On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political crosscurrents that had been building in America during the 1960s reached critical mass. Anti-war protestors sporting bell-bottomed pants and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young Americans-National Guardsmen wearing gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded with chaotic speed, as Guardsmen-many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft-opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives emerged: one, that lethal state violence was aimed at Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over 50 years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and contradictory evidence. In Kent State , historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews-including, for the first time, the perspective of the Guardsmen who were there that day-for a complete reckoning with the tragedy that bookended the ’60s.
