John Smith wrote:
You are correct, my use of the word surround was inaccurate. They were
facing them.

Yep, "facing them" from at least 100 yards away.


... Do you think the guardsman were not aware that the students
had attacked the fireman for trying to put out the fire the students had
started? I know that would scare the hell out of me.

Possibly, but that had been several days before. AFAIK none of the
firemen were hurt. Meanwhile, the Guardsmen had been clubbing and
bayoneting the students for two days.


It was a scary situation for most of the guardsman, and most of the students
at Kent State.

Much scarier for the students, doncha think?


I have never said the Guardsman were justified in firing their guns, I said
it was done by young kids (who enlisted into the National Guard as a way to
get out going to Viet Nam).

Sure. So in a way, they agreed with the students.


If you believe the National Guard fired on the students because they
disagreed with the students position on the war, and decided to murder them,
there is not much for me to say.

Somebody either gave the order to fire when there was no threat, or
simply started pulling the trigger and others followed suit. When you
shoot at people for no reason, that's murder. I do not think it was
because of the students position on the war, I think it was the whole
situation... the inflammatory rhetoric of "law & order" politicians, the
hatred of hippies and of priviledged college kids, etc etc.


My guess is everyone involved in this tragedy have nightmares about it

It's possible that many (most) of the protestors, and a few of the
Guardsmen, do indeed. But IMHO at least a couple of the Guardsmen were
glad to get away with it.

Who gave the order to fire on unarmed students, who were dispersing, and
were over 100 yards away? Who pulled the first trigger?

Your position seems to be that the killing of the students (and two of
the dead were not even protestors, remember) is fully justified and
warrantable. So, by inference, you think it's OK for Americans to shoot
other Americans over disagreements about politics. Is that right?

DSK