Four Dead in Ohio: Remembering the Victims and Legacy of the Kent State Massacre

On May 4, 1970, 4 students were killed on the Kent State University campus during a peace rally against the Vietnam War's expansion into Cambodia, as well as the presence of the National Guard on-campus. 

Credit: Stephen Kaledecker/Public Domain Pictures

Two of those students, Allison Krause, 19, and Jeffrey Glenn Miller, 20, were participating in the protest, which involved over 300 others when 28 troops began firing. They went through 67 rounds total in 13 seconds, killing not only them, but two other students. Nine students were also wounded, with one becoming permanently paralyzed. 

The other two students, Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20, and William Knox Schroeder, 19, were not participating in the protest, and happened to be walking to their next classes over 300 feet (91 meters) away from the firing line. Scheuer died on campus, but Schroeder died almost an hour later at the Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna while undergoing surgery. He was shot in the chest near his seventh rib, and his lung was punctured. This was the first time in US history that anyone was killed during an anti-war gathering.

Following the massacre, student demonstrations amped up, with over 450 campuses across the country shutting down due to both peaceful and violent protests. Four million students also participated in walk-outs organized by different high schools, colleges, and universities. Over 100,000 students also demonstrated in Washington D.C.

The effect of the shootings naturally had major influence on the music of that time. The Neil Young-penned hit by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, "Ohio" was written, recorded, released, and high in the charts within two-and-a-half weeks. Genesis released "The Knife" in October of that year, which recounted the shooting from the perspective of the guards. Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane released "Diana" in 1971 which was about the Weather Underground member Diana Oughton, but had a second part written in response to the shootings. The Vietnam War Song Project has managed to identify over 70 songs that either directly discuss or allude to the Kent State Massacre. 

It has been 53 years since that day, and the affect of it will continue for many years to come. May the world never forget the four students or anyone who stepped in to promote peace.