Kent State shooting, from the Guard's perspective

On May 4, 1970, four students at Kent State University were killed and nine were wounded when National Guard soldiers opened fire upon Vietnam War protestors. A group of historians at Ohio Northern University is working to collect oral histories detailing this historic day — from the Guardsmen. David Strittmatter, Ph.D., assistant professor of history at ONU, said he was looking for "a compelling final project" for an advanced public history class, when colleagues pointed out that the 50th anniversary of the shooting was then approaching. Strittmatter had heard that most of the Guardsmen were just a few years older than the students, so he reasoned that many of them were likely still alive. He and his students looked through newspaper articles and other documents from the time, and realized that official government documents — which include a middle initial — made it easier to search for the right person on the internet. Strittmatter estimated that for every two living people's addresses, they found one obituary. The youngest Guardsman they were able to interview is now 69, and the oldest is in his mid-80s. The ONU group reached out by sending letters in the mail. They weren't sure their subjects would agree to be interviewed. After all, as Strittmatter said, "it's really easy to throw a letter away." And, he said, they weren't sure anyone would want to talk about the worst day of their life — which, unlike many people's worst days, was documented "in an infamous international event." "In history within the last generation or so, there's been an increasing push to capture unheard voices. Usually that means voices from disaffected populations such as women and minorities. But, in this case, the voices that haven't been heard are in traditional positions of power. It's an anomaly," he wrote in an ONU press release. "We're wanting to know, 'How has this followed you? How has it affected your life, if at all?'" 'Eyewitnesses' to historic event About 1,200 Guardsmen were deployed to the city of Kent after its mayor declared a state of emergency on May 2, but, Strittmatter said, not all of them were on the university campus. About 70 or 80 were on Blanket Hill at the time of the shootings. Of those, 29 discharged their weapons, eight of whom were later indicted by a grand jury. (They were acquitted.) The ONU historians concentrated on Guardsmen who had actually been on Blanket Hill, as well as those who had been listed by name in news stories of the time. Lindy Holmes, an ONU senior majoring in history, said her goal in conducting interviews was to approach the Guardsmen with "no malicious intent" and to ask nonbiased questions. Reading firsthand material from the 1970s helped her compose her questions. Holmes said interviews were very organized and only occasionally went off-script — but, when they did, it sometimes yielded "valuable responses." "My goal was to acknowledge their position as well as their emotions from the event," she said in the press release. "In some instances, the Guardsmen were very sorrowful and the events continued to affect them. To me, it was important not to disregard their experiences. I wanted to be someone who would listen to them, tell their story from their point of view and share it word for word without any bias." Strittmatter said the group was careful not to treat the Guardsmen as "celebrities," but rather as "eyewitnesses" to a historic event. Holmes said many of the Guardsmen became emotional during the interviews. The press release notes that the students "found out that not a day has gone by that some Guard participants haven't thought about what happened and why. One was a conscientious objector who threw down his weapon after the shooting began. Another was able to compartmentalize the day enough to become a comedian. Some are sorry about what happened. Some are not." On camera The first Guardsman interviewed was Mathew McManus, one of the eight who were indicted. Strittmatter said that, before he came to the ONU campus, McManus asked Strittmatter directly if there was "any objection" to him coming. Strittmatter replied that there was not — perhaps because, 50 years later, people were able to engage in conversation about what had happened differently. And, in that first interview, you can see in the video a point where "his jaw starts quivering," Strittmatter said. McManus described Guardsmen in gas masks with limited sight, going by feel. He said he noticed another superior officer running down the line, grabbing the ends of rifles and shoving them toward the sky. "I ordered my men, because I knew, I could hear the firing started, I knew there was no stopping it. ... I ordered my men to raise their weapons in the air. As loud as I could yell, I yelled, 'Raise your weapons and fire one round in the air!' And I myself hit the ground," he said. Holmes said she thinks the interview was the first time McManus explained the events in detail since he had been indicted. Holmes conducted another interview with the Guardsman who was the first to arrive at the body of Jeffrey Miller, and described what he saw. Photojournalism student John Filo's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph depicts 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over Miller's body. Holmes said it was "very powerful" for her to hear these stories. And she was struck by the fact that the Guardsmen were roughly the same age as the students — the youngest was 19 when he joined the National Guard. Holmes, 22, said recognizing that these men were about her age when they fired shots was "just heavy" to think about. Strittmatter pointed out that many of the Guardsmen had joined the National Guard in the first place so they would not be drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. Then, at Kent State, some found themselves ordered to shoot at people who were demonstrating against the war itself. "I found it valuable to understand that these men were basically facing the same situation as the young protesters and were more than likely unhappy with being face to face with people they may have identified with," Holmes said in the press release. The first two interviews were conducted in person, and then the pandemic put the process on hold. Strittmatter said the group conducted six interviews over the phone and one via Zoom. Recently, a group from ONU drove to northeast Ohio and conducted more in-person interviews. (Many of the Guardsmen still live in or near Kent.) So far there are 12 interviews available on a student-created website for the project, https://www.kentguardvoices1970.com/ Strittmatter said he plans to eventually turn it over to ONU's archivist, with the hope that the project will live in perpetuity. Arthurs: 419-427-8494