what happened but what it meant," said Guy Pernetti, 53.

Pernitti was fresh off a four-year stint with the Navy in Vietnam when he went to Kent the day of the shootings because he wanted to see the anti-war sentiment for himself.

A person stood quietly at each of the spots where Allison Krause, Sandy Scheuer, Jeffery Miller and William Schroeder were killed.

One chalk message read: "Allison, you've taught us so much about ourselves."

Kent State sociology pofessor Jerry M. Lewis predicted the commemoration would be emotional because the wounded students were meeting with the mothers of three slain students.

"It'll be very emotional this year, particularly around the mothers. Can you imagine what they went through?" asked Lewis, who was 20 yards from Scheuer when she was killed.

Mary Sima, a senior from Solon, was among hundreds of students who participated in a candlelight vigil that began Wednesday night. She said it was "a chance to look inside myself and think about peace for everybody."

At least one survivor of the shootings said he was unhappy about plans to play a taped speech by Mumia Abu-Jamal as part of a several speeches marking the commemoration.

Abu-Jamal is on death row in Pennsylvania for killing police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Abu-Jamal has repeatedly said he's innocent, and his supporters say he was targeted for political reasons and framed.

Robby Stamps, who was shot in the lower back, said he is afraid that the three-and-a-half minute speech will shift the focus of the commemoration away from events at Kent State, about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland.

One of the chalk messages in the parking lot referred to Abu-Jamal's case: "The same system that killed Bill, Jeff, Sandy, Allison; the same system that wants to kill Mumia."

On Saturday, hundreds of people showed up at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, east of Dayton, to protest a six-minute audiotaped speech by Abu-Jamal at graduation ceremonies.

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