Moments of Truth: A Photographer’s Experience of Kent State 1970 2019013587, 9781606353677

Table of contents :
Cover
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Early Exposure to the Power of Photographs
2. Air Force Provides Formal Training
3. Spring 1969 Kent State University: Campus Photographer
4. Fall/Winter 1969: Traditions and Campus Unrest
5. Spring Quarter and Jerry Rubin
6. May 1, 1970, Friday: Noon Rally
7. May 2, 1970, Saturday: The ROTC Building
8. May 3, 1970, Sunday: Governor Rhodes and the National Guard on Campus
9. May 3, 1970, Sunday, The Eve before the Shootings: Curfew and Protests
10. May 4, 1970, Monday Morning: Stringer for Life Magazine
11. Ready, Aim …
12. May 4, 1970: Calm after the Shootings
13. Aftermath: The Civil Trials
Epilogue
Index

Citation preview

Moments of Truth

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MOMENTS OF TRUTH A Photographer’s Experience of Kent State 1970

Howard Ruffner

The Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio

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Frontis: Pictures capture the truth of the tragedy at Kent State on May 4, 1970.

© 2019 by Howard Ruffner All rights reserved Library of Congress Catalog Number 2019013587 ISBN 978-1-60635-367-7 Manufactured in Korea No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of short quotations in critical reviews or articles. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ruffner, Howard, photographer, author. Title: Moments of truth : a photographer’s experience of Kent State 1970 / Howard Ruffner. Other titles: Photographer’s memoir of Kent State 1970 Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2019] | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019013587 | ISBN 9781606353677 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970--Pictorial works. | Ruffner, Howard. | Kent State University--Students--Biography. | Photographers--United States--Biography. | Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--United States--Pictorial works. Classification: LCC LD4191.O72 R84 2019 | DDC 378.771/37--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019013587 23 22 21 20 19 5 4 3 2 1

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This book is dedicated to Allison, Jeffrey, Sandy, and William who were killed on May 4, 1970, on the campus of Kent State University during a peaceful protest rally, and to Dean, Joseph, John, Thomas, Alan, Douglas, James, Robert, and Donald who were wounded that same day by the unwarranted firing of weapons by the Ohio National Guard.

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CONTENTS

Foreword by Thomas M. Grace ix Acknowledgments xv Introduction xvii 1 Early Exposure to the Power of Photographs 1 2 Air Force Provides Formal Training 5 3 Spring 1969, Kent State University: Campus Photographer 15 4 Fall/Winter 1969: Traditions and Campus Unrest 21 5 Spring Quarter and Jerry Rubin 31 6 May 1, 1970, Friday: Noon Rally 35 7 May 2, 1970, Saturday: The ROTC Building 43 8 May 3, 1970, Sunday: Governor Rhodes and the National Guard on Campus 51 9 May 3, 1970, Sunday, the Eve before the Shootings: Curfew and Protests 59 10 May 4, 1970, Monday Morning: Stringer for Life magazine 69 11 Ready, Aim . . . 81 12 May 4, 1970: Calm after the Shootings 115 13 Aftermath: The Civil Trials 123 Epilogue 127 Index 133

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KEY A Joseph Lewis B John Cleary C Thomas Grace D Alan Canfora E Jeffrey Miller F Dean Kahler G Douglas Wrentmore H Allison Krause I James Russell J William Schroeder K Sandra Scheuer L Robert Stamps M D. Scott MacKenzie

Site of the student rally and shootings on May 4, 1970. Curved lines trace the path of Ohio National Guard troops beginning at 12:05 p.m. on May 4, 1970. At 12:24, guardsmen turned 135 degrees at the Pagoda and 28 fired, primarily toward students in the Prentice Hall parking lot. Map by Chris Sheban with David Middleton. Copyright Kent State University. Reprinted with permission.

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FOREWORD

Fifty years ago, “breaking news” was delivered—not by Twitter or the Internet but by photojournalists whose work became the iconic images of our day or the first draft of history, a phrase attributed to US journalist Alan Barth. Such images abounded during the tumultuous and violent decade of the 1960s and were seared into the memory of a generation: a young JFK Jr. saluting his father’s coffin, a tear rolling down the cheek of MLK Jr.’s widow, the twisted bodies of Vietnamese women and children in a ditch near My Lai. On May 4, 1970, Howard Ruffner, a student who was stringing for Life magazine—the most important newsphoto weekly of the time—took a picture that stunned the nation: a young Kent State University student named John Cleary lying in agony on the grass of his own campus, after being shot by Ohio National Guardsmen. Days before, the governor had sent armed troops to Kent State to quell sometimes fierce antiwar demonstrations. At 24 years old, Howard Ruffner was relatively older than many of his fellow students and already an expe-

rienced newsman who had served in the US Air Force during Vietnam. As he points out at the conclusion of this fine memoir, richly illustrated with his own brilliant photographs, the images he captured forever bear witness to history and, like war, can never be erased from memory, either by those who participated, those who captured the images, or those who beheld them. I was one of the thousands who played a part, albeit a minor one, in the demonstration at Kent that day, and was among the nine casualties who survived their wounds. Four others died, either instantly or within a short time. Although I fail to appear in any of Howard Ruffner’s pictures in this volume—despite being separated from the photographer at the time of the 67-shot salvo by a distance of no more than 50 feet—Ruffner did take a photograph of me or nearly did. In the Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest (1970), a Ruffner image shows a student looking down at me soon after I was hit in the left heel during the first moments of the Guardsmen’s 13-second barrage. ix

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But all one can see of me is either a shadow or what may be the edge of the blood pool from my wound. The only other photos of me taken in the immediate moments after the shootings are indistinct. Following years of thought, this is to my liking. After all, few would volunteer to be captured on film, as was Cleary, at the most terrible moment of their life. Worse and more dramatic yet are the Howard Ruffner images of Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling beside the body of the slain Jeff Miller (pages 103 and 104). However, as a newsman, Howard Ruffner could not shun his duty to take such images, as distressful as they were to both victim and photographer, as he points out in this memoir. As is often forgotten, Ruffner was among the prey that day as well as the dead, the wounded, and the hundreds who escaped the barrage of bullets. Like all combat veterans, we share a common bond. He writes about that day: I heard screaming and yelling. . . . I had a feeling of numbness that I still vividly recall. . . . Several distraught female students approached me and told me to stop taking pictures. They felt I was invading everyone’s privacy. . . . I knew I was intruding but told them I had to take pictures. . . . I tried to push back my own feelings, even though I shared their disbelief and rage. . . . I also knew I was on assignment and had to take these pictures to show the impact of this horror on innocent students.

Eight years later, I recall Ruffner when we crossed paths for the first time on a cold winter day in December 1978 at the federal building in downtown Cleveland. He was the first witness to take the stand for the plaintiffs, and I was about to take the stand as the second in a civil suit against Ohio governor James Rhodes and the

Guardsmen who had shot at us. Ruffner had just rendered the opening testimony on behalf of all 13 shooting victims and their families. With a steely yet unobtrusive presence—composure he describes in this memoir as both deliberate and gutwrenchingly difficult to maintain—he painstakingly went through an extensive array of trial exhibit photographs that he and others had taken. Ruffner had done so effectively once before, in May 1975, having been the first witness selected by the plaintiff’s lead counsel to testify in an earlier trial. Attorney Joe Kelner would later write of Ruffner that the student’s many images served as “the most complete” photographic record of the day’s deadly turn. Further, Kelner observed that Ruffner “had the quiet manner of a mature person who weighed his words carefully.” Despite the collective efforts and the evidence presented, the 16-week trial, conducted from late May to late August 1975, ended in a bitter defeat for the plaintiffs. In that first court case, 9 of 12 jurors exonerated the governor and all of the Guardsmen who shot to death unarmed students at distances of between 270 and 390 feet. However, due to judicial mishandling of a threat made against a juror in the 1975 trial, a three-judge federal appeals court granted a new trial. Owing to Howard Ruffner’s personal authority and command of the body of work captured by his camera, he would once again spend days on the witness stand telling the story of what his photographs revealed. Indeed, he was the only nonplaintiff to provide testimony at both trials, the second of which resulted in an out-of-court settlement. Repeatedly interrupted by defense counsel objections during the first trial, Howard Ruffner now has the

x FOREWORD

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opportunity, in these pages, to tell the unbroken story of a day that nearly broke America. He has done so, he relates in these pages, because even after almost 50 years, he is still haunted by the 1975 verdict. And, more to the point of his life’s work, how the power of photography, and the truth it conveys, somehow failed to convince the jury. “Every photo is more than its surface,” he writes. “Each tells a story. The more I stare [at a photo], the more I see the truth.” Despite that, he adds: “Blood was spilled that day and has never been washed away.” Howard Ruffner’s background is unique, and yet like the tens of thousands of mostly young people who attended Kent State University in the 1960s, his story is also representative. Born in 1946, the first year of the baby boom, to parents Howard and June, Ruffner came of age in Lakewood, a community of 65,000 souls adjacent to and west of Cleveland. His father worked as a manager for a company that produced photographic paper and film, a career that may have subconsciously influenced his son and namesake. The first of seven boys, Ruffner and his brothers grew up near the city center, an area dotted by wooden frame World War I–era houses on a block between the railroad tracks and Detroit Avenue. The stately homes near Lake Erie were close yet so far way. With the family lacking even a car until a few years after Ruffner had graduated from Lakewood High School in 1964, money for college never entered into their financial equation. Like a good number of future and sometimes erstwhile Kent State students—and as would be the case for four of his six brothers—Ruffner entered military service after graduating from high school. In so doing, he took his place among the estimated 62,000

Clevelanders who served during the Southeast Asian war. Stationed in Texas and later in the Philippines, Howard Ruffner became interested in photography and honed his craft with a radio and broadcast unit. Howard’s two brothers, who completed tours in Vietnam, came home alive. But the president of his high school class did not. He died while piloting a helicopter in support of Operation Lam Son 719. In 1969 Ruffner enrolled at Kent State on the GI Bill. Drawn first to broadcasting, due to his experience with the medium in the military, he spent most of his time in the school’s journalism department. During his second year, he numbered among the 10 percent of male students who were veterans or had some military reserve experience. Before 1970 and until cast into the national spotlight, Kent, Ohio, was an ordinary midwestern town—its university relegated to an unremarkable spot in academia and its blue-collar and middle-income students consigned to a largely veiled position in America’s class structure. Representative, then, of working-class students at Kent State who hailed from the once mighty industrial centers that ringed rural Portage County and small-town Kent, and who were the first in their families to attend college, Howard Ruffner shared other commonalties with his somewhat younger counterparts, who, like him, led mostly prosaic lives. As seriously as he took his craft and as well as he prepared himself for what proved to be his most significant moments behind a camera, at the same time he sought to “be the photographer you didn’t see.” Those who examine and study his compositions will notice that the subjects of Ruffner’s photos rarely face the camera. That’s because he is a dedicated newsman, not FOREWORD  xi

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a portraitist. In his own words, “When I am in a crowd, regardless of its purpose, I strive to set aside my personal opinions and feelings. My attention is directed only on the event or the subject. I focus my camera and it keeps me focused on the task at hand.” His photo of the gravely wounded and unconscious John Cleary (page 100) on the Life magazine cover shows three students intent on saving the young man’s life. The provisional student medics who responded to the emergency do not sense the photographer’s presence. They were, and largely remain, anonymous students assisting an anonymous casualty. After taking the Cleary photograph, Howard Ruffner moved on, and ironically, the US Air Force veteran witnessed, for the first time, the sight of a young man who had been shot and killed. “I saw the body of a young man lying there, blood draining out of his body in a sickening trail,” he writes. “I snapped a picture almost unconsciously. . . . I was staring at Jeffrey Miller. . . . I knew I had to keep my own emotions in check. I had to show with my photos what else happened. . . . I couldn’t take my eyes away and kept taking pictures.” Remarkably, Cleary, now retired after a career as an architect, and Joe Cullum, one of his rescuers, would not properly meet for 20 years, when canny editors from Life decided to bring the two men together. Captured in what is Howard Ruffner’s most memorable image, the modest Cleary quietly reflected on those students, such as Cullum—rather than focusing on his own misfortune—and how in the midst of chaos, “They made a choice to stay, to take some risk and maybe help save our lives.” Upsetting as some of the images in this memoir are—many of them never before published—their historic

value is undeniable. This is the case whether the scenes portray the angry fight of blue-collar students against the war (page 24), the solitary and symbolic resistance of Alan Canfora (page 91), or the forensic absence of rocks at the foot of the National Guard firing line, exposing the claims that they faced a hailstorm of dangerous projectiles at the moment of the shootings (page 93). The work of student photographers Ruffner, John Filo, John Darnell, and Paul Tople all ensured that the deadly moments at Kent State did not go unrecorded for posterity. In this book, Howard Ruffner becomes the first of this impressive group of lens men to share his comprehensive collection. And while a select number of Ruffner’s photos have appeared previously in volumes—such as 13 Seconds: Confrontation at Kent State; The Truth about Kent State: A Challenge to the American Conscience; The Kent State Cover-up; and my own book, Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties—the images have never appeared with the power and clarity that they do here. It is not too much to state that this photojournalist, whose role as an eyewitness was considered so vital in the Kent State civil trials, has herein given us some of the most important images of the turbulent and deadly sixties. Those concerned with the history of the last century and the injustice of the Kent State killings are in his debt. As Ruffner notes, it is his hope that through these images “readers discover their own truth.” Like the ancient Jewish tradition of piling stones on a gravesite—adopted today at the death sites at Kent State, where three of the four dead were Jewish—the photographs should stand for “permanence of memory. . . . that the students who died there and the protest that took place always will be remembered.”

xii FOREWORD

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As a coda, I am honored to have been asked by Kent State University Press to prepare these prefatory remarks for author and photojournalist Howard Ruffner. I am also very pleased to acknowledge the insights and con-

tributions made to this foreword by another journalist and May 4 survivor, Allen F. Richardson. Thomas M. Grace

FOREWORD  xiii

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have been married to Lark for 30 years. Our life together has been interrupted countless times by the Kent State University (KSU) tragedy of May 4, 1970. Anniversaries of the event and my memories will continue to interrupt our life together. Yet Lark knew this was a story I had to write in order for me to have a chance for resolution. I am not an open person; I do not share my feelings or emotions easily. Writing has forced me to be honest with myself. Lark gave me space so that I could think, reflect, and process my emotions. Paula Slimak, who graduated from KSU with a master’s degree in journalism in 1971, generously gave her time to read and edit this manuscript. She was on campus during the events of May 4, 1970. Her attention to detail, and her knowledge and understanding of that day, kept me focused on sharing the energy and emotions present during those times. She put off her own priorities to provide a quick turnaround to meet my deadlines. While keeping my words, Paula helped bring alive the past. She made me a better writer.

Drs. Rebecca and Geoff Hunt, longtime friends of mine and history professors, reminded me that as an eyewitness to a day that would change history, it was my duty to create a permanent record of what I witnessed with my camera and to write what I felt and saw. With that push, I have produced this book to preserve the events of that weekend as I remember them and to share those moments recorded by my photographs. Michael McDonald, author of All Souls and Easter Rising, provided encouragement as I began my first draft in his Brooklyn apartment. Sitting at his writing desk and listening to what he shared about his writing process, I began my story. My immediate family, Camsie and Errick McAdams, John and Leslie Matis, and Maria and Miles Kennedy, all were supportive and encouraging. They provided many diversions designed to give a break and refresh my batteries. There were parties, travel, and lots of good food and entertainment. Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, former Kent State University xv

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Archivist, Special Collections and Archives, was very helpful, supporting my effort with research necessary to make sure I had all my facts, time lines, and history correct. William Underwood, acquiring editor at Kent State University Press, reviewed my proposal and asked me to complete my manuscript in time to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Kent tragedy. His encouragement excited me as I began to reflect not just on the shootings at Kent State but also on the power and passion of dissent

demonstrated by the 1970s’ youth and their influence in ending the Vietnam War. Not only does the book reflect on the events at Kent State, but it is a reminder of the powerful influence that young people have in righting a dysfunctional society. Today’s youths are voicing their beliefs. They see a need for change and are creating a movement to protect and strengthen the moral obligations of society that just might be a prophecy beyond Kent State’s fiftieth anniversary.

xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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INTRODUC TION

The numbers 13, 67, 4, and 9 are embedded in my mind. They represent the 13 seconds, 67 rounds, 4 dead, and 9 wounded resulting from the Ohio National Guard shooting at unarmed students during an antiwar protest on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. I was 80 feet in front of the Guard when they unleashed their volley of bullets. In that instant I took one photo and suddenly realized I could be a target. I wrapped my left arm around my cameras, turned away from the Guard to my right, and dropped to the ground. As a US Air Force veteran, I was sure they were shooting blanks. I heard someone scream, “Oh my God, they’re firing real bullets. Get down, people are bleeding, someone’s been hit, get down!” Even though I was frozen to the ground, I poked my head up and scanned the area. I took many photographs and saw the horror of bleeding students. I relive this horror every noon on May 4, and have for the last nearly 50 years. Every year since May 1970, I have received requests to use my photos either in a book, a documentary, or

a grade school history competition. I have given talks about May 4 to students at all grade levels. In 2016 I gave a lecture at Hanoi University about the anti–Vietnam War protests at Kent State. When I receive a request for an image or to make a presentation, I relive that day and that weekend, always questioning myself. Did I miss something in my photos? Is the sequence right? Who is that? Did I see him or her before? It becomes fresh every time, like a lucid dream. I give permission to use my photos because the photos show the truth. When I was a sophomore at Kent State, I was a photographer for the campus newspaper and had just been named editor of the 1971 yearbook. Early on the morning of May 4, I also agreed to be a stringer for Life magazine. My military journalism training and photography skills allowed me to be an independent observer—not just on May 4 but on the days leading up to this deadly confrontation. My motivation was to document campus antiwar activity, which only later became an assignment when I worked for Life magazine. I already had images xvii

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beginning with the noon rally on May 1, in response to President Richard Nixon’s decision on April 30 to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia. Not long after the shootings on May 4, I saw Chuck Ayers, the editorial cartoonist for the campus newspaper and a member of the yearbook editor selection committee. He wondered out loud to me, “So how are you going to handle the yearbook?” He didn’t expect an answer. Clearly, the upcoming Chestnut Burr, the university yearbook, would take on a more serious tone than past yearbooks, and it would be my responsibility to document the most tragic day in Kent State’s history. It also would become my ongoing responsibility to let my photographs help to tell what in so many ways remains a confusing and unfinished story. The Burr and most court trials and academic requests relied on the more familiar photographic images of events that took place on May 4, but the vast majority of the photographs in this book have never been seen by the public and in many cases remained in my private collection until this project. The early photos give glimpses into my early years—my love affair with photography—and a frame of reference with photographs of antiwar protests that took place long before that fateful day in 1970. Of the images published here, from May 1 through May 4, some 85 percent are being seen for the first time. More than half of the images appearing in the two chapters on May 4 have never been published. All photographs are my own and untouched.

Based on one’s proximity to Kent State, and what they heard on the news or from friends or neighbors, there were many opinions of what happened that day and why. To this day, there are still many misconceptions about the antiwar events at Kent and the killing of four students. In the 10 years following this encounter, I was the lead witness at the federal civil trials in Cleveland. I took the stand for three days and testified to the authenticity of the photographs entered into evidence. All the defendants were found guilty at the end of the first trial. On an appeal and a retrial, no verdict was reached and a monetary settlement was stipulated to compensate the victims. The Ohio National Guard and Gov. James Rhodes signed a letter stating publicly that they regretted what happened. The question remains unanswered: Why did the Ohio National Guard fire live ammunition at unarmed students, killing four and wounding nine? There are many theories: there was a sniper, someone in the crowd fired the first shot, a small number of Guardsmen conspired to teach the students a lesson, the Guardsmen thought their lives were in danger. The answer may be found in the photographs. Moments of Truth: A Photographer’s Experience of Kent State 1970 is my story. Its truth is captured in photographs and my personal quest to document events as I witnessed them. Walk with me through the seemingly untroubled times at Kent until a 13-second volley of 67 bullets kills 4 students and wounds 9 others as lives are ended and dreams are never given the chance to come true.

xviii INTRODUC TION

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EARLY EXPOSURE TO THE POWER OF PHOTOGR APHS

That’s me in the photo (1) standing next to Mom, looking up at my newest brother, Ric. The Cleveland Press thought a family of six boys made for a good human-interest story. They sent a photographer to our home to capture an image of us. I saw the photographer come into our house. He looked around for a place to gather us. He positioned us and took the picture. The photo ran on the front page of the afternoon paper the next day. Friends and neighbors couldn’t wait to share this front page. We were famous. Years later I contacted the photographer and talked about the photo and told him about Mic being number seven. He graciously gave me an 11 x 14 print that we have shared with the family. Obviously, I saved it all these years. Family pictures are remarkably powerful. As my eyes wander from brother to brother in Photo 2, I see the strength of our brotherhood; at the same time, I remember the struggles and the many joys we shared. We laughed and cried. We finished school, and we each had our own special talents. Photographs are personal. The

1 Photo 1. My mother holds the newest addition to our family, my brother Ric. This photo appeared on the front page of the Cleveland Press in 1953 with the headline: “Sing a song of six pants, a pocket full of boys.” From left: Dad (Howard) holding Ron, Ric held by Mom (June), me, Tom, Bob, and Donn. (Photo by Clayton Knipper. Courtesy The Cleveland Press Collection. Special Collections, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University.)

 EARLY E XPOSURE TO THE POWER OF PHOTOGR APHS  1

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Photo 2. October 1970. I am 24; my youngest brother is 16. I look now at our clothes and remember the crazy times. Donn and Tom have passed, but when I look at this photograph, they are as present with me today as they were then. From left to right: Mic, Ric, Ron, Donn, Bob, Tom, and me.

longer I stare, the more I see. As I look at us, I see a truth hiding in each of us. Tom has a confident look; he was a successful graphic designer. The faraway look in Bob’s face reminds me he had just returned from two tours in Vietnam. Donn flashes a peace symbol, but I know it hides the depression that caused his suicide many years later. Ron stands a little separate from the group, always apart. He now lives in Kuala Lumpur, much farther away, with little family contact. Ric was the all-American boy. At 22 he announced he was gay—but we already knew. Mic stands there at 16, still finding his way. He now finds

peace in his Christian faith. Photography is my way of looking at my brothers and the world. Every photo is more than its surface. Each tells a story. The more I stare, the more I see the truth in the photos I take. As young men without the money to go to college, we were all draftable. I graduated from high school in 1964 and the Vietnam War was on TV every night. I attended a branch of Ohio State University, but my GPA wasn’t high enough to continue. I made the decision to join the air force because that seemed safer. I figured four years in the air force was safer than two in the army. Donn and

2 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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Ron also joined the air force, while Ric joined the navy. Bob, however, was braver. He and a friend enlisted in the army for three years. Bob served two years in the jungles of Vietnam and then got an early out. My only introduction to photography was working at Lakewood Camera Shop after school (Photo 3). I checked in new cameras and placed a store sticker for advertising under the film spool. During the year I worked there, I never took even one picture nor did I load a camera with film. Customers brought in film to develop, and I filled out the Kodak yellow bag to be picked up and processed. Working there, I was exposed to hundreds of photographs every day. I watched customers’ expressions as they opened their envelope of pictures. I witnessed the transforming power the photographs had as they smiled, laughed, or just looked. There was no question that these photographs had meaning beyond the processed image. After graduating from high school, I worked full-time for the Continental National Insurance Agency in the mailroom. In the fall I took a position with the Norfolk and Western Railway as a book binder in its accounting department. When work finished at the railroad, I could be found working the cash register at Marshall’s Drug Store until closing, around 9 p.m. On weekends I worked at Miller United shoe store where I had worked in high school. These jobs gave me steady paychecks and kept me busy. However, I had absolutely no connection to cameras or photography. As the antiwar sentiment was growing, I felt increasingly stuck in Lakewood, Ohio.

Then one spring evening a high school friend, Eric Benz, asked me, “Why don’t you join the air force with me on the Buddy Program?” It took me only a half second to reply, “Sure, that sounds great!” The next day I went to the recruiter, took some tests, and enlisted. On May 11, 1965, I flew to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for basic training.

Photo 3. Lakewood Camera Shop was one of three neighborhood stores where I worked while in high school. This is Lakewood in 1965 with the camera shop on the right. I see myself in this picture as I walked to work every day after school. Within the same block, I also worked at a toy store and a shoe store. (Courtesy of The Cleveland Memory Project)

 EARLY E XPOSURE TO THE POWER OF PHOTOGR APHS  3

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2

AIR FORCE PROVIDES FORMAL TR AINING

May 11, 1965, I saw bright sunshine and waves of heat as my squad landed on the tarmac at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. It was the first time I ever flew on a plane, and I was white-knuckled and terrified yet excited. I was squad leader for our group from Cleveland and carried everyone’s enlistment papers ready to hand off to the officer in charge. I felt the hot, humid Texas air and knew for sure I wasn’t in Lakewood anymore. I honestly welcomed the rigors of basic training. I felt relieved not to be working three jobs along with the pressures of living at home. Two months before I enlisted, 3,500 marines were sent to South Vietnam. These were the first combat troops assigned there. At that time, a majority of US citizens and a majority of Congress favored this war. In fact, Operation Rolling Thunder was launched by Gen. William Westmoreland while I was in basic, and he sent an additional 125,000 troops into combat. Meanwhile, race riots happened in the Watts section of Los Angeles. These facts had little impact on me. While all this

was happening, I was marching in the hot Texas sun to become an airman. Early in the morning, while on KP, I would sit on the back steps of the kitchen and peel potatoes, listening to Jimmy Gilmer and Fireballs sing “Sugar Shack.” “Hey, Ruffner, how many days ya got left?” I heard that nearly every day during basic training at Lackland. I already was counting down the days until college; every guy in my squad knew it and ribbed me. I planned to use the GI Bill to go to Kent State when I got out—in four years. Kent was a state school with a good radio and television program. That goal kept me focused. On the last day of basic, we huddled in the dayroom of our barracks. This was the moment of truth. We had no idea where we would be assigned. The sergeant read our names and assignments. Instead of a school, I was sent directly to the headquarters of Twelfth Air Force (12 AF) in Waco, Texas, as a writer in the information office. This was the Tactical Air Command Headquarters commanded by Gen. Lucius D. Clay Jr. Air force fighter AIR FORCE PROVIDE S FORMAL TR AINING  5

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Photo 4. Forty-eight airmen graduated basic training in June 1965. I’m on the far right in the back row. Looking at this, I’m reminded of the day I made a decision that changed my life. Like the other young men in the picture, we made a choice to change, each one of us together, each one of us for different reasons, and each on our own unique journey. We were not the same young men who entered this base eight weeks prior. We were smiling because we survived and graduated. (USAF photo)

jets west of the Mississippi River were sent to Vietnam from this headquarters. After a short leave at home, I arrived at James Connally Air Force Base in Waco, Texas. This is where I lived over the next two years. Every morning an air force blue bus took a group of us from the base to headquarters 12 AF in downtown Waco. It was during my two years there when I discovered photography would be a part of my life. Staff Sergeant Kuepper, our staff photographer, got me started in photography. Kuepper took the portraits of servicemen and women returning from Vietnam, and I wrote the news releases for “home town” newspapers. Kuepper sensed I was interested in photography and taught me some of the basics so I could take portraits. I learned to use his 4 x 5 Speed Graphic. It was big and bulky and used a 4 x 5 film holder. With Kuepper’s advice

and recommendations as to what features would be best for me, I bought my first camera: his used 35 mm Praktina FX (Photo 5). I paid about $35 for it, and, for a little more, I added several lenses, including a huge 400 mm. I’m sure he was only unloading an old camera of his, but I was just thrilled to have a camera of my own that I could afford. This was a basic and inexpensive camera. Nothing about the Prak­tina was automatic. I turned the knob to advance the film, had to check my light meter, then set the f-stop and shutter speed. Focus was manual with a focusing screen in the viewfinder. I had wide-angle and telephoto lenses. On my time off I would shoot a roll of film and get it developed. Some days I would take one lens and a roll of film and practice visualizing before I snapped the picture. Kuepper critiqued my pictures and offered advice. Once I learned the mechanics of taking a picture, I had more time to create images as I saw them.

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Every captured image helped me see the world in new and exciting ways. For me, that was the power of photography. What I captured at a moment in time was the truth at that instant, nothing more and nothing less. After a year of taking pictures I made my first 8 x 10 print (Photo 6). Kuepper taught me about looking for the light and how it shaped objects. I began looking more for light than subjects. While in downtown Waco, I saw how the light played on this building. The light gave shape to the columns and texture to the granite surrounding the top of the building. The cactus came alive with sunlight and shadows reflecting off its leaves. Of course, it is just a building and a cactus, but it became a powerful photograph when I realized what I was able to capture. While in Waco, I applied and was accepted to the Department of Defense Broadcast Specialist Course at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was an eight-week course in journalism and broadcasting. Only 26 enlisted men from all branches of the service—marines, navy, army, and air force—were accepted. Those in the class included men ready to retire, as well as some like me with only a couple years in the service (Photo 7). After several weeks of broadcast journalism and radio production, we began our television training. We were taught how to write for TV news and incorporate news film and slides into broadcasts. We learned how to film a news story—the establishing shot, medium shot, and close-up. We were assigned to find a news story on base and film a one-minute news clip. Long before videotape, we had to edit and splice the film to fit the allotted airtime. Television was everything visual—from composing camera shots, creating news sets, and learning studio lighting—to get professional results. Operating a televi-

Photo 5. The Praktina FX was my first camera. It was an early 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera with interchangeable lenses, a removable viewfinder, and a camera back. It was the first SLR to automatically close the diaphragm to the preselected aperture. (Wikimedia/Creative Commons)

sion camera sharpened my ability to quickly frame and compose a picture. Whether behind a television camera or a handheld 35 mm camera, my visual awareness was growing. It was an education in seeing—really seeing. After Waco, I was assigned to the American Forces Philippines Network. It had radio and television stations that broadcast throughout the base and the local community, which included Manila. I started in the film library and selected TV programs from our library of old TV shows and movies to air between live shows (Photo 8). After a show was selected, I edited out the commercials and spliced in community service announcements. This was done so our programs would be timed to start exactly on the hour, just the same as shows that aired in the States. The library was in a windowless concrete bunker away from the station. After editing films, I walked 100 feet or so to the station AIR FORCE PROVIDE S FORMAL TR AINING  7

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in hopes of getting a chance to run camera or work on the floor in the studio. Our TV station was modern and up to date with great audio, lighting, and new turret camera lenses. Just as commercial stations back home, we did live news at 6 and 11 o’clock every day. After a few months I began directing the news and other live shows. Clark Air Base had many visiting personalities, including Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, Cleveland Browns fullback Ernie Greene, Bob Hope, Art Linkletter, and many USO jazz bands. Oftentimes these celebrities or groups visited the base and stopped at the station for live on-the-air interviews and performances. I remember Heston sitting in our studio; he was bigger than life. Outside the station I could be found taking pictures or processing film at the hobby shop where I worked on my darkroom skills. The lab assistants taught me how to process film and make black-and-white prints. The labs provided equipment and chemicals. Working in the labs taught me the complexity of photography—from taking the photo to creating the final print. The smell of darkroom chemicals still gives me a déjà vu feeling and reminds me of watching photographic images come to life in the developer; it was like magic. Just before I left for the Philippines, I enrolled in the Famous Photographers’ School correspondence course. The cost was $700. Each assignment was challenging as it required learning a new skill. An early assignment required taking a photo that “stopped action.” There are Photo 6. This was the first photo I felt worthy of enlarging. It captured just what I saw. I liked the composition and lighting and decided to blow it up to 8 x 10 inches. 8 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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Above: Photo 7. Only 26 servicemen were accepted into the Broadcast Specialist Course at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in 1967. Worldwide there were just 300 servicemen in American Forces Radio and Television. Television training furthered my desire for visual expression and creating photographs. Left: Photo 8. Here I am selecting a film to show on our station. We used old TV shows and movies to fill time between broadcasts. This photo reminds me of the many long hours of staring at film frames. (USAF photo)

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Above: Photo 9. Sitting at the audio console in the control room, we discuss the events of the day. (I’m facing the camera.) This photograph reminds me of how the choices I made as a young man gave me opportunities that destined me to visual communication and photography. (USAF photo) Right: Photo 10. This photograph was my first published image. It ran in the base newspaper with my credit. It took some planning to get exactly what I wanted; I had to know the shutter speed and f-stop to use, as well as find the angle I had visualized.

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many ways to use a camera to capture stopped action. I chose to use a high shutter speed and focused on a speeding dirt bike from a low angle to freeze it in midair. The final image was what I visualized. When the base newspaper decided to publish it, I was the happiest guy on base (Photo 10). As my skill at taking photos grew, I bought my first Nikon camera and lenses. These were very inexpensive at the base PX. It was a plus to have a good camera, but it wasn’t a substitute for being able to see and compose a desired photo. I kept walking around taking pictures. It was all about capturing a moment in time, because in the end that’s all there is. I soon realized it wasn’t the equipment that made the photo; it was the photographer who created or captured the image. Photography was now my passion. Several of the photo lab techs encouraged me to enter a US Air Force photo competition after seeing my prints. I had never considered entering a competition. With their encouragement, I entered in the portrait and landscape categories. A portrait I made of a woman who worked at the TV station took first place. I created this image (Photo 11) in our station using studio lighting and a lens with a close-up filter. Another picture of a tree taken with a wide lens received third place for landscape photography. No one was more surprised than I was; however, more than surprised, I felt recognized. Photography was personal. I wasn’t doing it to win contests or gain recognition. I wasn’t on assignment. No one told me what pictures to take or how. I was finding my own purpose on my own time. The base offered the opportunity for me to photograph celebrities because many USO shows flew to Clark

Photo 11. This photograph of a staffer at the television station won top honors in a US Air Force photo competition for portraits.

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Right: Photo 12. Gen. Benjamin O’Davis Jr., commander of the Thirteenth Air Force at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, greets Bob Hope. Below: Photo 13. Art Linkletter is welcomed by Clark Air Base staff as he exits a plane before entertaining the troops.

with comedians, singers, and movie stars to entertain the troops and their families. These shows often stopped at Clark on their way to Vietnam to entertain troops. Gen. Benjamin O’Davis Jr., the highest-ranking African American US Air Force officer, greeted Bob Hope upon his arrival at Clark Air Base (Photo 12). Davis later would be asked to serve on the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest to investigate the shootings at Kent State in 1970. Art Linkletter, another beloved TV personality at the time, also came to Clark to entertain the troops (Photo 13). The opportunity to get close and photograph them made me feel privileged. These photographs represented a time in my life when I was taking photos because I wanted to. I assigned myself to this job so I could get the experience of taking photographs under different conditions. Good Friday is a very important religious holiday in the Philippines. Early that morning, about six, I arrived at a local farm and watched men in the field prepare for their penance, each one praying and flogging himself before heading to church. They whipped their backs raw with a cat-o’-nine-tails, a handmade torture instrument made of cotton rope with knots tied in it to lacerate the back after continuous whipping (Photo 14). With stinging wounds, they crawled to church to ask forgiveness. This day is a vivid part of my memory. The pictures revealed more than bleeding young men crawling on their knees. I captured their public, ardent devotion. I became so involved in the moment that I found myself spattered in blood when I returned to my barracks. Nevertheless, that was the only way to truly capture that moment, to capture their truths. I didn’t realize then that my desire to be close to my subject would put me in front of the Ohio National Guard

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on May 4, 1970, when they opened fire on unarmed students, killing four and wounding nine. Blood was spilled that day and has never been washed away. On December 1, 1968, I was promoted to staff sergeant. On December 12, I was granted an early out. I returned home to Lakewood and completed my application to begin at Kent State in March. The GI Bill and a small bank loan was all I needed. During this time, I returned to my job in the accounting department of the railroad. In the three and a half years that I was gone, very little had changed at work or at home. However, I felt way behind my high school graduating class and needed to catch up.

Photo 14. This young man whips himself with a cat-o’-nine-tails on Good Friday 1968. AIR FORCE PROVIDE S FORMAL TR AINING  13

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SPRING 1969 KENT STATE UNIVERSITY Campus Photographer

I arrived on campus a few days before March 27, 1969, when spring quarter began. I was assigned to Johnson Hall and a room with two roommates. I had always shared a room, so this was fine with me. Johnson was located near the top of Blanket Hill and near Taylor Hall, which housed the Journalism and Architecture Departments. The campus, with rolling hills and trees, was a great change from the heat and tropical jungles of the Philippines. Spring on Kent’s campus was a time to get out, play, and enjoy college life beyond books. My initial impression was that students were carefree. I noticed they took time to just have fun, smile, give life a tug, and to take the pressure off studying (Photos 15, 16, and 17). This was what I thought campus life was all about—a mixture of playful college traditions with a balance of serious study. I soon learned there was much more. LeRoi Jones, a respected and controversial poet and dramatist, captivated students with his thoughts on “Blacks in America” during Kent’s annual Think Week program (Photo 19). The theme: “The Black Man

3 Photo 15. Students splash water and get splattered with mud at a mud fight, one of the campus’s annual spring events. There is camaraderie and playfulness as students immerse themselves.

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Right: Photos 16 and 17. Sororities engage in a tug-of-war to celebrate spring and the end of the school year. Smiling faces show the spirit of participants and onlookers. Below: Photo 18. The packed Memorial Gymnasium listens intently as LeRoi Jones, Muhammad Ali, Charles Evers, and Charles Hamilton address the question of “the black man’s search for identity,” during Think Week.

in Society; Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” Speakers included Muhammad Ali, boxing champion; Charles Evers, Mississippi field director of the NAACP; and Charles Hamilton, Columbia University professor and author of Black Power: The Politics of Liberation. Jones delivered an impressive talk, honest and serious, and reminded blacks to follow who they were and to “not be someone you are not.” It made me think of the challenging black experience as different speakers shared different views of how to live in a “white world.” Looking at this picture I took nearly 50 years ago (Photo 18), I am reminded of how divided we were and how impressed I was by the speakers’ direct words about the role of blacks in society. The audience in Kent’s Memorial Gym was a mix of students from the campus. Enrollment in 1969 was around 18,000 with about 600 African American students. The Black United Students (BUS) was formally recognized in 1968 and was one of the oldest organizations on campus. This was an impressive week for me, not just as a photographer but also as a participant. Students were serious. They paid attention and listened intently. Looking at the audience in the photo (18), you can feel the quietness of the moment. Everyone listened; no one spoke. You could hear a pin drop. Both black and white were focused on the message. David Ruffin, one of America’s best-known soul singers and one of the lead singers for the Temptations, closed Think Week with a concert. He sang many of his classic hits, including “My Girl,” “Since I Lost My Baby,” and “I’m Losing You,” in the Memorial Gym on a Saturday night. The InBetweeners, a British group, opened for Ruffin and later joined him onstage to close

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the concert—not just to sing but also to reinforce Ruffin’s statement that “if we can live together here, we can live together anywhere” (Photo 20). Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a small but vocal group during the spring of 1969. This photo (21) reminds me of the attention SDS received as I count several members of campus media in attendance taking photos along with local TV crews. They demanded the university shut down ROTC, the Department of Defense’s Liquid Crystal Institute, and the state crime lab and stop proffering advanced degrees in law enforcement. Regarded by the public as a disruptive force on

Above: Photo 19. LeRoi Jones speaks to students during Think Week in the Kent Memorial Gym, April 8, 1969. His hand tightens its grip on the lectern during his presentation, demonstrating his passion. Left: Photo 20. The InBetweeners join David Ruffin (center) and close his concert Saturday, April 12, 1969, in the Memorial Gym. The audience responded with a 30-minute standing ovation.

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Photo 21. Students gather in front of the Music and Speech Building as Students for a Democratic Society announce their demands that the school shut down ROTC and the Liquid Crystal Institute. Local television camera crews record the protest.

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campus, they drew a lot of media attention. The majority of students did not actively support SDS, and likely many didn’t even know what it stood for. By early 1970, SDS had lost its charter and its leaders were no longer on campus. This political activity brought to my attention how one group, regardless of its numbers, demanded media attention when they chose to disrupt or demonstrate. This kind of activity received more front-page coverage than academic or positive community involvement. Sadly, I found this true as I pursued my photography. Popular Photography magazine published my photo (22) as the lead photo in an article titled “The Photographer and the Creative Process” in its May 1972 issue. This was my first non–May 4 photo published in a national magazine. I really enjoyed seeing my photo published as it validated my photographic capabilities. Many students were not involved with politics, other than wanting the Vietnam War to end, hating the draft, and wishing they could vote at the age of 18 instead of 21. They had enough to keep busy with classes and extracurricular activities. Fraternities and sororities had their parties and their socializing. Being involved in a club or school organization kept most students busy. Sports on campus were a good outlet for some to watch and cheer on their team (Photo 23). A traditional spring activity involved campus admin­istrators riding tricycles in front of the Administration Building to show everyone they were not all business and could be fun-loving guys. It worked. The camera records the spirit of the event (Photo 24). I saw a group protesting and decided to join them. I handed my camera to a friend and eased my way into the

Left: Photo 22. Orin Richburg (center), senior track captain for KSU, runs the hundred-yard dash. I see muscles, power, and determination. Richburg has his eyes focused on the goal. Below: Photo 23. Rugby attracts students with a similar determination. It’s a game of strong-willed athletes whose purpose is to play hard and have fun.

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Right: Photo 24. Not every day is serious, as these Kent administrators demonstrate. These administrators ride tricycles to keep in the spirit of spring with playful activity. As demanding as their positions are, their expressions show they enjoy getting out of the office for some fun.

protestors. I wasn’t sure what they were protesting, but that wasn’t the point. I was now part of this rally. What they were doing and what they represented was more important than worrying about being photographed. Many chanted and others looked on and some even took photos. I did this to better understand what it would be like to have my photograph taken by strangers (Photo 25). This gave me a perspective of what it felt like to be the subject and not the photographer. When I switched roles, it made me aware of my role to document the truth, whatever the situation. I learned that no one really minded the use of cameras because they were focused on the event. This was an eye-opening experience. This helped me realize my responsibility when taking photographs of students protesting. I took photos after that, but I made every effort to be invisible, or at least unintrusive. I wasn’t there to get into someone’s face but just to record a moment in time without anyone reacting to my presence. It dawned on me that someone who didn’t want their photo taken may not be comfortable with their actions.

Left: Photo 25. I give my camera to a friend and join the protestors while he takes pictures. Before selfies, another person usually had to capture the moment. (Photo courtesy of William McGuire) 20 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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FALL/WINTER 1969 Traditions and Campus Unrest

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October started the 1969 fall quarter with many activities for new and returning students to get together. Greek Week opened the doors to sororities and fraternities. A few weeks later homecoming welcomed alumni and parents to the campus where a king and queen were crowned, a football game was scheduled, and big-name performers entertained students and guests alike. Amid these traditional festivities, students held rallies to protest the Vietnam War. Greek Week had everything from pledging, water fights, and tugs-o’-war to a concert by Sly and the Family Stone. The Sly concert was the weekend hit. Sly came onstage with his muttonchops, long hair, and an outrageous hippie outfit (Photo 26). Band members wore headbands and equally funky clothes. Students,

Photo 26. Sly and the Family Stone walk onstage to complete Greek Week with their funk and psychedelic music. After a long standing ovation, the band plays an even longer encore as the audience claps and many students dance in the aisles. FALL /WINTER 1969  21

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however, wore their best date-night clothes and looked like they were going to job interviews (Photo 27). None of that mattered as Sly’s music got everyone off their seats, clapping their hands and dancing. They performed hits like “Stand,” “Dance to the Music,” “I Want to Take You Higher,” and many others. The enthusiasm became infectious, and the room was alive with the crowd’s energy. Kent students’ conservative side was revealed by how they dressed for the Sly concert. Underneath that facade, however, was the growing concern about the Vietnam War. Many students shared a desire for the war to end and the troops to come home. The resistance to the war grew as protests spread across the country from campus to campus to city streets. Through their protests, students demanded their voices be heard. Kent State was my introduction to antiwar protests. It was mid-October 1969 and students made signs to get ready for a march. They were determined and excited to join the antiwar movement. I expected a wild and rowdy bunch of students dressed like hippies and radicals. Instead, I witnessed hundreds of concerned students feeling energized to be part of a larger movement to end the war. These weren’t radicals or hippies. They were mild-mannered conservatives from mostly blue-collar

Left: Photo 27. Students fill the Memorial Gymnasium to hear Sly and the Family Stone perform their hits, and soon their poised demeanor is swept up in contagious energy. Facing page: Photo 28. Students grab signs and a banner as they leave the university campus and head to downtown Kent to protest the Vietnam War on October 16, 1969. The woman standing behind the letter A is Allison Krause, one of four students killed by the Ohio National Guard nearly a year later. 22 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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Above: Photo 29. Kent students march peacefully through Kent with their messages to “Stop the War Machine” and “Bring All the Troops Home Now.” Right: Photo 30. Elizabeth Calhoun is voted homecoming queen in 1969. Homecoming attracted alumni and families to the school to reunite with friends, have fun, and support the university. Facing page: Photo 31. With the US Capitol in the background, on November 15, 1969, protesters gather to demand an end to the Vietnam War.

families. They shouted antiwar slogans and marched. They were angry and empowered. They wanted the community to know they were against the war and wanted the war to end. They didn’t throw rocks or spray-paint slogans on buildings. They marched loudly but peacefully voiced their dissent (Photo 29). I didn’t know Allison Krause when I took this photo (28). I knew very few students at the time. She didn’t appear to be either a radical or a hippie. She marched, sang, and clapped her hands, telling the world, “Give peace a chance.” Kent State students impressed me with their quiet manner and a matter-of-fact attitude about being in college. With enrollment of about 18,000, most students were not politically active. Like me, many students were the first from their families to go to college. Many became involved with sororities and fraternities. Sports were an attraction for many others, as spectators or participants. The university sponsored many clubs and organizations for students. Kent also was known as a “suitcase” campus because many students went home on the weekends. During 1969, SDS, the Weathermen, and other politically active groups could be found on campus. While their numbers were small, they were often disruptive and loud; these were the true radicals. I remember they made demands to end ROTC and close the DOD’s Liquid Crystal Institute, among others. These groups attracted media attention and were often featured in the Daily Kent Stater (Photo 21). A week after students marched through Kent, it was homecoming. A queen was crowned, a football game was played, and concerts were held (Photo 30). Alumni

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and parents swelled the campus. This was my first homecoming as a college student. I was amazed at the amount of activity on campus. T-shirts, sweatshirts, key chains, and anything displaying the university name or “Golden Flashes” (the university’s athletic teams) printed on it was for sale. Students at Kent, while conservative in appearance, were as much against the war as students on other college campuses. Before the demonstrations at Kent State, other Ohio schools, including the University of Akron, Ohio University, Dayton University, Miami University, and Ohio State University, experienced student demonstrations and unrest. As the war dragged on and more and more soldiers were killed, the sentiment to end it grew. With the neverending media coverage of the war, there was nowhere to escape the atrocities that were taking place. The protestors had to go to Washington, DC, to tell the president directly. These were emotional and troubling times. I was against the war. I was a veteran, and I was a photographer. I took photos of protestors to support their efforts to bring the war to an end. Four of us from the Daily Kent Stater decided to drive to Washington, DC, to join the antiwar protest on November 15, just a few weeks after homecoming. This was another adventure. I had never been to the capital. We drove for 10 hours with only short breaks along the way, arriving Friday evening in time to watch the “March against Death,” which began on that Thursday. It was cold, and there was a stillness Photo 32. The crowd stretches across the National Mall and around the Washington Monument, November 1969. People came to DC to protest the government’s continued involvement in Vietnam. 26 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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in the air. I watched as person after person walked by with a lit candle and the name of a deceased soldier on a placard that they gently placed in a coffin on display. This was solemn. Each person passed with that flickering candle. No words were spoken; none were needed. Afterward we went to George Washington University where 18 of us slept on the floor of a dorm room—our feet pointing to the center. This was incredibly exciting. This was my first road trip and my first big anti–Vietnam War demonstration. I had no idea of what to expect. The energy of the cool November air was invigorating. I found my way into the crowd, after separating from my Kent colleagues. I asked where the march would begin and who would be there. I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures. These weren’t just hippies and students, but parents, men in suits, laborers, and even a few vendors selling items to the crowd. I also wanted to get pictures of the speakers and those leading the march. There was so much to see and feel. Saturday we went to the National Mall where we joined thousands of people protesting the war. I had never seen this many people in one place. People wore heavy coats, hats, and even blankets over their shoulders to try to keep warm. This was the largest demonstration against the Vietnam War in US history with more than 500,000 people. When I look at these photos (31 and 32), I am taken aback by the lack of protest signs, banners, and T-shirts. With people stretched around the Washington Monument, I was impressed by the size of the crowd and by their focus and steadfastness to be part of something so big it would make the government take notice. Looking

at these photos today, I see people who know it is their presence that makes a difference, not the signs they carry or the T-shirts they wear. I needed to push my way through the crowds to find where the march began. After a lot of walking and nudging my way around, I came to the beginning of the parade. I stood in awe as I spotted Coretta Scott King and George McGovern at the front of the parade. I nudged my way through to get as close as I could and took my photos. Locked arm in arm, King, McGovern, and others showed the strength of their unity and commitment (Photo 33). I was moved to be so close to such committed and important people who opposed the war.

Photo 33. Senator Charles Goodell, Coretta Scott King, and senator George McGovern lead the largest antiwar march in the history of the United States on November 15, 1969. Marshals keep the crowd back to allow the march to proceed without incident.

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Photo 34. Dr. Benjamin Spock, noted author on childcare and antiwar activist, speaks to the crowd of protestors in Washington, DC.

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This demonstration attracted young and old from every state. They gathered on that cold November day to take a stand against our government’s involvement in Vietnam. This was a peaceful gathering with a purpose and a determination. Everyone wanted the government to end the war. Dr. Benjamin Spock, an outspoken critic about the Vietnam War, was one of several speakers at the demonstration to end the Vietnam War (Photo 34). He was a vocal critic of the war and of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He stood against the draft and sending young men to war. The crowd of people of all ages listened as he shared his thoughts, his message resonating with the protestors. With so many people, it was difficult to move. I had to edge my way in to get photographs. I continued to make my way through the throngs of people and found Senator McCarthy as he stood in the crowd and answered questions while photographers snapped away (Photo 35). The crowd was young and old, black and white, and they all shared the same goal of ending the war. When I am in a crowd, regardless of its purpose, I strive to set aside my personal opinions and feelings. My attention is directed only on the event or the subject. I focus my camera and it keeps me focused on the task at hand. After so many decades, I don’t recall the words of Spock, McGovern, King, or others. When I am not looking at my photographs and I just pause and think about that time, I still am able to recall what really touched me. It was Pete Seeger singing John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” (Photo 36). However, it was more than Pete’s words. It was the swell of the crowd and the wave upon

Left: Photo 35. Senator Eugene McCarthy responds to reporters and photographers. Below: Photo 36. Pete Seeger, with his wife, Toshi Aline, at his side, leads the crowd in singing John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”

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wave of the refrain filling the National Mall and resonating out to the world: All we are saying is give peace a chance. All we are saying is give peace a chance.

Wherever I looked there were thousands of people. They chanted and sang and announced their displeasure with Nixon’s war. I took photographs and supported their sentiment. I felt proud to be a part of this event and

to capture images that mirrored my feelings when, long before May 4, 1970, the government still recognized our freedom to dissent. I was there to photograph the rally, hoping to capture the spirit of the protestors and their purposefulness. I was in the crowd but not part of the crowd. Because of their intense passion and orderly, single-minded purpose, I was able to freely capture the moment.

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SPRING QUARTER AND JERRY RUBIN

The Daily Kent Stater had announced that the country’s highest-profile antiwar activist, Jerry Rubin, would be on campus to speak April 10, 1970. I had heard about Jerry Rubin but had never seen him in person. He was a yippee, a member of the Youth International Party, and was one of the founding members of the radical group. He was scheduled to talk about “revolution.” This was Kent’s first spring rally for 1970. The crowd, estimated at 2,000, was dressed warmly for a cool and damp day. Everyone seemed attentive and engaged as they listened in rapt attention to every word Rubin said. I could feel his seriousness and the passion about what he believed. While his message was revolution, his purpose was to collect money for the Chicago Eight (which later became known as the Chicago Seven) and the Kent chapter of SDS. At the time, not all students knew the acronym stood for Students for a Democratic Society, but most were aware it was a radical, antiwar student political organization, growing stronger on college campuses across the country as the Vietnam War dominated the news.

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Photo 37. Jerry Rubin speaks of revolution near the Administration Building on Kent’s front campus.

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Photo 38. Antiwar activist Jerry Rubin grows annoyed with all the media attention and makes a hand gesture to express his feelings.

As I scan the crowd in the photo (37), I see some students are smiling while others appear more serious. However, everyone is focused on what Rubin says. He clutches the microphone with both hands, reinforcing his passion as he speaks to the crowd. I knew he was one of the Chicago Eight who was arrested during the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots in Chicago. He spoke about his views of the world and why he felt a revolution in America was needed. He spoke with feeling and conviction, adamant about what he believed and wanting you to know it and to understand why. He stated, “Being young in America is illegal.” Those words triggered a roaring, positive response from the students. I understood from his talk that he felt the youth of America was trapped by the rules of living with their parents and all the rules of society that told us what we could and couldn’t do. The message was aimed at toppling society’s rules of conformity that had been hammered at home and on campuses to try to keep young people in line. According to the Kent Stater, “He felt that the most important thing that could be done would be to free children from suburbs, since they are imprisoned there by their parents and their environment.” What I remember most about Rubin that day was his passionate message about revolution and how little respect he had for society. “America is a sick society because it is a nation of people just doing their jobs, just like Nazi Germany,” he said.1

1. “Jerry Rubin: We Are a Generation of Obscenities,” Daily Kent Stater, Apr. 14, 1970. 32 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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After a while, Rubin showed his displeasure with my camera focused on him by giving me the middle finger (Photo 38). I was standing about 20 feet from him and just repositioned my camera for a different photo when he gestured. No one before had ever given me the finger for taking his picture. This really took me by surprise. Of course, that didn’t stop me; I continued taking photos of Rubin and others at the rally. Rubin’s wife, Nancy Rubin, supported his visit to Kent and re­inforced his views on the country and his views about justice and oppression. Her appearance also helped to reinforce the Rubin image, wearing a blouse with peace symbols and carrying a beaded and fringed bag (Photo 40). This was a popular look of the times and stereotypical of peace activists. Above: Photo 39. A student with a Baskin-Robbins ice cream bucket roams through the crowd and collects money for Rubin’s cause. Far left: Photo 40. Nancy Rubin, Jerry Rubin’s wife, takes a turn at the microphone. Left: Photo 41. Flashing the peace sign, Jerry Rubin ends his talk.

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A sympathetic student walked through the crowd with a Baskin-Robbins ice cream bucket, and people pitched in for Rubin’s cause (Photo 39). There appeared to be empathy with Rubin and his message. This was the first rally I attended where money was collected for the speaker. Rubin made people think that day. He didn’t urge them to get up and protest; he wanted them to

understand his views about the country and decide what their own place would be in the world. With his talk completed, Rubin raised his hand in the peace sign as he left the podium (Photo 41). I took this gesture as a call to take a stand if we are ever to create peace in the world.

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MAY 1, 1970, FRIDAY Noon Rally

Until May 1, 1970, my photography documented campus life in and around Kent State. The ringing of the Victory Bell was my first image that day (Photo 42). It announced the start of a rally. I captured the bell ringing, the hand moving it, and people gathering and sitting down. The sound of this bell would lead to a bigger and more tragic story over the next few days. Friday, May 1, through Monday, May 4, almost blur together. How could I have known this time would be a turning point not just for Kent State but for the country, the Vietnam War, and me personally when, on May 4, four students would be killed and nine wounded by the Ohio National Guard? It was 13 seconds of gunshots that tore through the soul of our country. I woke up Friday morning, almost three weeks after Rubin’s talk on campus, and thought about Nixon’s televised announcement to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia. I was upset and I wondered how other students would react. Four of my brothers were either

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Photo 42. About 500 students gather on the lawn behind the Victory Bell on May 1, 1970, to attend a rally arranged by graduate history students in response to Nixon’s decision to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia.

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Photo 43. Students gather near the Victory Bell to hear about Nixon’s expansion of the war. This rally provides a way for students to get information on the latest events that happened overnight.

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in the service or eligible. I had high school friends who had either been killed or wounded. I really had no idea why the United States was waging war in Viet­nam. I could hardly watch the television feeds of napalm being dropped. I enlisted in the US Air Force to avoid being drafted and to use the GI Bill to go to school. I firmly believed the war had to end. I felt Nixon’s action would intensify the antiwar sentiment on campus. The previous fall, students marched through the campus and the city of Kent demanding an end to the war and an order to bring all our troops home. With this expansion, more young men would be drafted and more lives would be lost. Families would suffer and the war would continue. On my way to class that morning I learned that a rally would be held at noon at the Victory Bell to protest Nixon’s expansion of the war. As it got closer to noon, the Victory Bell rang and rang. The ringing of the bell used to signal a victory for sports teams. But in the 1960s the bell was also rung to gather students for political rallies. The Victory Bell was donated by the Erie Railroad and given to the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity in 1950. A few years later, a monument to house the bell was constructed at the foot of Blanket Hill and remains part of the image linked to the bell’s role in history. In 1970 the toll of the bell was equivalent to a tweet, summoning those within earshot to gather. I watched as more than 500 students sat down on the grass this beautiful day. This carpet of green, which had long been an established venue for free speech on campus, had become the site to hear updates on the war. As I look at this image (Photo 43) today, I see students truly interested in learning more about Nixon’s

expansion of the war into Cambodia. Notice their expressions. They care about what is happening and are eager to learn more. I also was ready to learn about Nixon’s decision to send more troops and bombers into Cambodia. I didn’t have a TV in my dorm room and didn’t hear the Nixon announcement. I noticed administrators wearing suits and ties standing behind the students; they are noticeable from the far left to the far right. Why were they there? I believe that because of the strong antiwar sentiment on campus and across the country, they were there to observe and monitor what they hoped would remain a peaceful crowd. In front of the crowd on the hill were history graduate students at the Victory Bell (Photo 44). They called

Photo 44. This photo shows the relationship between the seated students in the crowd and the graduate students at the Victory Bell. These history graduate students represented WHORE (World Historians Opposed to Racism and Exploitation). They called the rally to denounce Nixon’s public declaration to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia. (Kent State News Service photo courtesy of Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.)

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Right: Photo 45. Graduate student Tom Dubis opened the protest by noting Nixon’s televised announcement to expand the war into Cambodia without the consent of Congress. Far right: Photos 46 and 47. The History Department ensured that every group was represented at the protest and made sure a woman and a black man spoke to the crowd.

their group WHORE (World Historians Opposed to Racism and Exploitation). To demonstrate their displeasure with President Nixon’s decision, they would bury a copy of the US Constitution, a symbolic act representing how “Nixon murdered the Constitution.” Along with the graduate students at the Victory Bell, two shovels lean against the wall, at the ready to dig a hole for the symbolic murder victim. The protest against the president’s action was sparked by the fact that he had not received the consent of Congress, as required by the Constitution. Tom Dubis took the microphone as the crowd settled. He welcomed students to join with him and the other graduate students to protest President Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War (Photo 45). He stated that Nixon took action without the consent of Congress. He reinforced the fact that the president did not have authority to do this. The crowd took in the reports and listened intently. This was one way students could get news of world events—at a rally in a time of no Internet, no cell phones, no social 38 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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media, and no 24-hour news cycles. In addition, most students did not have easy access to a TV, with a dormitory often having just one in the commons area living room. If they were curious enough, students attended a rally to keep informed. Speakers at the rally seemed to represent inclusion more than diversity. When I look at images of these two unidentified speakers (Photos 46 and 47), a woman and a black man, I get the feeling the protest organizers intentionally wanted to let the crowd know that everyone was united, or should be. This wasn’t just a white male protest against the war; it was everyone’s protest and everyone’s war. Look at the photo (46) of the woman; notice that one of the protest leaders has his back turned to the crowd and the speaker so as not to take attention away from the person talking. I remember thinking that no one wanted to work the crowd into a yelling protest and shouting frenzy. The rally was planned simply to inform students and reinforce the day’s reality with a symbolic burying of the Constitution. These grads needed to vent their anger and wanted others to bear witness to the burying of the Constitution and simply feel the same pain and frustration. Steve Sharoff, history graduate student and teaching assistant, explained to the crowd that the graduate students were there to bury a copy of the US Constitution because Nixon invaded Cambodia without the consent of Congress, as required by the Constitution (Photo 48). According to these grads, “Nixon murdered the Constitution”; therefore, it was dead and needed to be buried. Sharoff appears serious about his intent. I understood the rhetoric but didn’t see this as anything but symbolic. To disregard the Constitution is to disrespect the purpose of

Photo 48. Graduate student Steve Sharoff urges the crowd to understand the severity of Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia without the consent of Congress. He spoke with intensity and engaged the crowd.

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Photo 49. Student James Geary burns his discharge papers to protest Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War.

Photo 50. Student Tim Butz burns his draft notice. He served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne and was a member of Kent’s Veterans Against the War.

the Constitution. The student speakers stressed how the president’s action violated the laws on which our country was founded. As a member of the 101st Airborne and a recipient of the Silver Star Medal for bravery in action, James Geary burned his discharge papers (Photo 49). He made his position about the war very clear and public. I understood this as an antiwar gesture, but like me, Geary used the GI Bill for his education. We all wanted the war to end. I served during the Vietnam War but was never sent there. I did not burn my discharge papers and, in fact, still have them. I remain proud of my service. But I didn’t, in my heart, ever support the war. A second student burned his draft notice to demonstrate his anger with the war while Geary watched (Photo 50). This didn’t change his draft status, but it probably felt good. His sentiment was clear. On December 1, 1969, the draft was replaced with a lottery system. Males born between 1944 and 1950 were entered into the lottery. Capsules representing months and days (1–366, including February 29) were withdrawn randomly from a large glass jar, giving everyone an equal chance to have his birthdate called. The earlier the month and day of your birth were selected, the greater the chance you would be called into the service. Students were allowed to finish the term they were in; college deferments were, therefore, eliminated. Amid all the rhetoric about the Constitution, another grad student suddenly jumped up from where he was sitting and challenged Sharoff about burying the document (Photo 51). Notice the two grad students on the wall laughing and smiling; they didn’t take the dispute seriously. This confrontation came out of nowhere and appeared to be

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staged and even rehearsed. In all likelihood, it was done to get the crowd aroused and more interested in what was going on. As the crowd watched, a shallow “grave” for a copy of the Constitution was prepared (Photo 52). Sharoff’s burial of the document concluded the symbolic statement against Nixon’s expansion of the war (Photo 53). The lunch period was over. Everyone who attended the gathering learned more about the Vietnam War and President Nixon’s plan to expand the fighting into Cambodia. After listening to the speakers, I, too, better understood how Nixon’s actions were unconstitutional. With the Constitution buried and the crowd beginning to leave, the grad students packed up and went on their way. One last grad student seized this as an opportunity to speak to the dwindling crowd and remind them how important the rally was and that the discussion about the war needed to continue. He urged students to return to the same place at noon on Monday, May 4, to decide what they could do about the expansion of Nixon’s war. I recall thinking that he didn’t say, “Let’s meet here later today,” or ,“Let’s meet Saturday or Sunday.” This was a suitcase campus, and the graduate students knew very few students would be on campus during the weekend. The rest of the afternoon was very quiet. Many students had left for the weekend. At about three in the afternoon, I noticed that the Black United Students (BUS) held a meeting on front campus with Dwayne “Brother Fargo” White, BUS president, as one of the key speakers (Photo 54). White encouraged BUS members to avoid conflict and demonstrations on campus in order to avoid being implicated in any unrest.

Above: Photo 51. A graduate student, also part of WHORE, challenges Steve Sharoff about burying the Constitution. Some students were amused by the upset student and did not take him seriously. Left: Photos 52 and 53. Sharoff digs a hole behind the Victory Bell to bury the Constitution. He places the Constitution into its grave, covers it with dirt, and then pats it down to complete the burial.

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After other BUS members spoke, the crowd of about 300 dispersed. During the rest of the weekend through Monday, May 4, very few black students were seen on campus. Black enrollment at Kent was approximately 600, while there were more than 18,000 students on campus. A few black campus leaders can be seen in some photos of May 4, but most blacks steered clear of the events that weekend. This was 1970, and racism was an issue. Blacks knew they could be at risk if they got involved with any antiwar activity. By Saturday evening the National Guard was on campus. When I look at the photos of the Guard, I don’t see any blacks, even though they were just as much antiwar as the rest of the students.

Photo 54. On the same afternoon as the burial of the Constitution, Dwayne White, president of Black United Students, urges the group’s members to avoid any campus conflict or rallies in the coming days.

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MAY 2, 1970, SATURDAY The ROTC Building

There were rumors floating around Saturday morning, May 2, and well into the evening that the ROTC building might be set on fire. Otherwise, the campus was like most other Saturdays: deserted and quiet with just a few students walking around. Nothing was happening near Johnson Hall, my dorm, nor at Taylor Hall, the journalism school next door. As I meandered around, I heard about the ruckus in downtown Kent that happened late Friday night and early Saturday morning. I heard that students on Water Street had set trash on fire in the middle of the road and had vandalized storefronts and broken windows. Later we learned that about 50 storefront windows had been broken.1 Earlier that evening I saw students around the Commons and Blanket Hill, usually one or two together. I noticed that some individuals carried backpacks, which was not typical at Kent State. Students didn’t use backpacks then. Instead, they carried books in their arms.

7 Photo 55. Demonstrators target the Air Force ROTC building late Saturday evening, viewing it as part of the military presence in Vietnam.

1. Akron Beacon Journal, May 24, 1970. MAY 2 , 1970, SATURDAY  43

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Facing page: Photo 56. Kent firefighters work long into the evening and early morning to keep the fire down and the area safe. Left: Photo 57. Two individuals stand and watch the ROTC building smolder very early Sunday morning.

As I continued walking, I felt something strange in the air, something unsettling. The city of Kent had declared a state of emergency in town and closed all the bars on Friday night, telling students to return to campus. As it grew later, I saw more people moving about. There appeared to be students near the ROTC building. Because of rumors I’d heard earlier about burning the building, I headed toward it. ROTC was housed in an old World War II frame structure where classes were taught.

This aging structure stood as a reminder to everyone that we had a military installation on campus and that the university supported training of future military officers. With such hatred for the war, the building became an easy target of antiwar sentiment, but nothing in my military experience prepared me for the kind of activism that was about to occur. Standing near the ROTC building with a crowd of people, I watched as flames at the back of the building MAY 2 , 1970, SATURDAY  45

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Photo 58. Silhouetted National Guardsmen file onto campus and claim the territory around the rubble that was the ROTC building.

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ignited. I didn’t take photos; I didn’t have a flash and it was dark, with the flames distant and small, like kindling. I hurried into the closest building, a girls’ dormitory, to try to watch from a safe vantage point, but there was nothing to see. When I came out of the dorm, however, flames flickered in different places, but the ROTC building had not yet caught fire. It was like someone was trying to ignite the building with burning paper or trash, but it wasn’t enough to get it to burn on its own. While I stood there and watched, student journalist Bill Armstrong, the Daily Kent Stater editor, walked over to me and said he had heard the National Guard was in the city and we should check it out. At the time, I was still a Stater photographer. No one ever predicted or assumed what would unfold before my lens on May 4. Armstrong and I headed off front campus at a quick pace when all of a sudden three National Guardsmen jumped out from behind the trees and pointed their M1 rifles with fixed bayonets at us. They stopped us in our tracks, and we immediately stood still. They asked where we were going and told us there was a curfew and we had to stay on campus. Armstrong told them he was the editor of the campus newspaper and showed his press credentials. They let us go. Well, we had our answer. The National Guard certainly was in town and already on campus. I shook with fear. We entered town and observed the Guard there with military vehicles. With that knowledge, we headed back to the ROTC building. As we got closer, we could see flames leaping into the air. There was a lot of commotion. The local police and fire departments were on the scene. All we could do was stand there and watch.

Later that weekend we heard a few students had interfered with the firefighters by slashing a fire hose in order to prevent them from putting out the fire. Sunday morning at about 2 a.m., I snapped a photo (57) of two individuals silently watching the remains of the ROTC building that was now merely glowing embers and filling the air with smoke. At the far-left edge of the photo is a white star—it’s on the side of a National Guard vehicle that brought troops onto the campus. I stayed up later, into the morning, and watched as the National Guard took up positions on the campus. I had a surreal feeling as I observed the movement of armed troops. Where did they come from? How did they get here so quickly? What kind of trouble would happen when students arrived back on campus after the weekend? The firefighter I captured in one photo (56) looked at me, and I wondered if he thought I was going to cause trouble. I moved on. Firefighters did everything to ensure the flames were completely extinguished. As I watched the building smolder, I wondered what would happen next. What would this do to my university? I knew other college campuses around the country, and elsewhere in Ohio, had problems with protestors and rioters, but I had not heard of another ROTC building being burned to the ground. I knew this was not the end of the protest, but I didn’t know it would become a deadly war between armed National Guardsmen and unarmed students. The ROTC Building was burned to the ground and the flames were kept under control by the Kent Fire Department. The National Guard erected a flimsy picket fence around the area to keep away curiosity seekers

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Photo 59. Students stare out of their dorm windows early Sunday morning as National Guard troops occupy campus.

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Photo 60. A National Guardsman patrols around the shell of the burned down ROTC Building that was destroyed late Saturday evening by antiwar protestors.

(Photo 60). The presence of the Guard not only surprised some students but also drew their resentment. As I headed back to Johnson Hall to try to get some sleep, I noticed students as they peered out dorm windows (Photo 59). From their vantage point they could see the smoldering ROTC building and the National Guard as they moved into the area. When I got to my dorm, it was already early Sunday morning. After a rest-

less sleep, and knowing what had happened with the ROTC building and now tensions from the ever-present National Guard, I wondered what Sunday would bring. The next morning I heard it was the Kent mayor and the Ohio governor who had ordered troops onto campus. Curfews were now in effect not just for the campus but for the city too. Movement of students was restricted and any violations would result in arrest. Kent State University MAY 2 , 1970, SATURDAY  49

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was a campus under military rule. I could not think of how this would end, but I felt something was very wrong and very dangerous. With the ROTC building burned to the ground and with all that had happened since Friday, the campus would certainly not be “normal” anytime soon. I thought

the school might close on Monday. There was no way to know what action the administration would take, what role the National Guard would take, or what students would do next. No one could predict the tragedy that would unfold.

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MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY Governor Rhodes and the National Guard on Campus

The fact that the ROTC building had burned to the ground the night before and the National Guard was now firmly in place on campus didn’t seem to faze students, who appeared to walk through the area without a second thought. It seemed to me that everyone accepted what had happened Saturday night and they were just going on with business as usual. The Guard now occupied campus and their purpose seemed to be to surround and protect a burned-out building. This seemed silly to me and probably to everyone else who looked at the Guardsmen with their rifles standing around ashen remains. The damage already was done. What were they protecting? Returning to campus Sunday morning, students crossed a row of parked Ohio National Guard military vehicles and troops in front of the school’s administration buildings. As I look at the photo (61), I wonder what they thought as they walked on the grass beside the sidewalk. What did they think of the National Guard being there? Did they wonder how long the Guard would remain? I felt the Guard’s job was done. The ROTC building was

burned down. The protesting had stopped. There were no rumors of more protesting or of more buildings being set on fire. Everything had quieted down, so why weren’t they leaving? Looking at this photo (62), I remember having a weird feeling about what was happening. Military vehicles, including troop carriers and jeeps, were stationed on the main road in front of the university’s administration buildings. One vehicle was an armored personnel carrier (the one in the center with a large white star). Why would they need this on a college campus? As I look closer at the photo now, I see two Guardsmen stationed at the entrance to the building. Their role was unclear to me. In addition, the absence of university administrators made me uncomfortable. Were we under martial law? Why were so many National Guardsmen still here? The protests and the burning of the ROTC building had demonstrated students’ objection to any military influence on the campus. It seemed to me the presence of the National Guard would only create a new focus for any MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY  51

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Photo 61. Students walk around the burned-out ROTC building Sunday morning as they return to campus after the weekend. A flimsy wooden fence had been erected while they were gone, and National Guardsmen are posted at the building to keep gawkers from getting too close.

additional protests. How could the Guard’s presence do anything to quell students’ feelings about war and military intervention on our campus? Not only was the Guard on campus, but Gov. James Rhodes would soon be arriving. Around 10 a.m. Ohio governor James Rhodes and an entourage of officials arrived at the area of the destroyed ROTC building (Photo 63). They were there to survey the

damage on campus and to determine what they would do about student protestors. I didn’t hear of students or anyone arrested for starting the fire, so who would be blamed? Rhodes was obviously upset. As governor he appeared ineffective to his constituents; he couldn’t control antiwar protestors on his state universities, not even at a conservative school like Kent State.

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I knew this was a political event when I saw local press and TV cameras arrive on the scene. The governor was running for a US Con­gressional Senate seat and the election was May 5, just two days away. When I heard this, I realized his viewing of the burned-out ROTC building likely was planned to get media coverage across the state. The governor needed to demonstrate to the general public he was against protestors terrorizing campuses. He wanted to impress on voters that he was the law-andorder candidate so they would send him to Washington. He had to show he was in control. What would he do? At this point nobody knew, but he would definitely have to take some action. This was the first time I took pictures alongside professional photographers. I watched as they positioned themselves, focused, and captured images. I knew this was their job and tomorrow their photos would be published. This, however, was just my personal assignment; I didn’t know if my photos were important or would ever be published. I just wanted to keep documenting the events of the weekend (Photo 64). Rhodes observed the ROTC rifles that were damaged by the fire (Photo 65). These were precision drill rifles for marching drills; they were not capable of firing. The tour of the ROTC building took less than an hour, and then Rhodes left along with Adj. Gen. Sylvester Del Corso, Kent mayor LeRoy Satrom, and an unnamed official. I wondered how long he would remain on campus or in town. I was interested in whether I would get another opportunity to take his picture. Unfortunately, I didn’t see him again. Only photographers with press credentials would get that chance. And, unfortunately for the governor, later that same week voters failed to elect him to Congress.

Above: Photo 62. Ohio National Guard vehicles and Guardsmen assemble on the road in front of the Administration Building on Sunday morning. Left: Photo 63. Ohio governor James Rhodes (right, foreground) arrives at the ROTC building with federal, state, city, and school administrators Sunday morning to observe the aftermath of protests at Kent State University.

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With Rhodes gone, I walked around campus and was surprised to discover more evidence of the protestors. The visitor information kiosk had broken windows. In one photo (66), a school official wearing a black hat takes notes on the damage, while a university photographer takes photos for evidence. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to damage the kiosk. This was just a place to get information; it had nothing to do with the military or politics. I took my photos and continued walking around. Now that the governor and the media were no longer around, the campus returned to its quiet self.

Above: Photo 64. Governor Rhodes (left) observes charred remnants of the ROTC building. Left: Photo 65. Ohio National Guard Adj. Gen. Sylvester Del Corso (second from right) responds to a reporter’s questions as Governor Rhodes (left) looks on. Behind Del Corso is Kent mayor LeRoy Satrom, wearing sunglasses. On the ground are drill rifles for ROTC cadets. 54 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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The shed that stored archery supplies had been burned down the same night as the ROTC building (Photo 67). Destroying the archery shed was just an act of vandalism for the sake of it, while burning the ROTC building was an intentional act to protest the war and military. Again, I thought destroying the shed was senseless destruction of school property. I didn’t find anything else damaged as I continued wandering around campus, but I am confident there was more that I just didn’t see. After Rhodes and the other officials left the ROTC building, Paul Tople, Akron Beacon Journal photographer and Kent student, drove us to the elementary school where the Guardsmen had spent the night (Photo 68). When you have more than 1,000 National Guardsmen on duty, they have to sleep somewhere, and Holden Elementary School, just over a mile from campus, was where they spent the night. What a surprise young kids had Monday morning when they learned the Guard had slept in their school. I could just imagine them saying, “I can’t wait to tell my friends what happened at school!” While they were excited, I didn’t know what to think. I left and wondered what their conversations would be with their parents when they got home. I took Photo 69 on front campus late Sunday morning. Students congregated near the National Guard. Some raised their fists in protest while others stood around looking more curious than anything else. This was something new for students as the Guard had never been on campus before. I recorded the intensity of a small group of students clustered together with their fists raised and noticed how others stood around watching and talking. This is important to see and understand, as later photos show the same student behavior: some

Left: Photo 66. School officials, local police, and a university photographer document vandalism to the university’s visitor information kiosk. Below: Photo 67. Steve Tichenal, a WKSU radio reporter (foreground), and another student observe the remains of the school’s archery shed; it was burned down and a chain-link fence had been forcibly pushed over.

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Right: Photo 68. Holden Elementary School students are surprised to find National Guardsmen at their Kent school. Below: Photo 69. Students react to the National Guard occupying their campus on Sunday, May 3.

students actively protesting while others are keeping their distance and watching—some just curious and others in a passive form of protest. To get across campus to dorms and classes, students often took a shortcut that led them past the ROTC building. Guardsmen, however, closed the path to keep people away from the charred remains, which prevented students from being able to get across campus. These Guardsmen in my photo (70) do not look much older than the young women they are talking to. With the tour of the ROTC area completed, Rhodes got into an Ohio State Patrol car and left campus. However, he stayed in the town and called for a meeting that evening at Kent’s firehouse. City, state, and federal officials were there, including Mayor Satrom, Adjutant General Del Corso, a federal district attorney, and others. There were no university administrators at this meeting, according to reports. I wasn’t at the firehouse meeting (I didn’t know it took place), but I later heard Rhodes’s speech, which portrayed him as a tough, no-nonsense governor who was not going to tolerate this kind of behavior on this campus or any other campus in Ohio. He said, in part: We have seen . . . probably the most vicious form of campusoriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups and their allies in the state of Ohio. . . . Now it ceases to be a problem of the colleges in Ohio. . . . I want to assure you that we’re going to employ every force of law that we have under our authority. . . . These people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize a community. They’re worse than the “Brown Shirts” and the Communist element and also

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the “night riders” and the vigilantes. They’re the worst type of people that we harbor in America. And I want to say that they’re not going to take over the campus. And the campus now is going to be part of the county and the state of Ohio. There is no sanctuary for these people to burn buildings down of private citizens—of business. . . . It’s over with in Ohio.1

This ultimatum clarified his position on campus protests in Ohio and essentially gave the Guard permission to take whatever means necessary to quell gatherings or protests on Kent’s campus. Thanks to a broadcast hookup in the barracks, the National Guard heard all of the governor’s inflammatory rhetoric. National Guard Adj. Gen. Sylvester Del Corso used the Sunday press conference to discuss tactics: “Like the Ohio law says, use any force that is necessary even to the point of shooting.”2 These words provided the go-ahead for the Ohio National Guard to take control of the campus. There had been a dusk-to-dawn curfew on campus, but now it seemed more like martial law. Mayor Satrom had imposed a 1 a.m. to 8 a.m curfew in the city of Kent after the vandalism of May 1. On Sunday, May 3, around 7 p.m, Dr. Robert Matson, vice president for Student Affairs, and Frank Frisina, 1. “Governor Rhodes Speech on Campus Disorders,” Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University, https://www .library.kent.edu/ksu-may-4-rhodes-speech-may-3-1970. 2. John Fitzgerald O’Hara, “Kent State/May 4 and Postwar Memory,” American Quarterly 58, no. 2 (June 2006): 302.

Photo 70. Guardsmen chat with three female students across a rope that blocks a shortcut across campus. MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY  57

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president of the student body, prepared a document stating that the governor, through the National Guard, was assuming legal control of the campus and the city of Kent. A curfew was put into effect for the city from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and for the campus from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. According to this document, all forms of demonstrations and rallies were prohibited and the National Guard

was empowered to make arrests. Still, I don’t remember seeing anything about this. Even though this piece of paper may have been distributed, there was no guarantee that it reached all the students. In addition, students who left the campus Friday may not have returned until Monday. There was no signage at the campus entrances that explained the university had a curfew in effect.

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MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY, THE EVE BEFORE THE SHOOTINGS Curfew and Protests

Sunday was a quiet, sunny day. Not many students were walking around on campus. Moreover, other than Governor Rhodes’s visit and the National Guard standing around a burned-out building, it was almost like any other Sunday. There was, however, confusion as to who was in charge. Was the school administration in charge or had the governor given control to the Guard? I didn’t know the specifics of the curfew. Did it mean no rallies or gatherings of any size? And where were students permitted to go? Were we supposed to be somewhere in particular? Just before sunset, I walked around campus. I was near the Tri-Towers dorms when I noticed a line of students parading across the campus and heading in my direction. In the distance was an individual directing them, someone I didn’t recognize. He was wearing a sleeveless white T-shirt, had long blond hair, and had a large knife strapped to his right calf. He was encouraging students to get other students out of their dorms and to ignore anything they’d heard about curfews. As I headed toward the Tri-Towers dorms, I observed students

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Photo 71. Students sit inside a Tri-Towers dormitory early Sunday evening while they observe the campus curfew.

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Photo 72. The Ohio National Guard Press Pass allowing me access to areas of the National Guard.

through the front windows sitting in their lounge. The TV was on, but they appeared to be talking more than watching (Photo 71). No one moved as the small parade of students urged them to come out. As I continued to move across campus, I spotted a small group of four or five people ahead of me. They were unknown to me, and I did not recognize them as Kent students. Of course I didn’t know everyone on campus, but this felt like a confrontation was about to begin. As I neared them, with cameras around my neck, they approached me. “Are you taking pictures of us?” one of them asked. “No,” I replied. “You better not be,” I heard. “You better put those cameras away before we take them and smash ’em.” I didn’t hesitate to put my cameras into the black camera bag that I always carried, and I walked away from them as they shouted expletives at me. I was thankful that was over but left with an uncomfortable feeling.

Mid-afternoon Sunday, I learned that the National Guard had established a communications center on campus in the Administration Building. I went there with the hopes of obtaining a National Guard press pass. I decided I needed something official after being stopped Saturday evening by three National Guardsmen with bayonets pointing at me. As someone who listens to authority, I decided having an official pass would be a good idea. When I arrived at the Guard command post, I was told to meet with Maj. Harry Jones. I met with him and, without pause, he gave me a press pass (Photo 72). It almost seemed too easy, but what I found really strange was that it had no dates on it and that the expiration was noted “Duration.” That set me back. How long was the Guard going to remain here? What did they know? Why weren’t they leaving so school could start normally on Monday? From that makeshift communications center, I realized that “normal” now took on new meaning. A foreboding line of Guardsmen formed to keep students from leaving the campus. It stretched more than a dozen strong with men reaching from the campus library to the main drag that led to downtown and the scene of weekend rowdyism. As I took their photo (73), I could tell they meant business. These weekend soldiers were shoulder to shoulder with fixed bayonets on their M1s, ensuring no one would get past them. As I looked closer, I saw soldiers behind the line facing in the opposite direction. They left no doubt that no one would enter or leave campus, essentially making students feel like prisoners on their own campus. Confusion was the tone on campus. The Guard was there, but was it in charge? And by whose authority?

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Photo 73. The Ohio National Guard, with fixed bayonets, forms a line from the library to the main street into town. This human barricade blocks students from leaving campus.

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Photo 74. Taking a risk, students stand in defiance of the campuswide curfew.

Administrators were nowhere to be found and there was no one available to answer questions. Information about a curfew was, for the most part, nothing more than word of mouth. When did the curfew begin and when did it end? Could students go into the city? Who was going to enforce the curfew? There were so many unanswered questions about the curfew and the National Guard that it led to more confusion and, for some students, anger (Photo 74). The sound of whirring helicopters and the sight of searchlights beaming down attracted students in this men’s dorm to crowd around their windows to watch the action on the ground (Photo 75). The students outside

were trying to hold a rally, but they were dispersed by the National Guard. I noticed that many students chose to stay inside and comply with the campus curfew restrictions, even though they could only guess what those restrictions might be since in all likelihood they hadn’t seen or heard anything official. They probably felt safer inside and assumed they would head off to class on Monday morning as usual. Fraternity brothers on the porch of their house watched the activity going on around them (Photo 76). They were safe as long as they stayed on their property. Soldiers were everywhere and there was a revised citywide curfew aimed at keeping students off the streets after

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11 p.m. The Guard didn’t pay any attention to me now because I had two cameras around my neck and looked like I was with the press. I was a 24-year-old veteran with a National Guard press pass in my pocket to give me added confidence. While I felt I had a lot of freedom to walk around, I didn’t trust the men in green and kept my distance. My distrust came from seeing them holding fixed bayonets and carrying gas masks. They looked like they were ready for war. It was scary because there were so many of them and they were everywhere. This group of students was probably as confused as I was about curfews and who was in charge (Photo 77). Even though the administration had distributed information about curfews, most students got information by word of mouth, so how could you know if what they heard was true? I am not sure if the Guardsmen knew exactly what was happening either, except that they rightly believed they were in charge of the city and the campus. They were called in to maintain order, and Governor Rhodes gave them full control to do whatever had to be done to satisfy that directive. It wasn’t until later that evening that I heard the Guard had been told, “Ohio law gave them the right to shoot if necessary.”1 This law understandably emboldened the young soldiers and seemed to heighten the Guardsmen’s hostility toward students. Sunday evening after sunset, students rallied on the Kent Commons and later near the Music and Speech Building. I stood at Music and Speech in the midst of students as the Guard appeared from all directions. Helicopters

Photo 75. Students crowd around their dorm windows, watching as other students attempt to hold a rally.

1. Kent May 4 Center, “Kent State, May 1–4, 1970, Timeline of Events,” http://www.may4.org/kentstatemay141970timeline.html. MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY, THE EVE BEFORE THE SHOOTINGS  63

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Photo 76. National Guardsmen move past a fraternity house on their way into town to enforce the citywide curfew that began at 11 p.m.

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began sweeping the campus with searchlights. Students began to panic and quickly dispersed. Nonetheless, a group of students found a way to get downtown, in violation of the order banning rallies, and sat at the intersection of East Main and Lincoln Streets (Photo 78). They had a list of demands for school administrators, including removing the Guard from the campus. Using streetlights and the searchlights from the helicopters, I was able to take photos of students as they staged a sit-in at the center of town (Photo 79). Students wanted to hear from the mayor of Kent and university president Robert White, whom they heard had been out of town. They wanted to know what was happening: Who was in charge? What was the National Guard’s exact role? Were the town and school now under martial law? Confusion reigned. Shortly before 11 p.m. the Guard informed the crowd the curfew was going into effect immediately and the students had to leave and return to campus. It was apparent that no city or school official would speak with students. Within moments, the Guard, with their fixed bayonets, tossed tear gas toward the angry, frightened students and began racing toward the crowd. Where did the Guard expect them to go? I witnessed the mad scramble as students tried to get out of the way of the Guard. There was chaos: screaming, yelling, running, the constant whir of helicopters overhead, and searchlights penetrating the darkness of night. According to later reports, several students had been impaled with bayonets. I stayed up late and photographed curfew violators being arrested by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. This created additional confusion because the Ohio National Guard was in town and the Highway Patrol was making

Left: Photo 77. Students listen intently as a Guardsman explains the conditions of the curfew. Below: Photo 78. Students gather in downtown Kent as the Guard watches and determines their next move. This was considered an unlawful gathering and in violation of the curfew imposed by the mayor.

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Photo 79. Angry students break curfew and stage a demonstration in the center of town, demanding to hear from school administrators.

arrests. So now I wondered again, who was in charge? I snapped a photo (80) of at least three students outnumbered and stopped by nearly a dozen patrolmen. This seemed like excessive force to me. As I looked more closely, I saw a shotgun resting at the feet of the patrolman in the center of the photo. Many of the police carried gas masks, indicating they were prepared for violent activity should it occur. This young man (Photo 81), stopped for curfew violation, had his hands up as the National Guard and Highway Patrol surrounded him. The original citywide

curfew was established to go into effect at 1 a.m. Because of protesting students in the city, it was rolled back to 11 p.m. If you were a commuter and just arrived in town, you most likely didn’t know about the growing tensions in town and on campus. Anyone out after 11 p.m. in town was subject to arrest by the Highway Patrol, Kent City Police, or the National Guard. The difficulty with this was that informing the public and the students about the continuing curfew was nearly impossible, as these were the days before cell phones and social media. With dormitories housing more

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than 18,000 students scattered over many acres on the campus, there was no guaranteed way to inform everyone. Confusion was the theme for Sunday (Photo 82). With the aid of car headlights, I observed an officer grab a student by the scruff of his neck and forcibly direct him to move along (Photo 83). Notice that the National Guard (dark helmets) and the Highway Patrol (white helmets) are working together. More importantly, adjutant general Robert Canterbury, seen in some photos, stood there, presumably in charge. It is important to note that Adjutant General Canterbury would be the ranking officer on campus the next day, Monday, May 4, when a peaceful rally would turn into chaos and death.

Above: Photo 80. Ohio State Highway Patrol officers enforce the citywide curfew and detain three students who may not have been aware of a curfew. Right: Photo 81. National Guardsmen and Ohio State Highway Patrol officers stop an individual for violating curfew Sunday evening. MAY 3, 1970, SUNDAY, THE EVE BEFORE THE SHOOTINGS  67

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Above: Photo 82. State patrolmen arrest and pat down a curfew violator. Because this student had likely been gone for the weekend, he didn’t know that the Black United Students told its members to stay away from all campus rallies for their own safety. Right: Photo 83. Students are held by patrolmen. Adj. Gen. Robert Canterbury stands in the background (wearing a white helmet, suit, and tie) and watches as the police and his troops enforce the citywide curfew.

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MAY 4, 1970, MONDAY MORNING Stringer for Life Magazine

I awoke Monday morning, May 4, not knowing what kind of day it would be. It was supposed to be a normal school day with classes scheduled as usual. I left Johnson Hall about 10 a.m. and headed toward the Daily Kent Stater office in Taylor Hall to see who was there and to get caught up. I remembered that the graduate students who buried the Constitution had called for a rally today and saw students gathering on the Commons down the hill in front of Taylor Hall around the Victory Bell. The National Guard maintained its position around the now destroyed ROTC building, still trying to keep away gawkers. I could feel that something was going to happen, but I had no idea it would lead to a tragedy that would irrevocably change so many lives. Inside the Stater office, I met with other staffers to discuss the weekend’s events. The phone rang, and Bill Armstrong, the editor, answered it. He put the receiver down and told me that the caller was looking for some photos from the weekend and handed the phone to me. It was the Midwest editor of Life magazine based in Chicago.

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Photo 84. This photo is the first I took as a stringer for Life magazine. These curious students in front of Taylor Hall watch protestors gather around the Victory Bell.

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Above: Photo 85. A growing crowd of students gathers between Johnson and Taylor Halls. Right: Photo 86. At the base of the Commons, students turn their attention to the National Guard who are just several hundred feet from them.

She asked if I could provide some prints from the weekend and if I would be willing to take photos today and send some of those to her as well. I immediately agreed and then asked for her contact information. Life was a major national weekly magazine at the time and an editor had just asked me for prints. I was the right person to ask because I was the only staff member who photographed campus activities that weekend. This was big. I wasn’t just shooting for myself now—I was on an assignment for Life magazine! I made sure I had enough film, and I checked my cameras and lenses before leaving the building. Sometime after 11 a.m. I walked out of Taylor Hall with a renewed sense of purpose and awareness (Photo 84). In Photo 85, most students seem more interested in what their peers are doing than in what the National Guard is up to. In addition, I observed that many students were carrying books; it seemed they had gathered to learn the latest news and then had planned to continue on to class. A waving anarchist black flag reveals the mood of some in the crowd. There seems to be a conversation taking place in the center of the photo where many students appear to focus their attention. Students higher up the hill seem to be hanging out, wondering what was happening. Leaflets, prepared by the campus administration and distributed Sunday, stated rallies would not be permitted on campus, but that didn’t stop the swelling crowd. It was impossible to determine who actually saw or read any of the school pronouncements. In Photo 86, students appear organized and face the National Guard. Students in the foreground are the more active protestors. At the top of the photo, smaller clusters of students appear mostly just curious, many holding text-

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books while on their way to or from classes. As I carefully scanned the ground where these students stood, I saw nothing that could be picked up and thrown at the Guard. Even small stones were few and far between on campus. In Photo 87, four individuals appear darker than the others. In the first row on the left is Jeffrey Miller. He was

a transfer student who protested the Vietnam War. To his right is Mary Ann Vecchio. She was a 14-year-old runaway from Florida, later seen kneeling over Miller’s body in the iconic Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph by John Filo. Behind the crowd is Steve Sharoff. We see him here in profile walking to the left behind the crowd. He was

Photo 87. This is the same photo as the preceding one with specific individuals shown darker to stand out from the rest for easy reference in related text.

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Photo 88. This crowd gathers to protest the National Guard on campus. Many students express their feelings by giving the Guard the middle finger and shaking their fists at them.

one of the graduate students who organized the rally on Friday, May 1, to bury the Constitution. When I look at this photo, I question why Sharoff is not taking more of a leadership role because he called for this rally after the one on May 1 broke up. Yet in the photo he seems to be anxiously pacing. To his left, in sunglasses, is my former roommate, Barry Zukerman. He and I spoke briefly many years later about this photo, and he told me one of his professors had urged students to leave class, go to the rally, and get involved. Standing under the tree branch on the left is Dean Kahler. Kahler was 300 feet from the Guard when a bullet tore through his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down for life. Kahler, who later returned to Kent to earn

his degree, discovered this photo in the Kent State May 4 Archives. He sent me a message to say that this is the last photo he has of himself standing. I felt a sudden rush of anguish for him. Rallies were our social media, where students got information and decided whether they would get involved and, if so, what they would do. When I look at this photo, I see a group of young, unarmed students wanting to know why the National Guard was on their campus. Most of these students weren’t involved in events that took place over the weekend. These students wanted to go to class and get on with their education. Had the Guard not been on campus, students would be in classes and antiwar rallies held on the Commons would take place in the usual noon window between classes. Students vented their anger by yelling, chanting, and giving the finger to the Guard. The sounds of chanting were probably barely audible to the Guard, who were hundreds of feet away, and the display of hand gestures was no threat to them. My first glance at this photo (88) showed me just that. However, when I looked more closely, I saw so much more. I identified students who would become synonymous with the tragedy that was yet to unfold. Visible in the front row are the legs and an arm of Jeffrey Miller, who is standing behind a female student. His hand is lowered as he gets ready to “give the bird” to the National Guard. Miller was a native of Plainview, New York, where he was born in 1950. To his right, carrying a dog, is Mary Ann Vecchio with her hand up, gesturing to the Guard; she would become the most recognizable non-university student protestor. There are two shaded individuals in the middle right of the photo

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Photo 89. I adjusted Photo 88 to allow individuals who would become critical to the May 4 story to stand out from the crowd. Students standing in the foreground are the active protestors. Most of those on the hill in the background are just curious spectators. MAY 4, 1970, MONDAY MORNING  73

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Photo 90. Students congregate around the Victory Bell, where most rallies took place.

(89). These students carry books as they pause on their way to class. On the right stands William Schroeder, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was born in 1950. He had an ROTC scholarship and had earned the honor of Eagle Scout when he was 17. To his left is Sandy Scheuer, a speech therapy honors student, fully intent on getting to class. She was born in 1949 in Youngstown, Ohio. The last shaded individual in the center of the photo is Steve Sharoff. Sharoff, the president of WHORE and a history graduate student, helped organize the May 1 rally and urged students to continue the protest on May 4. He does not, however, appear to be taking an active role in this rally. Gathered at the Victory Bell, students showed their defiance to any notice or rumors that rallies were not permitted (Photo 90). Students who congregated here included the student body president, Kent Stater staffers,

and others protesting the Guards’ presence on campus. I saw this as a peaceful protest, even though students were chanting “pigs off campus” and making hand gestures to the Guard. It was an angry crowd, but not violent. Students exercised their right to freedom of speech. Except for leaflets and rumors, the students had not heard from President White or anyone in the administration. Students, myself included, knew only that the National Guard was still on campus, but they didn’t know why. When they sat in silent protest in the middle of the town on Sunday night, they were desperate to hear from university officials—now they were more so. Nevertheless, no one had come to give them information. Now it was Monday morning and there were still more questions than answers. Many students heard only what had occurred over the weekend by word of mouth or on local radio and television broadcasts. The university had surrendered its authority and protection of its students to the governor and the National Guard, not on federal status but under command of the state of Ohio. President White issued a statement from his office on Sunday, May 3, stating that “by order of the Governor, the National Guard will remain in the Kent community and campus until its leadership decides their departure is safe. Events have taken these decisions out of University hands. Wide-spread damage and threats in the community have created an alarming situation.” I walked down the hill in front of the students around the Victory Bell without looking back behind me. For a while I was in a no-man’s-land between the students and the Guard. I had an eerie feeling as I proceeded toward the area of the Guard; I showed my press pass and crossed over behind them to join other

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members of the media. I’ve asked myself many times, Why did I choose to stand behind the Guard instead of with the students? As I thought about this, I realized I already had photographed the students. Now I needed to cover the Guard. If I stayed with the students, I would be too far away from the Guard to get photos. In Photo 91, a double column of soldiers marches onto the Commons. I observed that they were not in step with each other and even looked off in different directions. I further noticed that they were not holding their rifles uniformly. They appeared to be looking around or listening for a signal to figure out what they were supposed to do. Behind the Guard, students carried books, and farther back, behind the fence, another crowd of students gathered. I remember having the odd feeling that I already had taken this picture of the Guard. They were just standing there. They didn’t look very soldierly. Their lines were uneven, rifles were held at different angles, and they just didn’t seem to represent an informed, disciplined military unit. At the same time, they looked like they were ready for war. This didn’t feel right; they were facing unarmed students who didn’t understand why the Guard had taken over their campus. In the background students watched the Guard’s movements; some stood while others sat on the grass. The majority of the Guardsmen in Photo 93 ignored me as I took their picture. One particular Guardsman, however, faced me directly, making me feel uncomfortable. These soldiers were members of Troop G, Photo 91. A double column of National Guardsmen, with fixed bayonets and gas masks, marches onto the Commons. MAY 4, 1970, MONDAY MORNING  75

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Photo 92. A line of Guardsmen, rifles ready and wearing gas masks, form a unit on the Commons and face the students standing directly in front of them.

which included Guardsmen who later admitted during investigations that they had fired directly at students. The soldiers can be identified by the name tags above their right fatigue pocket. Of those identifiable in the photo, “McGee,” second from the left, testified he fired at students. “Breckenridge,” third from the right, only admitted firing his rifle. The third identifiable member of Troop G in the photo is “Baclawski,” standing second from the right and holding a grenade launcher; he said he did not fire at students. These men are much more regimented and focused than the Guardsmen in Photo 92. They appeared to be more disciplined and prepared for whatever might happen. Their hands tightly grip their rifles, and they are prepared and poised for action.1 Lt. Col. Charles Fassinger, the senior uniformed National Guard officer on campus, ordered his men to line up facing the students on the Commons. The rope stretching to the left of the Jeep suggests that the Guard is lining up just outside the area of the burned-out ROTC building and using it for their base of operations. The distance to the students from here is nearly 450 feet. Photo 94 shows Fassinger reviewing his men. The Guardsman in a gas mask directly behind Fassinger has an ammo clip with four rounds of ammunition fastened to his fatigue shirt (Photo 95). Fassinger, therefore, knew and approved of having live ammunition ready for any

1. “An appeal to the United States Department of Justice for an Immediate and Thorough Investigation of the Circumstances Surrounding the Shootings at Kent State University (folder 1 of 2),” Kent State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives, https://omeka.library.kent.edu/special-collections/items/ show/2952?search=Colonel%20Fassinger.

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Photo 93. A line of Guardsmen from Troop G appears ready for business, but one soldier seems edgy about being photographed and looks directly at my camera. MAY 4, 1970, MONDAY MORNING  77

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Left: Photo 94. Lt. Col. Charles Fassinger (center, with back to camera) readies his men to disperse students from the Commons. Above: Photo 95. In this cropped image from Photo 94, an ammo clip attached to the center Guardsman’s fatigue shirt is revealed.

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confrontation. I didn’t notice this on May 4, but as a veteran, when I later reviewed my photos for evidence in court trials, this clip spoke volumes. This was the first time I realized all these Guardsmen might have carried live ammunition—not just on their uniforms but likely locked and loaded in their weapons. Most students later testified they didn’t think the Guard, rushed to duty on campus after long hours standing guard on a truckers’ strike near Akron, had live ammunition on their college

campus. It is easy to understand how different May 4 would have been if the National Guard had not come prepared to shoot and kill. Students were ordered to leave the Commons and told that all rallies were banned. I can still hear the menacing bullhorn command, “You must leave this area immediately.” It was clear, unmistakable, and threatening. The clarity and tone of the voice “barked an order,” and I felt the speaker meant it. However, as I look at the

Photo 96. KSU patrolman Harold Rice rides in a National Guard Jeep in front of students and uses a bullhorn to tell students to disperse from the area immediately.

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photo (96), I remember that the command to disperse is directed only to the students surrounding the Victory Bell on the Commons. The crowd of students behind the Jeep ignored the message to leave the area or they may not have been able to hear the order as clearly as those closer. Students were here because classes had just let out and they were getting ready for lunch or whatever was next on their schedules. The Guard dismissed students behind them and on their sides and focused on the larger group of students gathered at the base of the Commons in front of Taylor Hall. Considering the noise of the crowd on the Commons, I doubted whether most of those students actually heard the warning to disperse being blasted through a bullhorn hundreds of feet away. Maj. Harry Jones joined the Guard in the Jeep, adding to the gravity of the command that students leave the Commons immediately (Photo 97). Students behind the Jeep ignored the order and remained in place. Major Jones apparently instructed the Jeep driver to return to the site of the former ROTC building. I kept watching and taking pictures (including Photo 98). It was just before noon. Many classes had ended and many students were on break until after lunch. Although the Guard had taken over the campus, most professors still taught and many expected students to be in class.

Top: Photo 97. Maj. Harry Jones catches up to the Jeep, while students are told to leave the area immediately. Students in the background have the Guard’s attention but do not move. Left: Photo 98. The National Guard moves forward to break up a peaceful rally and to disperse the students on the Commons. 80 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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READY, AIM . . .

Shortly after noon I felt an ominous shift of attitude in the air. The Guardsmen were suddenly more alert. They must have been given the order to disperse the crowd on the Commons, but it was not given through a bullhorn to reach everyone within earshot; it was intended only for the Guard to hear. I became aware, from my position behind them, that their focus had shifted from just standing to their boots shuffling forward in unison and weapons beginning to move in the air. At that instant everything changed. The armed Guardsmen marched with determination toward the waiting, unarmed students. The voices from the crowd grew louder as the men in green approached. Students shouted at the Guardsmen, “One, two, three, four, we don’t want your f——g war,” and, “Pigs off campus!” Students flashed hand gestures at the Guard and many may have thrown small pebbles they picked up randomly across the campus. The lightweight volleys came nowhere near the Guard, who were hundreds of

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Photo 99. Tear gas from M79 grenade launchers disperse the students. They scatter in many directions and flee up Blanket Hill as soldiers approach with bayoneted rifles.

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feet away. But until now, there was no violence, just an angry group of students with most just wanting to go to class. Yet the feeling of eminent danger was palpable. There was no doubt that the Guard had transformed into soldiers and the students into the targeted enemy. I had to change my focus. I no longer casually took pictures of the Guard. My attention shifted quickly on

the relationship between the Guard and the students (Photo 99). The Guard advanced, some with rifles lowered and bayonets tilted forward in a very threatening way. I followed behind as students, textbooks in hand, fled up the hill. Some students showed their defiance by not moving, but that would not last long.

Photo 100. I am the photographer in the foreground with a camera bag on my left shoulder. Other members of the media are with me as we follow the Guard. (Photo courtesy of Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.)

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Photo 101. Students run for safety as the line of Guardsmen approaches. The building on the right is Johnson Hall.

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At this time, before cell phones and digital cameras, the media moved closely behind the Guard, capturing every moment of the action as it happened (Photo 100). Anyone with a news deadline was probably wondering what footage would make the news that night. If you were a working photographer, you kept looking for that perfect shot that would make page one. I didn’t have any of those concerns. I was tasked to record the protests and planned

to process my film later that day and send the best images to Life magazine. I could only wonder what they would do with the images. It is doubtful any of us at that moment thought our rapid-fire camera shooting would ever capture a fallen unarmed student before our very lenses. I felt the adrenaline pumping in those students’ legs, and the fear they must have felt, as they ran for cover from tear gas and an advancing small army of men in uniform

Facing page: Photo 102. In defiance, a student returns a canister of tear gas to the Guard. Left: Photo 103. As tear gas wafts around them, three students decide to stand their ground for as long as they can.

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with rifles and who knew what else (Photo 101). It was the same feeling I had on Sunday evening when tear gas was everywhere, when helicopters were whirring overhead with searchlights glaring, and when the National Guard charged at students who were holding a peaceful rally in hopes of hearing from someone with authority from the university. The only authority on campus now was the National Guard. It appeared the school administration thought they had done all they could to provide for the safety of the school and its students by standing aside for the governor and National Guard to take control. Not all students were ready to run. Some, like the student in Photo 102, showed his hostility toward the Guardsmen by hurling a tear gas canister back at them. The wind that Monday was strong enough that it blew the tear gas away quickly and made it less effective. As I scanned the area and watched students flee, I witnessed some who defied the Guard by refusing to move until the last minute (Photo 103). Like the others, though, they had to give up their ground and get out of the way as men in green uniforms rushed toward them. By the time I reached the area where the students had been standing, the smell and sting of tear gas was no longer evident. From my position, the Guard had accomplished its mission without bloodshed. The students had been denied their right to assemble, as they were forced to disperse from the Commons. Adjutant General Canterbury, wearing a business suit, can be identified in the lower left corner of Photo 104. The line of Guardsmen on the left, farther up the hill, was mostly Company G. The seventh soldier from the left is Sergeant Pryor, wearing a holster on his left shoulder; he becomes an important part of the events to follow.

I stood there for a moment trying to determine whether I should continue up alongside Taylor Hall on my right or head left to see where everyone had moved to. While I stood there, John Filo, a photojournalism major and a yearbook staff photographer, joined me. Both of us thought the Guard had completed its mission, but we decided to keep taking pictures. John asked if I had a long lens he could use, as he had only a wide-angle lens when he left the Stater office. I looked in my bag and found a short zoom lens. He thanked me. We headed off in different directions—I decided to go around to the right of Taylor Hall while Filo headed toward the left. I watched as a line of students reached the crest of the hill (Photo 105). The Guard continued to advance. On the right, just under the Pagoda, was Allison Krause, a freshman honors student. Krause was born in Cleveland in 1951. Allison covered her mouth and nose to protect herself from the drifting tear gas. This photo (106) is particularly difficult for me to look at, as I see her holding hands with her boyfriend, Barry Levine. I remember the photos I took of her in 1969 holding a banner that read “Bring All the Troops Home Now” (Photos 28 and 29) during a protest march through campus and the city of Kent. At this point, the Guard seemed to have completed its objective—the students had dispersed—yet the Guardsmen were still advancing. What more did they need to accomplish? What was their objective? What they really wanted was for this to end so they could go home. By the time I reached the crest of the hill, the Guard and students were gone. As I looked from the area of the Pagoda, I noticed the Guardsmen had gathered on a practice football field, about 575 feet away (Photo 107). The Guard had dispersed students from the Commons,

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Photo 104. The Guardsmen manage to move the students from the Commons and pursue them up the hill between Taylor and Johnson Halls toward the Pagoda. READY, AIM . . .  87

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as ordered. However, they didn’t anticipate themselves trapped on a football field with a six-foot chain-link fence around them on three sides. To their right, behind the fence, was a parking lot with a few students about 150 to 200 feet away, and in front of them was an access road where students stood facing them just 170 feet away.1 (See map on page viii.) While I stood there, anxiety and dread took over, as a handful of Guardsmen knelt and aimed their weapons toward students. This clearly was an aggressive move. The weapons weren’t pointed up; they were pointed directly at students and ready to be fired. Did the Guardsmen feel that threatened by unarmed students that they had to take a defensive action? Did they have live ammunition in those rifles? With the Guard now trapped on a football practice field, students approached from the parking lot and taunted them (Photo 108). Some may have thrown stones, but they would have to have a really good arm to come close to the Guard, who was more than 200 feet away. Now the students appeared on the offensive, but how much of a threat could they be against weekend soldiers holding rifles with bayonets? At the time, few students, if any, thought the Guard had live ammunition. Alan Canfora drew the attention of the Guard by waving a black flag, an anarchist symbol for nearly a century, as he walked toward them in the practice field. Canfora was one of the nine students wounded by the Guard on

Facing page: Photo 105. The number of Guardsmen thins out as I head toward the Pagoda. Students at the crest of the hill taunt the Guard and some appear to be throwing things. Left: Photo 106. Allison Krause, center, covers her face from the tear gas as she watches the Guard advance up the hill. Below: Photo 107. Trapped on the practice football field with students in front of them and to their right, several Guardsmen kneel and aim their weapons at students.

1. For additional discussion on distances, see Carole A. Barbato, Laura L. Davis, and Mark F. Seeman, This We Know: A Chronology of the Shootings at Kent State, May 1970 (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2012). READY, AIM . . .  89

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Right: Photo 108. Students in a parking lot taunt and shout at the Guardsmen, who are on a practice football field. One student in the center holds a small stone in his hand as he moves toward the Guard. Facing page: Photo 109. Student Alan Canfora approaches the Guard and waves a black flag.

May 4. Was he an intentional target? He was shot through the right wrist from 225 feet away about 15 minutes after this photo (109) was taken. Canfora would later become a leader in forming the May 4 Task Force on campus. Students were loosely assembled across the street from the National Guardsmen who found themselves in an unanticipated and undesirable position. Adjutant General Canterbury, wearing a suit and a gas mask on

the top of his head, spoke with Fassinger and Jones, likely about a strategy for their exit from the field they found themselves in (Photo 110). They decided they must return to their base at the site of the former ROTC building. There were two possible routes for them to take (see map on page viii). One route was to head back between Prentice Hall and Taylor Hall. This would avoid having to disperse students as they did on the Commons. Alter-

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Photo 110. In this cropped portion of Photo 109, Adjutant General Canterbury (center, wearing a suit), Lieutenant Colonel Fassinger, and Major Jones discuss the situation. Sergeant Pryor (foreground, second from left with his back to the camera) soon will become a controversial figure.

natively, they could go uphill toward the Pagoda and then back down the Commons. This would require the Guard to disperse the students across the street, causing them to flee in many directions to avoid a confrontation. I notice several things about this photo (111). First, I don’t see any evidence of anyone throwing anything at the Guardsmen. Students, with books or papers in their hands and nothing more, are randomly positioned directly across the street from the National Guard, who was seemingly trapped on the practice field. A quick look at the ground on the field shows little more than grass— no rocks, stones, or bricks. To get to the area between Johnson and Taylor, the Guardsmen would have to go uphill. The practice football field was 20 or more feet lower than the Pagoda. From a strategic military point of view, being at a higher elevation than your “enemy” gives you the advantage, an advantage the Guardsmen sought. Unarmed students were the enemy. The decision was made to disperse the students across the street from the practice field and return to the ROTC area by trudging up between Taylor and Johnson Halls. I paralleled the Guard as they marched up the hill toward the Pagoda. I was focused and attentive; I was on assignment and the situation was tense. The Guard was on my left. As we proceeded forward, I noticed some Guardsmen at the rear of the group slowed down to look behind them. They did this at least three times. The group turned and receded to the rear as they reached the top of the hill. I slowed down to avoid getting in the Guardsmen’s way as they moved up toward the Pagoda. As the Guard reached the corner of Taylor, I witnessed the group at the rear turn in unison; some crouched down, while others

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Photo 111. Students stand across the street from the National Guardsmen, who find themselves on a closed-in practice football field.

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Photo 112. The Guardsmen stop and turn in unison, and fire their rifles when they reach the area between the Pagoda and corner of the Taylor Hall balcony. Many fire downhill at students.

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stood (Photo 112). Then the gunshots began. Of course, they would be shooting blanks, I thought. I took a photograph as they turned and fired. I stood there. Then a moment later, I thought to myself, “I better get down anyway. I probably look like a good target with these cameras and lenses hanging around my neck—they might think these are weapons.” I swung my left arm around my cameras and turned to my right as the sound of gunshots echoed in the air. Just as I dropped to my knees, I heard a young woman scream, “Oh my God, get down. They’re using real bullets. They’re shooting real bullets!” I was 80 feet in front of the Guard when they turned and fired. No rocks or bottles or any objects that I noticed fell to the ground around me or Joe Lewis. When I look at this photo (113), I can’t find evidence of any life-threaten-

ing weapons on the ground. However, the Guardsmen, under oath, said their lives were in danger and stones and large rocks were hitting them. I didn’t feel, see, or hear anything strike the ground, which would cause me to take notice and snap a photo. So why did the Guard turn? Was there a command? A sound? I remained glued to the ground as gunshots pierced the air for 13 seconds. A girl’s voice screamed, “Help, someone’s been shot!” I poked my head up and looked toward the Guard. There were people around a body. It was Joe Lewis (Photo 114). He had been standing 60 feet away and was giving the Guard the finger when he’d been shot. He was wounded in the lower leg and abdomen. I was 20 feet behind Lewis and just to his right. I was lucky. So was Lewis since he lived to tell about this

Photo 113. This photo shows the ground in front of Taylor Hall where the National Guard turned and fired.

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Photo 114. Joe Lewis lies on the ground wounded after being struck in the abdomen and leg. Students and a faculty member rush to help.

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dreadful day, but there wasn’t anyone else this close to the Guard except for me and the people watching from the Taylor Hall balcony. I noticed the dirt path that stretches from the corner of the Taylor Hall balcony all the way to the Pagoda. It was on this path that I saw the Guardsmen’s boots line up. I wonder to this day if this was a predetermined landmark to stop and turn, the highest point on the hill facing the university parking lot. The Guardsmen didn’t react to Lewis lying on the ground and bleeding in front of them; they just checked their weapons and continued back to the area of the burned-out ROTC building. When I enlarged this portion of the photo (115) of the Guard shooting, I realized how close I was to being in the line of fire. I get shivers looking at the Guardsmen in the center of the photo as they aimed their rifles toward me. This photo leaves no question in my mind that these Guardsmen were not just shooting aimlessly into the crowd but that some had human targets in their rifle sights. It would be exactly one decade later that one of these Guardsmen, a defendant in a prior May 4 trial, would admit to reporter John Dunphy that he targeted, aimed, and fired at a specific student.2 That student was Joe Lewis, who was seriously injured in front of Taylor Hall. Of all those killed and injured, Lewis was the closest to the Guard and just 20 feet in front of me. Major Jones turned and looked downhill at the students (Photo 116). What bothered me about this was

Above: Photo 115. Some of these Guardsmen near the corner of the Taylor Hall balcony appear to be aiming in my direction. Left: Photo 116. Major Jones stands under the Pagoda, gripping his .22-Beretta pistol and looking down the hill toward students as the firing begins.

2. John Dunphy, “Guard Ends 10-Year Silence on KSU,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 4, 1980, 1. READY, AIM . . .  97

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he did not turn and look at his men who were firing at the students. Wasn’t he surprised his Guardsmen were shooting their loaded rifles at unarmed students? Was it a plan to shoot and kill? What was his focus? Did he know the Guardsmen would turn and fire when they reached the top of the hill? Other photos show him as he then attempted to stop the Guardsmen from shooting additional rounds. In Photo 117, weapons are aimed up in the air and pointed downhill. Sergeant Pryor has his .45-caliber pistol in his left hand as he takes aim. These soldiers look as if they know exactly what they are doing. However, in the back of the photo, on the right, is a Guardsman oblivious to what is happening as he walks away. After studying this photo for years, I believe without a doubt that some Guardsmen took aim and shot directly at students in their sights. I still wonder how many Guardsmen actually aimed at someone, which Guardsmen just shot blindly at the crowd down the hill, and whose bullets killed and injured students. In addition, why are some Guardsmen not taking any action? These and many other questions remain unanswered for me. I have looked at the cropped portion of my photo (118) many times and wondered what Canterbury was thinking and what he knew. He certainly doesn’t seem aware of what is going on. He turned with the rest of his men at the sound of gunfire from Guardsmen in front of him. The Guardsmen nearest him aren’t shooting, and their weapons are just pointed in the air. I have to

Photo 117. A left-handed Guardsman, Sergeant Pryor, takes aim while others point their rifles in different directions. 98 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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believe that Canterbury is not in charge, even though he is the ranking officer on the scene. As I turned away from Lewis, I spotted another student, John Cleary, lying wounded on the ground just to my left and a little behind me. He was at the base of the metal sculpture in front of Taylor Hall. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. Cleary was lucky; he survived a shot to the chest. The first time I saw Photo 119 was more than a week later on the cover of Life magazine. I was at home in Lakewood, Ohio. Someone from Life magazine called me a week before at 2 a.m. to let me know they had chosen one of my photos for the May 15 cover. Because I had sent my unprocessed rolls of film to Life in Chicago, I had no idea how my film turned out or what images I had captured. I never knew exactly what the cover shot was until Life hit newsstands later that week. When it came out, I stood in line and bought a handful of copies to share with my family and neighbors. That was an exciting moment for me as a photojournalist, but it was also a painful reminder of the tragedy—just the first of countless reminders of many I would experience in the year to follow. When I got up from the ground to move toward Cleary, I saw students standing in shock in every direction. I heard screaming and yelling. “They’re killing us!” “Get an ambulance! We need help.” We soon heard the sirens of ambulances as they headed to the parking lot where many people were standing and more gathered. Walking in that direction, I had a feeling of numbness that I still vividly recall. I couldn’t believe it: the Guard had used real bullets. As I moved toward the practice field, several distraught female students approached me and told me to

Photo 118. Adjutant General Canterbury appears caught off guard as the shooting of guns begins.

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Photo 119. John Cleary lies wounded at the base of the steel sculpture with a bullet in his upper chest. Students rush to his aid to try to help before the ambulance arrives. He was 110 feet in front of the Guard. This photo appeared on the cover of the May 15, 1970, issue of Life magazine. 100 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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stop taking pictures. They felt I was invading everyone’s privacy, especially as we learned more students had been shot. I knew I was intruding but told them I had to take pictures. And as I took pictures, I witnessed the pain and anguish of those around me. I tried to push back my own feelings, even though I shared their disbelief and rage—not only had some students been injured, but others were dead because the Guard had used real bullets. I also knew I was on assignment and had to take these pictures to show the impact of this horror on innocent students. As I neared the area where students had been standing not more than 20 minutes earlier, I saw the body of a young man lying there, blood draining out of his body in a sickening trail. I snapped a picture almost unconsciously (Photo 120). This was the first time I had seen somebody who was shot at and killed. I was staring at Jeffrey Miller, a 20-year-old who had recently transferred from Michigan State University. As I continued to look, I knew I had to keep my own emotions in check. I had to show with my photos what else happened (Photo 121). Was anyone else killed? Who else was wounded? As I stood there and listened to sirens and voices screaming, I focused on Miller and those near him. I couldn’t take my eyes away and kept taking pictures. All I saw was a young woman frozen over Miller’s body (Photo 123). Students were rushing by in all directions. Little did I or Mary Ann Vecchio know that others had been killed much farther away in the parking lot. She was only 14 years old and in a strange town. What was going through her mind? She would return to the

Kent campus for the first time nearly 25 years later and talk to classes and the media at the anniversary of the shootings. She shared that after the shootings she went back to school and became a respiratory therapist. “I have a chance to go out there and save peoples’ lives,” Vecchio said. “I couldn’t do anything that day.”3 A student in a fringed jacket stopped to grieve with Vecchio (Photo 122). Students were in shock as they began to learn other students had been shot and killed and still others had been hit and desperately need medical

Photo 120. The body of Jeffrey Miller lies in the street with a trail of blood longer than his lifeless body. He was shot through the mouth and died where he stood.

3. Mellissa Dilley, “Filo and Vecchio to Speak at May 4 Commemoration,” Daily Kent Stater, Mar. 30, 2009, 3.

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Photo 121. Students form a circle and hold hands to give room to a wounded student who was receiving medical assistance.

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attention. John Filo, in the lower right corner of Photo 124, walks by shortly after taking his famous Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph. I walked past Taylor Hall just as an ambulance arrived at the parking lot with Prentice Hall in the background. Sirens blared and confusion and fear were in the air. No one could believe the National Guard fired live ammunition into a crowd of unarmed students. It was unconscionable. Photo 125 shows students staring out of their dorm windows from the safety of Prentice Hall to view the aftermath of the shootings. The individual on the right wearing an armband is geology professor Glenn Frank, a faculty marshal, who played a pivotal role on May 4 to be detailed shortly. This photo (126) made me question what was going on. Notice the presence of the students and the National Guard where Miller is lying. In Photo 114, the Guard moved away from the injured student, Joe Lewis, without apparent care or concern. In Photo 126, however, while some Guardsmen moved away from the scene, others appeared to talk with students. When some of the Guard tried to provide help, the students wouldn’t let them. Students in the background were scattered throughout the parking lot where 12 other students lay injured; three of them wouldn’t survive their injuries. Photo 127, the cropped view of Photo 126, reveals that the Guard and students are at a standoff where Miller lies. The students appear to be protecting Miller from the Guard. Their faces are somber, and a woman on the far right appears to be crying. In the center of the row of students, their backs to the camera, is Vecchio, wearing a white scarf hanging down over her dark T-shirt.

Above: Photo 122. Mary Ann Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway from Florida, and students stare in disbelief and horror at the lifeless body of Jeffrey Miller. Left: Photo 123. Vecchio kneels over Miller’s lifeless body as students walk by in horror.

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Students watched in disbelief and horror as Miller’s body was carried through the parking lot to an ambulance that transported him to a hospital (Photo 128). Like many of the students, I, too, was in shock. I didn’t expect to be taking pictures of students killed or injured by gunfire. This was supposed to be a peaceful rally, a kind of standoff. I expected to send myriad frames of film

to Life magazine—pictures of protesting students and interesting shots of students and the Guard after things had settled down. I expected that everything would get back to normal, that the Guard would leave and students would head to classes feeling like our campus was once again our own. What actually happened shattered my expectations and changed my life forever.

Facing page: Photo 124. Mary Ann Vecchio reaches out for someone to share her anguish. Left: Photo 125. An ambulance arrives to transport injured and dying students.

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Photo 126. Students and National Guardsmen gather around Jeffrey Miller’s body.

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Students wandered around, now aware of which of their fellow students were killed or injured. The Guard retreated back to its base at the ROTC area. Students were confused, horrified, and angry, but no one wanted to leave. Professor Frank somehow kept students calm in light of what they had just witnessed. He implored them not do anything to cause the Guard to start shooting again. I followed this group of students as they moved toward the Commons. They longed for someone to give them direction. They were lost. Their friends had been wounded and were dying or had been killed. This would be the first time since the May 1 rally that they heard from someone of authority from the university. If it were not Above: Photo 127. In this cropped section of Photo 126, Jeffrey Miller is visible on the pavement while students protect his body to prevent the Guard from getting closer. Left: Photo 128. An EMT pushes Miller to an awaiting ambulance.

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for faculty members taking the lead at this moment, who knows what the outcome of that day would have been (Photos 129 and 130). Frank, with voice quaking, gave students the direction they craved as he took to the bullhorn: “I don’t care if you’ve never listened to anyone before in your life. I am begging you right now. If you don’t disperse right now, it can only be a slaughter. Would you please listen to me? Jesus Christ, I don’t want to be a part of this. I am begging you.”4 I had never before heard such anguish in anyone’s voice. I could tell he was distraught and fearful for the students. No one wanted any more violence, and it indeed seemed possible. Thankfully, students heeded his impassioned plea. They dispersed, and gunfire never resumed. Frank later would be heralded as one of the heroes of May 4 for urgently pleading with the Guard to give students time to disperse, thus averting another “slaughter.” The May 4 Center on campus includes an audio recording of Frank’s anguished plea (you can also find it on YouTube; see note 4). 4. “The Day the ’60s Died: Moments after the Shootings,” PBS, posted Apr. 23, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-I1m J2KL4.

Top: Photo 129. My geology professor, Glenn Frank, in the suit and tie, implores students not to do anything that could prompt the National Guard to resume shooting. Left: Photo 130. Myron Lunine, dean of KSU’s Honors College, speaks to students through a bullhorn to try to calm them. To stop further violence, Lunine, Professor Frank, and other marshals and faculty members desperately urge students to remain seated as they struggle with the chaos of what they have just witnessed. 108 MOMENTS OF TRUTH

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Photo 131. Students gather around the Pagoda where the Guardsmen fired their weapons on unarmed students. Mary Ann Vecchio, wearing a white scarf, stands to the left between two trees. READY, AIM . . .  109

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Photo 132. Students prepare to leave the campus with National Guardsmen in formation near the dorms, still carrying their rifles with fixed bayonets.

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I continued walking around campus as word spread about dead and injured students. It would be some time later before it would be confirmed that four students had been killed and nine wounded. In Photo 131, students surround the Pagoda and appear to be listening to someone. Students still were desperate for someone to take control and protect them from the National Guard. Shortly after this photo was taken, the school would be closed.

Today I’m still not sure where the word to close the school came from, but it went through the crowd like the wind. Students were required to leave as soon as possible, so they headed to their dorms, making sure to stay away from the Guardsmen who were scattered across the campus. I kept taking photos while students hurried to leave (Photo 132). I was still working. My assignment wasn’t finished until the campus was empty. I knew the Guard had killed and wounded students, but now we

Photo 133. Students and Guardsmen face off without saying a word.

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also were hearing rumors that students themselves had shot and killed members of the Guard. An unconfirmed story even surfaced with a screaming headline about dead Guardsmen in an early edition of the local newspaper, the Record Courier. This image (Photo 133) captures the strange stillness that swept over the campus shortly after students learned they had to leave. Members of the Guard, in a somewhat casual stance, appear to be blocking students from the Commons area. The stunned students just seem to stare at the Guardsmen, some of whom they knew had been a part of the firing squad many of them had witnessed. At this point, these students knew the Guardsmen had loaded rifles, yet they held their ground. This wasn’t in any way a challenge or a dare. The momentary standoff seemed to say, “Here I am. What are you going to do? Shoot me?” Neither side said a word to the other before the students quietly moved on and vacated their dorms. With the school officially closed, students returned to their dorms to pack whatever belongings they could carry and to make arrangements to go home (Photos 134 and 135). For many, this meant making a phone call home. Out-of-state students had to get off campus and then make reservations on short notice for buses, trains, or planes. However, phone lines, for the most part, were dead, further adding to the chaos at a time before cell phone service. Kent Bell Telephone had shut down the

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phone service to the dormitories that afternoon so students could neither make nor receive calls.5 Not all of Kent’s students were right out of high school. Many were commuters wanting to earn a degree. Witness the woman in Photo 137. I felt the sense of pain she seemed to be feeling. After I witnessed Jeffrey Miller lying in the street, I focused on the students, the majority of whom were on the Commons. I didn’t go into the parking lot to take photos of the other students who were injured or killed. As I looked in their direction, I could see that they were being cared for and that they would have been moved into an ambulance by the time I reached them. My thoughts were with those who were not shot, and I was trying to convey how they were handling this (Photos 136 and 138). What was going to happen next? School was now closed and all students had to leave campus immediately. I would worry about how to get home later; until then, I continued to take pictures until the campus was empty. My only deadline was to send images to Life when everything was over. And as long as the National Guard remained on campus, I remained on assignment. The day was not over.



5. Barbato, Davis, and Seeman, This We Know, 29.

Top: Photo 136. Students stop to reflect on what they had witnessed in just the last hour and how their lives would never be the same. Right: Photo 137. One of Kent’s older students sits alone on the Commons. Far right: Photo 138. Bonnie Henry (right) just learns that her friend, Allison Krause, has died after being shot by the National Guard. READY, AIM . . .  113

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KILLED AND WOUNDED ON MAY 4, 1970 Killed Jeffrey Miller

20

81 m (256 ft.)

shot through mouth

Allison Krause

19

105 m (343 ft.)

shot in chest

William Schroeder 19

116 m (382 ft.)

shot in chest

Sandra Scheuer

120 m (390 ft)

shot in neck

Joseph Lewis

22 m (71 ft.)

abdomen and lower leg

John Cleary

34 m (110 ft.)

upper chest

Thomas Grace

69 m (225 ft.)

left ankle

Alan Canfora

69 m (225 ft.)

right wrist

Dean Kahler

91 m (300 ft.)

vertebrae, paralyzed from the chest down

Douglas Wrentmore

100 m (329 ft.)

right knee

James Russell

114 m (375 ft.)

right thigh and right forehead

Robert Stamps

151 m (495 ft.)

right buttocks

Donald MacKenzie

230 m (750 ft.)

neck

20

Wounded

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MAY 4, 1970 Calm after the Shootings

Shortly after school closed, the Ohio State Highway Patrol marched onto campus in impressive numbers to maintain order and to take control. This was less than two hours after the shootings. As I look at Photo 139, I see disciplined, confident men ready to take charge. A number of students stand at the edge of campus, waiting and wondering what is going to happen next. Two students in the center of the photo, just to the right of the ambulance, speak with two National Guardsmen. One student is pointing, and they both appear to portray a rather friendly, relaxed demeanor, despite the fact that students were just shot and killed by the Guard—the intended peacekeepers sent by their own government. On the left in Photo 140 are Adjutant General Canterbury and Major Jones engaged in conversation as the Highway Patrol arrives on campus. The two men are the ranking officers who were in charge when the Guardsmen suddenly turned and fired on unarmed students. The calm seems disconcerting as the National Guardsmen sit or stand around, almost biding their time while

12

Photo 139. The Ohio State Highway Patrol arrives on campus and takes control after the school closes.

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Photo 140. National Guardsmen, including Adjutant General Canterbury and Major Jones (see boxed area on the left), watch as the Ohio State Highway Patrol moves onto campus and relieves them of duty.

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they wait for orders, as though this were a normal day. Looking closer, I see that students also are pictured, some speaking with Guardsmen, while an ambulance is parked on the street, this time ready to shrink response time, if needed. This photo is unsettling to me because of the casualness of the persons pictured. Just hours before, four fellow Kent State students were killed, murdered, and nine others were wounded and are being treated in a local hospital. Now the students and the Guardsmen appear as if nothing had happened. As I observed the Ohio State Highway Patrol, I got an entirely different feeling from when I first saw the National Guard on campus. I attribute this to knowing that patrolmen are full-time employees of the state. They had chosen this career and had been trained to deal with violent situations. In the background of Photo 141, Guardsmen are loosely grouped behind the rope around the former ROTC area along with a few students. Since the weekend, the campus had lacked defined leadership. That changed with the Highway Patrol’s arrival on campus. Their presence created a calming atmosphere and relieved the National Guard of any responsibility and, more important, finally gave students a sense of feeling secure. Photo 142 shows a disciplined police force preparing to restore order and bring control to what had been a violent situation just hours earlier. They had been called to Kent to essentially do the cleanup work and create an atmosphere of safety. Their job was to restore calm and allow students to leave the campus quickly and peacefully for a premature, abrupt end to spring quarter. (At that time, the Kent academic calendar was divided into quarters rather than semesters, as it is now.)

Photo 141. The Ohio State Highway Patrol forms two lines as they scan the area and take control of the campus from the National Guard.

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Photo 142. The Ohio State Highway Patrol takes control. Their presence reduces tension; students feel safe to gather their belongings and leave.

Several things struck me as I examined this photo (142). On the left are National Guardsmen standing at “parade rest.” They have accomplished their mission and have been given orders to stand down. On the right side of the photo in the foreground is Major Jones, walking past the Highway Patrol. He was one of the ranking officers on the hill when the Guard turned and fired at students. Teenage runaway Mary Ann Vecchio, from the Pulitzer

Prize–winning Filo photo, is still on campus and appears in the center of the image as she talks with two students. On the hill and around Taylor Hall, students are getting ready to leave the university. A patient Highway Patrol waited for orders as local police and a university administrator, in the center of Photo 143, discussed what would happen next. Students quietly watched in the background as they waited for

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an announcement signaling that everything was under control and that they really were safe to move around their own campus and prepare to exit. The Ohio State Highway Patrol advanced up the Commons toward the Pagoda in an orderly, nonthreatening manner as students watched. I was impressed that the Highway Patrol carried out its mission without brandishing rifles or pistols but, instead, confidently carried only batons and had pistols holstered to their side (Photo 144). At this moment the campus finally felt calm. Students were still in shock and confused, but the tensions seemed to ease in the orderly atmosphere created by the Highway Patrol. Ohio State Highway Patrol officers in the photo (145) surround a student who is constrained in a soccer goal, a rather creative makeshift holding area. I didn’t know what the student’s offense was, but from the number of officers around him and their undivided attention, it appears to be serious. No guns are drawn and only batons are in the hands of the officers. In the background, National Guardsmen appear at ease and are probably relieved that their role on campus is finished. A hole in the sign for upcoming campus events said it all (Photo 146). This quiet, conservative, midwestern college had a series of events planned for May. Now the lives of the students seemed to be on an indefinite pause. Planned were a coronation of a student king and queen, a barbecue, a parade, and even a concert featuring B. J. Thomas along with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. It was to be a fun-filled Saturday that would never happen. The Victory Bell had long marked the spot where rallies began and ended on campus. Even after the shootings, a few students gravitated to what had long

Photo 143. The Highway Patrol (foreground) stands on the Commons as students and administrators wait to see what happens next.

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been their safe zone, hoping for more information (Photo 147). But the rights to free speech and assembly, long implicit at the Victory Bell, would never be the same for KSU students who witnessed the events of May 4. It must have seemed like a lifetime ago when students gathered at the Victory Bell to hear the latest news or to find out how a new policy or other campus news would affect them. After the last call for action at the Victory Bell, it would be a struggle to move forward, no matter what the peaceful initiatives were. The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s presence on campus brought a sense of calm and balance that had been completely lost when the National Guard occupied the university. The Highway Patrol had the same authority to make arrests as local law enforcement officers when a law was broken. They knew that students had just been killed and a number of others wounded, even though they couldn’t have had exact numbers. Why were the Guardsmen who fired the fatal shots not immediately questioned? Why were no Guardsmen arrested? Why were they never held responsible or accountable? Was the Highway Patrol told not to arrest anyone in uniform? Did a National Guard uniform absolve Guardsmen of any responsibility for their actions? As of this writing, we know that 28 members of the National Guard fired their weapons and 8 admitted to firing directly at students with the intent of killing them. However, based on the visual evidence collected, neither the Scranton Commission nor any court of law has concluded that the lives of the Guardsmen were threatened. Pieces of the truth of that day have been captured in the hundreds and thousands of still images and movie film that have surfaced through the years to help people

Facing page: Photo 144. With inaudible orders, the Ohio State Highway Patrol moves up the hill between Taylor and Johnson Halls. Above: Photo 145. Highway Patrol officers detain an individual in a soccer goal. Left: Photo 146. This sign, announcing upcoming events that will no longer take place, shows damage likely caused by a frustrated student.

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try to understand what happened on May 4, 1970. Yet many who know the truth have remained silent. This book is intended to help readers discover their own truth through a series of untouched photographs that chronicle the moments and events on and around May 4, events that have haunted us for nearly half a century. It is intended to provide a better understanding of that day when free speech was silenced and when students and our very democracy were attacked by our own government. The whys of the killing and wounding of students at Kent State University can only be known by those who were there. Students know what they saw, what they felt, and what they still feel. Twenty-eight Guardsmen know the role they played and the actions they took when they neared the crest of a hill by Taylor Hall and appeared to be retreating but then turned and, for 13 deadly seconds, fired 67 shots on unarmed students. It was an experience like war—it never leaves you. Since this unforgettable day of chaos and tragedy seen through my camera lens, I remain inextricably linked to Kent State and May 4, 1970.

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13

AF TERMATH The Civil Trials

Any student, professor, or administrator who was present at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, can never forget the tragedy that took place that day. If you were there, you still carry those memories. If you witnessed what happened, the images and sounds never leave and remain part of who you are. For me, a witness and a photographer, the killing of four students and the wounding of nine others is indelibly etched into my mind. I remember not only the events of that day but also the images, which roam through me and are triggered by requests for photos or by daily events in our turbulent society. The importance of my images and those of others were invaluable for the prosecution during the civil trials against the National Guard held in Cleveland in May 1975 and December 1978 (Photo 148). With the trial date set, the attorneys for the students selected me to be the first witness to take the stand and testify on the record. My role was to set the scene for the jurors using my photographs and those of other photog-

raphers. For three days I was shown photograph after photograph, shot by me and other photographers, and asked if the image represented what I saw and remembered. I was asked, “Mr. Ruffner, is this photograph a clear and accurate representation of what you saw that day?” And each time I would reply, “Yes, it is.” Of course, the attorney representing the National Guard challenged my testimony but did not get me to waver during his cross-examination. While on the stand for those three days, I steeled myself during my testimony. I felt the eyes of everyone in the courtroom on me—Kent alumni, reporters, Guardsmen, and sympathizers. Little did I realize how the intensity of the examination of my memories would affect me. Reliving the tragedy and the horror of that day left me drained. I was relieved to get out of the witness chair. Like anyone who was a part of the tragedy at Kent on May 4, 1970, I was crestfallen with the verdict absolving the National Guard of any responsibility for the deaths of students that day on the campus. AF TERMATH  123

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A retrial was ordered for December 1978 in Cleveland. The attorneys for the Guard were the same, while the students had a new legal team. Again, I was called to be the lead witness with the same responsibility of introducing the photographic evidence into the record. This time the questioning was not as grueling as the first trial. I was on the witness stand for two days. The National Guard defense attorneys did not push as hard as before. I felt relief when my testimony was completed and another witness took the stand. Shortly after the second witness began to testify, the judge called a recess and we waited. Upon his return, he announced an agreement had been reached, concluding the case. The Guard had signed a “statement of regret,” which stated in part, “In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, 1970, should not have occurred.”

In addition to the admission of regret, a monetary settlement had been stipulated to be divided among the parents of the deceased students and the wounded. I later came to understand that the parties involved wanted a resolution that would provide a legal end to this prolonged case and recognition by the Guard that this should not have happened. The monetary agreement of $650,000 was to be allocated based on injury or death, with the greatest amount awarded to Dean Kahler, whose wound left him paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. Again, I was disappointed that the Guardsmen had not been found culpable for their actions in light of the overwhelming testimony and photographic evidence. It was clear they had no reason to fear for their lives and shoot at unarmed students. The truth captured by the camera is there for all to see.

Facing page: Photo 148. Pictures capture the truth of the tragedy at Kent State on May 4, 1970. Photographs from many angles and from many photographers provided evidence supporting the plaintiffs in the civil trials.

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EPILOGUE

In the summer of 2015, my wife and I visited our longtime professor friends, Drs. Geoff and Rebecca Hunt, on Casper Mountain, Wyoming. As frequently is the case with both old and new friends, our conversation eventually revolved around my experience and photographs of the events on May 4, 1970, on Kent State’s campus. These published historians reminded me that as an eyewitness to history, I was a primary information source. They said I had an obligation to share my story. They were right. I’d thought about it before, but this time I felt there was no turning back. That night I began to create

a photographic memoir in my mind that would capture my truth during those unforgettable days in May. The May 4 Memorial Site, now on the National Register of Historic Places, is a beautiful wooded area near Taylor Hall that overlooks the sloping Kent Commons. A path to the Memorial passes a raised area where these words are engraved: Inquire, Learn, Reflect (Photo 149). These same words provide the framework for this concluding section. They allow for an even sharper understanding of the events of May 4. Questions need to be asked and, in many ways, my photographs attempt

Photo 149. Words on the May 4 Memorial path: Inquire, Learn, Reflect.

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to answer them as takeaway learning. Finally, upon reflection, my hope is that we all find our truth. Writing this epilogue was a challenge because my mind doesn’t process in words; it carries images. Notable photographer Elliott Erwitt says it best: “The point of taking pictures is so you don’t have to explain things with words.” If I could print a chronological image from my mind, it would look like a composite of the nearly 150 images that I have just shared with you. INQUIRE: The Questions As I wrote this memoir, I asked myself hundreds of questions about what truth my photographs really captured. Who was to blame for killing unarmed students? What role did the students have? Were the Guardsmen’s lives at risk? Was there an order to fire? President Nixon’s Commission on Campus Unrest raised these and other questions during its inquiry of what caused students to be killed and wounded during a campus protest. The commission conducted hearings in Kent, Ohio, from August 19 to August 21, 1970. There were 24 witnesses called to testify, 10 of whom were students. I was one of them. Of the troop of 28 Ohio National Guardsmen on the hill by Taylor Hall that day, only the commanders—Adjutant Generals Canterbury and Del Corso—were called to testify. Clearly my images show they were not among the shooters, but their actual role to this day remains a mystery. The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest read in part: Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots [later determined

to be 67 shots] by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators.

More questions were raised during the Cleveland, Ohio, civil trials, which began in 1974 and ended in 1979. I was called to testify as the lead witness and to introduce photographic evidence in both trials. Before the trials took place, I was subpoenaed and gave a deposition that took eight hours. During my deposition, the lawyers dug for information about what I witnessed. As they questioned me, I realized they also were looking for inconsistencies and weaknesses in my testimony to use during the trial. The defense counsel was extremely thorough and grueling at the deposition and trial. During my testimony, he showed me a rock bigger than a baked potato and asked if I had seen rocks this size thrown at the Guard. I replied “no.” After you have examined the images in this book, you, no doubt, would have given the same response. The defense counsel left the rock in front of me on the lectern until the counsel for the plaintiffs asked the judge to have it removed. Without my photographs I would never have been called to the witness stand. It was the truth in the visual evidence that could confirm or refute my testimony, as well as accounts of others. As I was presented photos to be used as evidence, I was asked: “Mr. Ruffner, is this an accurate depiction of what you saw?” I always answered “yes.” The photographic evidence was so critical to the case that I was asked to make copies of my photos for both the prosecution and the defense. At the time I was

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living in a small, one-bedroom apartment in Cleveland. My brother Donn came over to help print the hundreds of photographs. We covered all the windows with black plastic to make a darkroom. The manager of the apartment knocked on the door after a couple of days—worried I was making pornographic movies. After he saw what Donn and I were doing, he was reassured and didn’t come back. LEARN: Student Strikes, Generation Gap, and Completed Classes Shortly after the Kent State shootings I realized the Kent protest and subsequent killing of students precipitated the closing of colleges and universities around the country. I remember reading about this in the local paper and watching it on the news on television. It was later estimated that more than four million students at more than half of the 2,551 colleges and universities in the country went on strike during the week of May 4 in response to the Kent State shootings, making it the nation’s largest student protest in history. It was at this time I began to understand a major component of what came to be known as the “generation gap.” Here we had the difference between what college students stood for and what their parents believed. Many college students were against the Vietnam War. They thought it unjust and showed their disapproval through protests. Veterans of previous wars, World War II and Korea, did not understand why young men would not want to fight for their country; it was unpatriotic. The older generation resisted any disagreement with the US government’s continued war, while young people fiercely opposed the war. Parents paying tuition for their children to attend college felt their kids should

be thankful they were in school and should not waste their time protesting the Vietnam War. There are even stories of parents who thought their own children should have been shot if they were out among the protestors. When Kent State was closed, students, myself included, wondered how they would complete their courses. The professors were adamant that academic learning must be continued. Within a week of the tragedy, professors had voted to help students finish the quarter in any way possible. I was taking four courses, including a geology course with professor Glenn Frank. I was given options to complete course work by correspondence and by writing papers. Other professors held classes in and around the city of Kent in churches and homes off campus to allow students to complete the term. A chemistry professor, Norman Duffy, went a step further by holding seminars in Kent and Cleveland. In addition, nearly 2,000 students had to find help for graduation. With difficult logistics and heavy hearts, assistance from teachers and administrators allowed graduation ceremonies to be conducted June 6, 1970. REFLECT: Hanoi University, Invisible Wounds, and Permanence of Stones I always have been open and willing to share my Kent State photos and memories. I have given talks in public schools to all grade levels, college classes, and local community groups. However, my proudest moment happened in October 2016. That was when I carried my story about the Kent State tragedy and protests to Hanoi University. Kent State University’s International Relations Department was instrumental in securing an invitation for me to speak to students there. Dr. Le Van Hai (Hanoi EPILOGUE  129

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University, International Studies) introduced me to 200 English-speaking undergraduates. I was anxious to talk to them. As I shared my story and slides, the audience became engaged, listening intently. These young students had heard about the protest in the United States from their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. But this was the first time they had heard the story from an American, a witness who was there. I stood on a small stage and shared my photos in a PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint included pictures showing Sandy Scheuer and William Schroeder carrying books; I shared that they died shortly after the photo was taken. Later slides showed Jeffrey Miller and Allison Krause, who also were killed. One of the last slides listed the names of those who were wounded and indicated where and how they were injured. As I spoke of the innocent lives lost that day, tears rolled down the cheeks of many of the students. They understood the meaning of the protest and how it affected their country too. They knew from their history that ten months after the protests of May 4, 1970, Richard Nixon withdrew 90 percent of all US troops from Vietnam. This was the turning point of the war. After a question-and-answer period, a young Muslim man handed my wife a note he had written: “Who doesn’t thank people, doesn’t thank God. So I thank you for giving us such an important talk.” I felt very honored. One student then asked if she could have a picture with me, which was followed by many more picture requests. This was a bonding experience for me and these students. I was an older man, a grandfather figure, not a government official who came to speak with them. We talked about how they were Communist and I was

from a democracy and that did not matter. We were not enemies. We were people sharing ideas and learning from one another. When I left, I felt I had given them a better understanding of a complicated story they could take home and share with their families. What I took home was a sense of peace and a connection with people we had wronged. Before leaving the school, I was asked to go to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, known as the “Hanoi Hilton,” to give my presentation to the museum staff. This is where senator John McCain was held as a prisoner of war. The museum director, Toân Trong, asked if I could please send them any paraphernalia that would reflect American student protests. She was looking for clothes, banners, buttons, flags—anything related to protests. The museum wanted to dedicate an entire section that would depict American students protesting the Vietnam War. Reflection on the Kent campus can be found at the May 4 Visitors Center and with the School of Peace and Conflict Studies, originally called the Center for Peaceful Change, established in 1971 as a “living memorial” to the students who were killed by the Ohio National Guard. Each year more than a thousand students enroll in courses that teach applied skills in conflict management and nonviolent change. The May 4 Task Force of current students also plans an annual candlelight walk and other programs to remember the four students killed and the nine wounded. As part of my own reflection during this writing, I felt it was time to acknowledge that anyone who was present that day also was a victim. I carry wounds from that time than cannot be seen, as do many others. I experience haunting moments full of past and future fear. The right

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to protest is a fundamental freedom we as US citizens enjoy and embrace. The killings at Kent State defiled that. I fear for another “Kent State.” We should never be afraid to stand up for what we feel is right, as long as we do it in peace and with honest intent. Remembering the history of Kent State helps ensure it is never repeated. The Jewish tradition of placing stones on gravesites continues at Kent State where three of the four students killed were Jewish. The stones stand for the permanence of memory. During the May 4 Campus Memorial and throughout the year, former and present students place stones on the four sites where students lost their lives. These stones remind all who visit that the students who died there and the protest that took place always will be remembered. No matter where I have been on this planet, I always stop what I am doing on May 4 to remember what has been such an important part of my life. I remember the

names and faces of Allison, Sandy, Jeffrey, and William. Their faces are still young. Wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I also remember the National Guard turning and shooting live ammunition at unarmed students, the silence and then the piercing screams and sirens that followed. And I hear the emotional appeal from Professor Frank to disperse as he cried out to the students, “I don’t want to see any more of you die.” And most importantly today I stand firm on the right to freedom of speech—to assemble and protest—because one day, nearly half a century ago, that guarantee from our Bill of Rights was trampled by our own government. I stand firm in learning the truth about both sides of a controversy. I stand firm in believing that May 4 hastened the end of the Vietnam War by galvanizing public opinion against it. And today I stand firm in sharing my photographs in an effort to capture the truth and empower the reader to also become a witness to history.

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INDEX

Page numbers in italics refer to photos. Air Force. See US Air Force Akron Beacon Journal, on ROTC–Kent State fire, 55 Ali, Muhammad, 16, 16 Aline, Toshi, 29 American Forces Philippines Network, 7–12 antiwar protests. See Vietnam War Armstrong, Bill, 47 Baclawski (National Guardsman), 76 Black United Students (BUS), 16, 16– 17, 17, 41–42, 42, 68 Breckenridge (National Guardsman), 76 Butz, Tim, 40 Calhoun, Elizabeth, 24 Cambodia, Vietnam War expanded to, 35–42, 35–42 Canfora, Alan, 89–90, 90, 114 Canterbury, Robert, 67, 68, 86, 90, 92, 98–99, 99, 115, 128 Chicago Eight (Chicago Seven), 31–34

Clark Air Base, 8, 11–12, 12, 13 Clay, Lucius D., Jr., 6 Cleary, John, 99, 100, 114 Daily Kent Stater, 24, 26, 31, 32, 47, 69, 101 Del Corso, Sylvester, 53–57, 54, 128 Dubis, Tom, 38, 38–39 Duffy, Norman, 129 Dunphy, John, 97 Erwitt, Elliott, 128 Evers, Charles, 16, 16 Fassinger, Charles, 76–79, 78, 92 Filo, John, 71, 86, 103 Frank, Glenn, 103, 107–8, 108, 129, 131 Frisina, Frank, 57–58 Geary, James, 40, 40 GI Bill, 5, 40 Goodell, Charles, 27, 27 Good Friday (1968), 12, 13 Grace, Thomas, 114 Hamilton, Charles, 16, 16

Hanoi University, 129–30; Le Van Hai, 129–30 Henry, Bonnie, 113 Hoa Lo Prison Museum (“Hanoi Hilton”), 130; Toân Trong, 130 Holden Elementary School (Kent), 55, 56 Hope, Bob, 8, 12, 12 Hunt, Geoff, 127 Hunt, Rebecca, 127 Jones, Harry, 60, 80, 80, 97, 97, 115, 118 Jones, LeRoi, 15–17, 16, 17 Kahler, Dean, 72, 114 Kent (city): Holden Elementary School, 55, 56; Kent City Police, 66–67; Kent Fire Department, 45, 47; protests (May 1, 1970), 43, 45; Satrom (mayor), on protests, 49, 53–57, 54; Satrom (mayor), testimony of, 128 Kent Bell Telephone, 112 Kent State University: administrators’ actions during protests/shootings,

37, 51, 53, 56, 74, 86, 118, 119; curfew and protests (May 3, 1970), 59– 68, 59–68; Daily Kent Stater, 24, 26, 31, 32, 47, 69, 74, 86, 101; fall/winter 1969 at, 21–24, 21–26; International Relations Department, 129–30; rallies (May 1, 1970), 35–42, 35–42; rallies (morning of May 4, 1970), 69– 80, 69–80; recreational activities (1969), 15, 16, 19, 20; Rhodes and National Guard on campus (May 3, 1970), 51–58, 52–57; ROTC building fire (May 2, 1970), 43–46, 43–50, 48– 49; Rubin at, 31–33, 31–34; Ruffner as student at, 5; Think Week (1969), 15–17, 16, 17. See also Kent State University shootings; Vietnam War Kent State University shootings (May 4, 1970), 81–114; crowd dispersed following, 103–13, 108–13; dead and wounded students from, 95– 105, 96, 100–107, 114; May 4 Memorial Site/Campus Memorial, 127, 127, 131; May 4 Task Force, 130; and National Guard trapped on football field, 86–92, 89–93; INDE X  133

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Kent State University shootings (cont.) Ohio State Highway Patrol control following, 115–21, 115–22; rallies (morning of May 4), 69–80, 69– 80; school closed following, 111–13, 129; shooting by National Guard, 95, 95–99, 97–99; tear gas used against students, 81–85, 81–86, 89; trials, 97, 121, 123–25, 125, 128–29 King, Coretta Scott, 27, 27 Krause, Allison: activism of, 22, 24, 86, 89; death of, 113, 114, 130 Kuepper (Air Force staff sergeant), 6–7 Lakewood Camera Shop, 3, 3 Levine, Barry, 86 Lewis, Joe, 95–97, 96, 99, 103, 114 Life (magazine), 69, 69–70, 85, 99, 100, 100, 105, 113 Linkletter, Art, 8, 12, 12 Liquid Crystal Institute, US Department of Defense, 17–19, 18, 24 Lunine, Myron, 108 MacKenzie, Donald, 114 “March against Death” (Washington, DC, 1969), 25–29, 26–30 Matson, Robert, 57–58 McCain, John, 130 McCarthy, Eugene, 29, 29 McGee (National Guardsman), 76 McGovern, George, 27, 27 Miller, Jeffrey: activism of, 71, 72; death of, 101, 101, 103, 105–7, 113, 114, 130 National Guard: and Canterbury, 86, 90, 92, 98–99, 99, 115, 128; curfews and protests (May 3, 1970), 59– 68, 59–68; and Del Corso, 53–57, 54, 128; and Jones, 60, 97, 97, 115, 118; Kent State arrival of, 42, 46, 47, 48, 49; live ammunition carried

by, 78, 79; Ohio State Highway Patrol control following shootings, 115–21, 115–22; press pass, 60, 60; Rhodes’s authority given to, 63, 74; ROTC building fire events (May 1, 1970), 46; ROTC building fire reaction (May 2, 1970), 51–58, 52– 57; and student rallies (morning of May 4, 1970), 69–80, 70, 72, 75–80; trials, 97, 121, 123–25, 125, 128 Nixon, Richard: Commission on Campus Unrest, 128; Vietnam War expansion to Cambodia by, 35–42, 35–42 O’Davis, Benjamin, Jr., 12, 12 Ohio National Guard. See National Guard Ohio State Highway Patrol, 65–66, 67, 68 Popular Photography (magazine), 19, 19 Praktina FX camera, 6, 7 Pryor (National Guard sergeant), 86, 92, 98 Record Courier (Kent, Ohio), on shootings, 112 Rhodes, James: at Kent State campus, 51–58, 53, 54; National Guard sent to Kent State by, 49, 63, 74. See also National Guard Rice, Harold, 79 riots, Watts (Los Angeles), 5 ROTC: Kent State fire events (May 2, 1970), 43–46, 43–50, 48–49; Kent State fire reaction (May 3, 1970), 51–58, 52–57; Students for a Democratic Society on Liquid Crystal Institute, 17–19, 18, 24 Rubin, Jerry, 31–33, 31–34 Rubin, Nancy, 33, 33 Ruffin, David, 16–17, 17 Ruffner, Bob, 1, 1–2, 2

Ruffner, Donn, 1, 1–2, 2, 129 Ruffner, Howard, Jr.: in Air Force, 5–13, 6, 9, 10, 37; early jobs of, 3, 3; early photography at Kent State, 15–20, 15–20, 21–24, 21–26; early photography career of, 6–13, 7, 8, 10–13; family of, 1, 1–3, 2; as Life (magazine) stringer, 69, 69–70; at “March against Death” (Washington, DC, 1969), 25–29, 26–30; Ohio National Guard press pass of, 60, 60; Rubin photographed by, 31– 33, 31–34; trial testimony and evidence of, 123–25, 125, 128–29. See also Kent State University Ruffner, Howard, Sr., 1, 1 Ruffner, June, 1, 1 Ruffner, Ric, 1, 1–2, 2 Ruffner, Tom, 1, 1–2, 2 Russell, James, 114 Satrom, LeRoy (Kent mayor), 49, 53– 57, 54 Scheuer, Sandy, 74, 114, 130 Schroeder, William, 114, 130 Scranton Commission, 121 Seeger, Pete, 29, 29–30 Sharoff, Steve, 39, 39–41, 41, 71–72, 74 Sly and the Family Stone, 21, 21–22 Spock, Benjamin, 28, 29 Stamps, Robert, 114 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS): Liquid Crystal Institute protested by, 17–19, 18, 24; Rubin and, 31–33, 31–34 Think Week (1969), 15–17, 16, 17 Tichenal, Steve, 55 Tople, Paul, 55 US Air Force: ROTC building fire (May 2, 1970), 43–46, 43–50, 48–49; Ruffner in, 5–13, 6, 9, 10, 37

US Constitution, symbolic burial of, 38–42, 41, 72 US Department of Defense, Liquid Crystal Institute, 17–19, 18, 24 Vecchio, Mary Ann, 71, 72, 101, 101, 103, 105, 109, 118 Victory Bell (Kent State University): rallies at, 35–42, 35–42, 74, 80; students gathered at following shootings, 119–21, 122 Vietnam War: Cambodia expansion by Nixon, 35–42, 35–42; legacy of protests against, 127, 127–31; “March against Death” (Washington, DC, 1969), 25–29, 26–30; Operation Rolling Thunder, 5; ROTC–Kent State fire events (May 2, 1970), 43–46, 43– 50, 48–49; ROTC–Kent State fire reaction (May 3, 1970), 51–58, 52–57; Rubin at Kent State, 31–33, 31–34; Students for a Democratic Society on ROTC, 17–19, 18, 24. See also Kent State University Washington, DC, 1969 (“March against Death”), 26–29, 26–30 Watts riots (Los Angeles), 5 Westmoreland, William, 5 White, Dwayne “Brother Fargo,” 41– 42, 42 White, Robert, 65, 74 WHORE (World Historians Opposed to Racism and Exploitation), 37, 38–42, 41, 74 Wrentmore, Douglas, 114 Youth International Party (“yippees”), 31 Zukerman, Barry, 72

134 INDE X

Ruffner text.indb 134

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