May 4, 1970....36 years ago today.....was the shocking day that woke my political conscience, and rocked my generation's world. I was 18 years old, a college freshman, and until that day, a journalism major but blithely detached from national and world affairs.

It was the day that four college students .... Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder .... were shot to death and nine students wounded on campus at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio by Army National Guardsmen at a Vietnam war protest. Two of the student killed were participating in the protest, and two were merely walking to class.

I distinctly remember watching the Kent State shooting news on TV in my dorm lounge and thinking, "That could be me. That could be my friends. They shot and killed teenagers who were just walking to class or voicing their viewpoints...."
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I urge you to read How Kent State Could Happen Again, by blogger and writer Bob Geiger. Most of the article is a poignant remembrance (with photos) of the events of May 4, 1970, but it also poses provocative questions for today:

"The draft ended 33 years ago and the ambivalence today's students seem to feel toward an Iraq war so remarkably similar to Vietnam can undoubtedly be traced to a lack of personal connection to the war and any risk that it will disrupt -- or end -- their lives.

But what if a draft became their reality today? With our military perhaps more stretched than it was with Vietnam and with the looming specter of our fatigued military being overwhelmed with a new war with Iran, you can bet a new spirit of activism would suddenly emerge on campuses nationwide.

Nothing would personalize a war to America's youth and their parents like the prospect of being forced to trade in the frat house for a rifle and an unarmored Humvee. I bet it would even make some of the Young Republicans on college campuses take a hard look at the rationale for war if there was even a smidgen of a chance they would actually have to fight.

And it may not be far away...."
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Related Article - Iraq War Made Simple - Results & Statistics as of April 2006
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