Chapter 13: Water Street

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Chapter 13: Water Street Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States on January 20, 1969, promising to bring an end to the Vietnam War.

1 Chapter 13: Water Street Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States on January 20, 1969, promising to bring an end to the Vietnam War. More than 40,000 American soldiers had been killed in that conflict by the end of In April of 1970, Nixon stunned the country by announcing a U.S. and South Vietnamese invasion into Cambodia to end the war in Vietnam and win a just peace. The announcement generated an immediate, nationwide outcry against him and his war policy. Attendance and frequency of anti-war demonstrations increased, American college campuses erupted in protest, and Nixon derided anti-war students as nothing more than bums blowing up campuses. Roughly twenty miles from the Church of the Risen Christ farm in Windsor, at Ohio s Kent State University, a demonstration was held on May 1, 1970, and another was planned for May 4. As each day passed, the crowds and anger increased and by May 2, Kent s Mayor Leroy Satrom had declared a state of emergency. Subsequently, the National Guard was sent to Kent to help maintain order. An estimated two thousand people gathered on the university s commons on May 4 for what proved to be the final protest. It began with the ringing of the campus s iron victory bell. A group of about one hundred National Guardsmen, with bayonets fixed on their weapons, began to advance on the hundreds of protesters. As they pressed forward, the protestors retreated up and over a hill. It was at this point that a number of guardsmen at the top of the hill abruptly turned and fired into the crowd. Nine students were wounded, and four were killed. Two of the dead, Allison Krause and 157

2 Jeffrey Miller, had participated in the protest, and the other two, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder, were walking from one class to the next John Filo/Valley Daily News Shocking photographs of the tragedy at Kent State were published in newspapers and periodicals worldwide and immediately amplified sentiment against the United States in particular and the Vietnam War in general. John Filo s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a fourteen-year old girl screaming over the body of the dead or dying student, Jeffrey Miller, became the most enduring image of the events and an icon of the anti-vietnam War movement. The shootings led to protests on college campuses throughout the United States. Shortly after the incident took place, the Urban Institute conducted a national study that concluded the events at Kent State were the sole cause behind the only nationwide student strike in U.S. history over four million students protested and over 900 American colleges and universities closed during the student strikes. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. Four months later, in September 1970, twenty-four students and one faculty member were identified from photographs and became known as the Kent 25 or the Kent Krazies. The Kent

3 referred to the twenty-five students and faculty indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges connected with the demonstration that day or the ROTC building fire three days before. When those four students were killed at the university, Larry immediately felt the Lord was directing us to the streets of Kent, Joe Markko said. We started the effort with street work leading up to a concert held in one of the university s large auditoriums. At the time Larry Hill told reporter Jean Mlincek, Four months before the May fourth shootings at Kent University, I felt real burdened to come here. I don t know, but Kent was pressed upon my mind, and there s people who can verify that. When the killings came, I wondered in my heart if I had waited too long. Joe said, It was a very emotional time and everyone was angry and in shock over what had happened. I remember the meetings we held were well attended. For a short time we held Sunday services in Kent s Student Union building, but it was so crowded that we eventually moved to Joe Bujak s (JB s) bar on Water Street. Larry made an agreement that no alcohol was to be served and the church was free to use the large upstairs area for its services. More than 125 street people and college students regularly attended the meetings. The All Saved Freak Band later recorded a song Water Street about the events at JB s bar. 159

2000 The Burr Above, some members of the Kent Krazies, seen here in mid-may 1970. Tom Miller is on the far right.

afternoon services at JB s, and eventually moved to Fortney Road.

4 2000 The Burr Above, some members of the Kent Krazies, seen here in mid-may Tom Miller is on the far right. One of the Kent State protesters and a member of the self-styled Kent Krazies, Tom Miller, heard the All Saved Freak Band perform, attended one of the Sunday afternoon services at JB s, and eventually moved to Fortney Road. Alan Canfora one of nine students shot and wounded during the Kent State shootings was a friend of Tom s. He was born and raised in Smithville, Ohio, Alan said. We loved him as our brother at KSU. He was beautiful, very poetic and artistic, and he loved Bob Dylan. Tom Miller in Photos 1970 George Caldwell 160

5 Church of the Risen Christ member Ben said, We got to know about Larry Hill through Tom Miller. I grew up with Tom, he was two years older but we kicked around some. He introduced us to the All Saved Freak Band. Tom was one of the sweetest, gentlest, kindest people you d ever meet, Leon said. He exuded strength of character and humility. Tom Miller was born in April of 1949, one of eleven children. In his youth, he had been very active in church, choir, band, and sports. His younger brother by eighteen months, John, said, Up until the end of his sophomore year in high school, he was my best friend in the world. That s when he started doing drugs. He started with marijuana and eventually graduated to stronger things. During that time, his personality changed dramatically. By the time he was a senior, he had dropped out of everything. As young men, we often had discussions about God and the church. He cared about the Lord deeply but often struggled with his faith, and by his senior year, he had given up on the notion of God. Vietnam and the death of a cousin in that war only served as proof to him that God did not exist. If by some chance He did exist, Tom had no interest in following a God who would allow such suffering. At that point in his life, God was for those foolish enough to believe. Tom Miller eventually did graduate from high school. At Kent State, he not only used drugs, but also began bringing them back and selling them to the kids in his hometown of Smithville, Ohio. He believed that drugs liberated a person to see the truth about our existence, John said. 161

His cynicism, drug use, the political climate and probably his age combined to form one angry young man. He had a close-knit circle of druggy friends who knew him as a fun loving and caring person.

6 His cynicism, drug use, the political climate and probably his age combined to form one angry young man. He had a close-knit circle of druggy friends who knew him as a fun loving and caring person. He was very loyal in that regard. One of Tom s college friends, Tom Grace, said, Because he was so nice and from a really religious family, everyone called Tom Aquinas after Saint Thomas Aquinas. He had some saintly qualities about him. On the day of the Kent State shootings, a bullet struck Tom Grace in his left ankle. I had already been removed from the scene but my friends told me that Tom had picked up a flag and went over to where Jeff Miller had been killed. (Jeff Miller and Tom Miller were not related.) There was a huge puddle of blood after Miller s body had been taken away, Tom Grace said. Aquinas took the black flag and dipped it in the blood really saturated it and began jumping up and down in the blood. After that he proceeded to whip this flag around as quickly as he could, spraying blood everywhere LIFE Inc. Above, Tom Miller waving the blood-soaked flag. 162

7 According to Alan Canfora, When Tom saw the body of Jeffrey Miller lying there, he just lost it. He just wanted to get blood on the others to make it more real for them. Tom Miller immediately gained a great degree of notoriety after a photo of him with the flag appeared in LIFE magazine, and he was never really the same after the Kent State shootings. Tom Grace said, He had always been so angelic, just so peaceful. I don t think he had ever hurt anyone before in his life. But a few weeks after the shootings, he and some friends were down on a little island in the Cuyahoga River. They came upon a bird s nest and Aquinas took a tree limb and just started smashing the bird s nest. It was pointless, mindless John Miller said, On the Friday following May 4, 1970, I was alone in my dorm room at Wittenberg University when my phone rang. It was my brother Tom. He talked about what had happened at Kent State and was highly critical of the soldiers and the government. He told me that he was among the group that set the ROTC building on fire. He also admitted to provoking and throwing rocks at the soldiers. He was so mad that he was yelling, swearing and cursing all at the same time. When John heard what part his brother had played, he got angry and accused him of being just as guilty as the men who pulled the triggers. I remember his last words to me were, You just don t get it! A few hours later, in the middle of the night, there was a knock at John s door. It was Tom. I didn t realize it then, but he was on the run. The police and the FBI were looking for him. He stayed on campus with me for about a week. I had become a part of the Christian Charismatic movement on campus, part of the gentler, kinder half of the Jesus Movement. During the time Tom stayed with me, we had many meaningful conversations about the Lord and he attended a number of Bible studies and prayer meetings with me. He seemed to have mellowed some, but he 163

8 remained noncommittal about his faith. I m sure that his drug addictions had something to do with it. At that point he was either addicted to heroin or cocaine I m not sure anymore which it was. Tom Miller recalled what happened during the shootings in an interview in the Freedom Bell. Those bullets were everywhere but in me. And I was the one that really deserved them. For previous to the shootings, only myself and two companions out of a mob of hundreds stood out in the open, taunting the guardsmen who later did the killings. I cursed them and actually invited them to shoot me, screaming at the top of my lungs, Shoot me! I m a helpless woman! I m a child! Shoot me! (I was referring to the Mai Lai massacre). Tom then described what happened when the shooting began. It was then that there was a shout and something seemed to be driving the mob toward the guardsmen. When I saw one of the soldiers drop to his knees and aim, I turned and started to run like everybody else, but then I jumped behind a small tree. It was just wide enough for me to stand sideways behind it without being exposed. Later, however, I was told that the type of high-powered bullets used, if they had hit the trees, would have passed right through the tree and me both. 164

Above, the Freedom Bell issue in which Tom Miller told of his experiences at Kent State on May 4, 1970. The bullets flew by me so close I could feel the wind from them on my left and my right.

9 Above, the Freedom Bell issue in which Tom Miller told of his experiences at Kent State on May 4, The bullets flew by me so close I could feel the wind from them on my left and my right. One of my companions was cut down a few feet to my right. Another close friend had squatted down behind me and his wrist, which protruded only a few inches from behind my left side, was pierced with a bullet. After a week of hiding out with his brother John, Tom Miller announced that he was going to go out west to find himself. I m not sure where he went, John said, but it was during that time that he accepted Christ. He had challenged God to show Himself in a tangible way. He asked God to take away his addictions, and God did immediately and powerfully. Tom had finally found peace. An art student 165

and musician, Tom Miller went on to contribute greatly to the graphic look of the Freedom Bell and was an enthusiastic member of the growing community at Fortney Road.

10 and musician, Tom Miller went on to contribute greatly to the graphic look of the Freedom Bell and was an enthusiastic member of the growing community at Fortney Road. In the Freedom Bell, Tom wrote, To my knowledge, I am the only former member of the Kent Krazies or of the Kent 25 who has come to personally know and follow the one true liberator, heaviest revolutionary of all time, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Tom Miller wrote his testimony in this issue of the Freedom Bell and signed his name. John said, Tom met Larry Hill and was attracted to this man who had himself claimed to have been powerfully delivered from addiction. I had two opportunities to go to the Sunday services where the All Saved Freak Band played. It was so deafening that I had to hold my hands over my ears. 166

11 Tom Miller concluded his story in the Freedom Bell by stating, I started attending church services at JB s in Kent on Sunday afternoons. Brother Larry Hill preached, the All Saved Freak Band played and gave testimonies, and the power of God began to work stronger in my life. It was in Brother Hill s ministry that I came to realize the necessity of actually living the Christian life every day. By the grace of God I am privileged to have good teaching and to be part of the All Saved Freak Band. We continue to worship God as we sing, play, and testify under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Brother Hill continues to preach, and souls are continually being saved. Praise God for giving the increase! In this excerpt from the Freedom Bell, Larry claims that Tom Miller told him that the Kent riot was planned for over a year and a half before it happened, and that left wing radical leaders guided the whole riot and many of the students were only dupes. The All Saved Freak Band were just one of many bands and musicians who gravitated to the campus after the shootings. Many musicians of that era were compelled to write about the incident. Perhaps the best-known response to the Kent State University events was the song 167

12 Ohio written by Neil Young within weeks of the incident and recorded with his group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Tom Grace said, The first time I heard Ohio was in July 1970 and I had just gotten out of the hospital. Aquinas was visiting me in Syracuse and he couldn t believe I hadn t heard it yet, so he insisted on trying to find a copy. He walked about two miles barefooted to a shopping center. He took a shortcut through a cemetery and cut his foot going over a fence. His foot was still bleeding, but he made it back with the record. In the photo above, Larry Hill is the second person from the left. Joe Markko and his wife Sandy are on the far right and Sandy is holding their son Jonathan. Photo was taken taken in the alley outside Butcher Boy Meats after a Sunday meeting. Larry s church services at JB s bar soon became so crowded on Sunday afternoons that a daughter church was started called the Kent New Generation Church. For the remainder of 1970, the community members and the All Saved Freak Band at this point made up of Larry, Randy, Dave Bechler, and Joe shuttled back and forth between Kent and the farm on Fortney Road. 168

Kent State shootings. In 1970, the talent pool of the All Saved Freak Band increased significantly when Pam and Kim Massmann showed up.

13 In 1970, the Kent Record Courier published an article about Larry and his Kent New Generation Church. In the crease, Larry mentions he was an associate with David Wilkerson s Teen Challenge and that Kent was pressed upon my mind four months before the Kent State shootings. In 1970, the talent pool of the All Saved Freak Band increased significantly when Pam and Kim Massmann showed up. According to the Freedom Bell, it was an especially exciting time the afternoon that the Kent State University Orchestra Conductor s second oldest daughter, Kim Massmann, walked in to hear the All Saved Freak Band. 169

Below [L-R], Pam and Kim Massmann, who joined the All Saved Freak Band in 1970. Next week she came back and a friend asked Rev. Hill if she could sing for the group. Usually the Rev.

14 Below [L-R], Pam and Kim Massmann, who joined the All Saved Freak Band in Next week she came back and a friend asked Rev. Hill if she could sing for the group. Usually the Rev. was very strict about who he let sing before a congregation or in a concert. He said, I don t believe in making a whole auditorium full of people miserable just to make one person happy. But there seemed to be something special about this girl. After [Kim] had sung, everybody knew why! Rob Galbraith, who would later produce the All Saved Freak Band, said, I ve heard about voices like hers but I never had the privilege of being in the studio with a voice as clear as Kim Massmann s. Kim became very enthused about the All Saved Freak Band and returned several times to hear them play. She invited her older sister Pam to join her. Pam s voice was as beautiful as her sisters and soon they joined the band and moved to Fortney Road. Kim and Pam were both trained in vocals, piano, and guitar, while Pam was also an accomplished cellist and Kim a violinist. Their father, Dr. Richard Massmann, was then the conductor of the Minnesota University Orchestra and he had trained them in classical music. 170

Above [L-R], Kim and Pam Massmann. The presence of Pam and Kim Massmann in the band enables me to say that before ELO there was ASFB, Joe said lightheartedly.

15 Above [L-R], Kim and Pam Massmann. The presence of Pam and Kim Massmann in the band enables me to say that before ELO there was ASFB, Joe said lightheartedly. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was formed in 1972 and achieved worldwide success with its unlikely fusion of classical music and rock n roll. Having a violin and cello live on stage as an integral part of rhythmic music was a brand new concept when we did it, Joe said, and these women weren t schlock musicians. They had trained, delicate voices and musical skills that matched the sound of their instruments, and they taught the rest of us music theory in classes for the band. Although the line-up could change to fit any setting or audience size or taste in music, the band members who generally played included Joe Markko and Ed Durkos on vocals and rhythm guitar; Larry contributed vocals, piano, tambourines; Mike Berkey played acoustic guitar and sang; 171

16 Pam and Kim Massmann sang and played cello, violin, acoustic guitars, piano, and tambourines; Norris McClure and Morgan King were on bass with Morgan s sister, Carole, on keyboards and vocals, with Larry s son Tim playing percussion. Carole King Hough said, I am going to try to think of a good time at Fortney Road and I guess that would be if we were going to have band practice. That made everything else at least bearable. I can t say it was fun maybe relief is a better word, but it all depended on the mood Larry was in. When my brother Morgan was there at practice, I liked it because I could be with him. Morgan King added, Music and recording the albums was exciting for me. The non-band members would make you feel bad because we were practicing and they were out working. And Larry would yell and belittle you if you didn t play the way he wanted. And the music did help and because Larry was always hungry to hook another famous musician, and he sent Glenn and I out once to the Smiling Dog bar in Cleveland. Muddy Waters was playing and we got invited up on stage to play with them, and that was a lot of fun, a real thrill. But then it was back to Fortney Road Kim and Pam quickly absorbed Larry s end-time teaching and the three of them frequently wrote songs together. They often collaborated on what may be considered some of the more controversial songs we recorded, Joe said. They were very much about the whole prophetic side of things. 172

17 They wrote songs about things we d been hearing at almost every church service for years. Larry ended up being extremely conspiracy-oriented and was always warning us about groups and individuals he considered false and dangerous. They sang from their orientation, trying to warn the world with what they d been taught. It was around this time that Larry had his fifth vision he saw the Soviet bear stand up in the Middle East and devour much of the land, followed by a huge serpent that crawled out of Rome and also headed for the Middle East. He also saw a black line run lengthwise across California causing the shorelines to tremble. He pronounced that God was going to send America into vast and destructive judgment for her sins and in his Illustrated Chart of Visions advised each individual to: 1. Face your sins and get rid of them 2. Learn how to pray and touch God 3. Get bold and win others to Christ 4. Begin to stock non-perishable foods and the fundamentals for camping and survival 5. Never lose hope 6. All civil services (including police and fire departments), public officials, churches, schools, ministers and teachers should take first aid and self help training 7. Have a Bible and a copy of the Constitution of the United States in your stores, and get spiritually, mentally and physical fit 173

18 8. Keep your mind free. Don t be victimized by the subtle brainwashing techniques used by the media, the education system, and any un-biblical teachings Larry Hill, The farm on Fortney Road saw its greatest growth at this time, and those who joined the community were familiar with Larry Hill s teaching of a coming Great War. To some extent they all knew what they were getting into. They just didn t realize how hard it would be to get out. 174

19 Find out what really happened: FortneyRoad.com Follow the Don t let it happen 175

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

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