History.com has an article. Britanica has an entry. Slate has photographs. The Perspective contrasts the sides of the politics.
Here are the lyrics to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young anthem:
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
...
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Posts
I was in jr. high when this happened. Didn't quite understand it then. I don't recall anything my parents said about this. I think their worry and focus was on my brother who had joined the Army.
ReplyDeleteI was also in junior high, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I trace my growing distrust of people with guns and men in uniform to that day.
Deletesad
ReplyDeleteYes, sad :(
DeleteDark times, surrounding the Vietnam War... Then in 1971, they discovered the FBI was illegally spying on American citizens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Unwarranted governmental infiltration into individual and group political activities continues. There's been a recent case here in Memphis of the police using false names on FB to surveil our citizens. Where people have power (or weapons) they'll use them.
DeleteMy parents said the same thing. The whole hippy movement was something they didn't agree with. If the kids were in classes, none of this would have occured. When I read your title I thought of the CSN song and there it was in your post! Happy weekend. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteThe assumption that the Law/Government/Military is always in the right is scary. I grew up to Question Authority, and that the kids could be shot for these protests shocked me :( That song is iconic, isn't it!
DeleteI was 19. There had been so much going on for years...assassinations, riots, marches, police beating protesters, burning bras & draft cards, every night death & helicopters & guns on the news, so much hatred spewed...and then they shot unarmed students. I thought it was the end of our country.
ReplyDeleteIt survived. Changed, but it survived.
Let's hope our country survives this time, eh?
When the corrupt get into power we get what we're seeing now. Instead of draining the swamp and getting the best people, he's bringing unqualified and corrupt people into more power. I'm not sure we'll ever recover from the consequences wrought by the people he's put into lifetime judgeships.
DeleteIt's heartbreaking.
And what is it with him and religion? I don't remember a day we ever had to be afraid to use the word "god". Sheesh!
How anyone can believe that man is the spokesman for Christianity is beyond me. People hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see...
DeleteHis fans amaze me, really they do. It's dumbfounding that they continue to follow this man.
DeleteThis was very sad, and there have been so many massacres since then, and they seem to get worse and worse. Valerie
ReplyDeleteNow it's not just the National Guard that has guns at schools. Now everybody has an arsenal, and our youngest schoolchildren get mown down. And what gets done about it? Nothing :(
DeleteThis is one of my favorite songs of all time. I'm SO glad you brought this back, because I knew nothing about the horrific event when it happened, but have loved music from that era since forever. Many of my friends tell me I was born a generation too late, because I prefer music from the late 60s and all of the 70s. CSNY were in the forefront of my music list and still are. It's great you showcased this because it's one of those events we should never forget, just like 9/ll.
ReplyDeleteI love 60s/70s music. I remember when this song was released, within days of the Kent State tragedy. I was in junior high school and forming my own opinions about the Vietnam War. I thought that if I were older that body on the ground, shot by the military, could've been mine. Protest music is an important element in political discussion, I believe.
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