The History of Ohio : Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young s Raw Reminder of the Kent State Massacre By Frank Mastropolo

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1 Name: The History of Ohio : Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young s Raw Reminder of the Kent State Massacre By Frank Mastropolo On May 4, 1970, National Guardsmen squared off against anti-war demonstrators on the campus of Ohio s Kent State University. The student protest was sparked by President Richard Nixon s announcement on April 30 that U.S. troops would invade Cambodia, escalating the already unpopular war in Vietnam. The deadly confrontation that followed would become known as the Kent State Massacre, and was immortalized in one of rock s greatest protest songs, Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The day after Nixon s Cambodia speech, a few storefronts in the town of Kent were trashed by protesters, and cops used tear gas to disperse the crowd. On May 2, Ohio Governor James Rhodes called in the Guard to restore order. That evening, a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) building was set on fire as students cheered; guardsmen responded with tear gas and arrested many demonstrators. A large protest on the university Commons was planned for May 4. As a few thousand students and spectators gathered, undergraduate John Filo grabbed his camera and headed towards the crowd. Filo, who worked at the Kent State photo lab, hoped to catch a few compelling images of the event. When protesters refused an order to either disperse or face arrest, guardsmen fired tear gas at the crowd. Many students fled the scene, and the Guardsmen followed them to a football field, where the students pelted the soldiers with rocks. Shortly after noon, the Guardsmen moved back up a hill, as if to retreat. But when they reached the top, they turned and opened fire on the students with their M1 rifles. In just 13 seconds, anywhere from 61 to 67 rounds were fired and four students lay dead; nine more were injured. Of the four students killed, only Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller were part of the demonstration. Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were walking to class when they were gunned down. The iconic photograph of 14-year old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the corpse of Jeffrey Miller would bring the Vietnam War home to America and win Filo the Pulitzer Prize. Blood was just pumping out of his body, on the hot asphalt, Filo told Annenberg Digital News. Then he spotted Vecchio. I could see the tension building in this girl and finally she let out with the scream, and I sort of reacted to the scream and shot that picture. Days later, David Crosby handed Neil Young a copy of Life magazine that featured Filo s photo. Until then, CSNY were known for the gentle lyrics and intricate harmonies in songs like Our House and Teach Your Children. But Crosby told VH1 that Filo s photo inspired the raw emotions of Ohio. Crosby came and had the magazine with the Kent State killings, said Young. I had heard it on the news, what had happened, but Crosby always had a way of bringing stuff into focus. Young disappeared into the woods with his guitar. When he returned a few hours later, he d written Ohio.

2 It s still hard to believe I had to write this song, Young, a Canadian, explained in the liner notes of his Decade anthology. It s ironic that I capitalized on the death of these American students. Probably the biggest lesson ever learned at an American place of learning. Explicit lyrics like Tin soldiers and Nixon s coming Soldiers are gunning us down Four dead in Ohio would get the song banned on some mainstream AM stations but airplay on FM and underground radio would make Ohio a Top 20 hit. For me, Ohio was a high point of the band, a major point of validity, Crosby wrote in the liner notes of the CSN collection. There we were, reacting to reality, dealing with it on the highest level we could relevant, immediate. It named names and pointed the finger. Kent State Shooting Fact Check Who: What: When: Where: Why:

5 Ohio by Crosby, Still, Nash & Young Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know? Na na-na-na, na-na na-na Na na-na-na, na-na na Na na-na-na, na-na na-na Na na-na-na, na-na na Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know? Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio Four dead in Ohio (Four dead) Four dead in Ohio (Four) Four dead in Ohio (How many?) Four dead in Ohio (How many more?) Four dead in Ohio (Why?) Four dead in Ohio (Oh!) Four dead in Ohio (Four) Four dead in Ohio (Why?) Four dead in Ohio (Why?)

6 Ohio Questions 1. Who are the tin soldiers? 2. What does the line We re finally on our own mean? 3. What is the drumming the songwriter hears? 4. What does the line Should have been done long ago mean? 5. What does the listener know in the line How can you run when you know?

Lee Fisher Commencement Address University of Toledo May 5, 2012

Lee Fisher Commencement Address University of Toledo May 5, 2012 What to Change the World? Start by Listening - Four Life Lessons President Jacobs; Provost McMillen; Chancellor Gold; distinguished members of the Faculty, Administration, Board of Trustees, and alumni;