Q. Was the ROTC building active for Kent State?
A. The ROTC building was very active. It
was a long and old barrack. It was
scheduled to be demolished in the
summer. It was used to store rifles for
the ROTC students to use.
Q. What do you know about the Kent State
shootings?
A. I wasn't an eyewitness. I was a
student in 1970. The rally was called
for on Friday May 1st but got postponed
until Monday, May 4th. There were 3
groups of National Guards. There was
Troop G, Company C and Company A. At
12.00 the rally was held on the Kent
State Campus. The rally started out
peacefully, until they started shooting
tear gas into the crowd. I found out a
lot from talking to different people
who were eyewitnesses. Now I teach a
course called "May 4th Aftermath at Kent
State".
Q. How did you become interested in this
shootings?
A. I was a student at Kent State at the
time of the shooting. I knew William and
Sandy who were both shot and killed. I
knew Sandy since I was five years old.
She was on her way to class when she got
shot. William was an ROTC Cadet;
some people thought he was a Communist.
Before I became a teacher I knew two
professors who taught the same course
that I teach today.
Q. Why do you think the National Guard shot into the protest?
A. The theory is because the students
were young and inexperienced. My opinion
is from talking to General Cornell, who
was the General for the National Guard,
the National Guardsmen were very
experienced. Many who shot were older
who knew that they were doing. Alan
found a tape at Yale library that said "We shot because we were ordered to."
Q. Where were you during the shootings?
A. I was actually at my house which was
four blocks away from Kent State. In one
of my classes before the rally our
Professor begged us not to go to the
rally.
Q. How do you feel about how Kent State
is treated in history today?
A. Well, I think it is a
tribute to your
teacher for having you pick this topic
for your History Day project. It shows
how the shootings have not been
forgotten.
Q. With the war in Iraq going on, do you
think the students today are as involved as
they were back then?
A. I felt like kids during 1970 were
passionate about the war. We had a draft
back then that made every eligible male
part of the protest. Today, there is no
draft.
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