56 years ago today, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on college students at Kent State University, Ohio, protesting Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. They murdered 4 and injured 9 or 10 other students. This was not the only incident of governments in the US using military personnel to intimidate and ultimately kill people exersizing their First Amendment rights. This one is remembered above the others because Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young produced an iconic story/song about it that went viral. See the lyrics below and listen to it in the accompanying video.

Ohio
by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio

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?

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 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?)
Four dead in Ohio

PS: I was 23 at the time and a student at Lorain County Community College. Though I wasn’t at Kent that day, I was in the protests in DC that followed it. Those from my school rode out to the demonstrations on busses from Oberlin College and Antioch… These photos speak for themselves... –LE