KEVIN FAGAN, San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2010
It happened a long time ago in a state on the other side of the country, but the day Ohio National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University during an anti-war protest is still a fresh hurt for Laurel Krause.
Her sister, 19-year-old freshman Allison Krause, was one of those killed in what became a tragic touchstone for protests against the Vietnam War. Now, 40 years after the May 4, 1970, shootings that also left nine wounded, Krause has launched a personal project to collect a video history of the event.
The 55-year-old Mendocino County woman will be coming to San Francisco on Aug. 7 and 8 to set up a camera and record the testimonials of anyone who was at the shootings or was directly affected by them. Witnesses, people who were wounded, relatives of victims, teachers, administrators, National Guardsmen – they’re all welcome, she said.
The event will be webcast live from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day on MichaelMoore.com.
‘Truth Tribunal’
Krause, an environment blogger, is calling her project “The Kent State Truth Tribunal.” Her first collection of oral histories – about 70 in all – was recorded in early May at Kent State, when the university was commemorating the 40th anniversary of the killings. After San Francisco she intends to record more recollections in New York City on October 9 and 10.
Co-directing the project with Krause is filmmaker Emily Kunstler, daughter of the late civil rights lawyer William Kunstler.
“Based on what we’ve been told over the years, we think the second-largest group of participants and witnesses to the shootings is in California, and we expect people to come from this state, Washington, Oregon and anywhere else nearby,” Krause said. “We are hoping to get all sides of the story. We want the whole truth to come out about these shootings.”
Public apology
In 1990, then-Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste apologized publicly for the shootings, but nobody was ever officially held accountable for the killings. Varying accounts have been offered over the years of whether the National Guardsmen were ordered to open fire on the anti-war protesters or did so spontaneously.
Krause is convinced the shooting was deliberate. She wants an apology from the federal government, because the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War was what precipitated the protests that led to the shootings.
“Even 40 years later, it’s still a horrible thing for me and my family,” Krause said. “Allison was my only sibling. She wanted to be an art therapist. And I can never, ever see her again.”
Krause intends to give her collection to a library at New York University.
Earlier this year, the shooting site at Kent State was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and the university started a walking tour of it. The school’s library already has more than two floors worth of archives, including 100 oral histories, devoted to the shootings – but its archivists pick no sides in the historical debate, said Cara Gilgenbach, head of special collections and archives.
“There are many varying narratives of what occurred,” she said.
Find out more
To find out more about the tribunal event in San Francisco, and to register to give a testimonial, go to truthtribunal.org.
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July 31, 2010
Dear Laurel,
I live in Marin County and read with great interest the article in the July 31st S. F. Chronicle about your worthwhile project to collect a video history of the Kent State debacle. I was not at Kent State on May 4, 1970, but I feel compelled to share with you my story.
I was a sophomore at West Virginia University in Morgantown in May of 1970 getting ready for finals in a couple of weeks. I was coming out of a biology lab class in the early afternoon when all of a sudden there were soldiers shooting tear gas from Army tanks going through our main campus – and for no reason I was tear gassed. I immediately felt the pain in my eyes and had no idea why such violence was occurring. I remember the burning in my eyes and someone came over and grabbed me and took me out of the line of fine. I remember people screaming and running every which way – I was frightened beyond belief. Right in the center of campus in front of the Student Union building, there was a “Y”and a stoplight in the center with a street crossing. I remember a young guy who had climbed up on the stoplight and was waving a white napkin (probably taken from the Student Center) screaming “STOP, STOP, STOP”. The next thing I remembered he was tear gassed and fell on the cement – all of it was horrible! Later that afternoon after my eyes stopped burning and I was in my apartment and somewhat recovered from the morning’s horrific experience, I learned about what happened at Kent State. Not only was I horrified at learning about the shocking shootings that occurred at Kent State that day, but I also learned that one of the four people killed was your sister, Allison. I was appalled and will never forget, or forgive, those who were responsible.
I grew up on a dairy farm between Masontown and Smithfield, in the far southwestern corner of Pennsylvania near West Virginia. In addition to a being a dairy farmer, my Dad also worked in the coal mines, and I was always taught to be hard working, polite, peaceful, and law abiding. However, the Vietnam War was infringing upon my peaceful upbringing, and I became very outspoken about the horribleness of this terrible war. Between the ridiculous lottery draft process (seven of my high school classmates chose to commit suicide rather than go to war) I – like the multitudes of others in my age group – became increasingly angry at our government over this useless war.
I had met your sister just a couple of months earlier on a double date in Morgantown. I was with my dear friend from high school, Richard Perkosky, and she was with our good friend Phil – I can’t remember Phil’s last name but his nickname was “Phil the Freak”. In no way did that name accurately describe Phil because he was good and a kind gentle soul with a beautiful smile – a great person! His name actually came from his wild thick curly head of brown hair and mustache, along with his bright brown eyes. At the time, he looked the norm – he actually had a gorgeous head of hair! Allison was on Spring Break at Kent State, and she had come to Morgantown to visit Phil as they were friends from high school. Phil had asked Richard and I if we wanted to double date for a movie and a pizza because his good friend Allison was visiting from Kent State, and he wanted to show her a good time. I just remember having so much fun that evening with them – Allison was so very pretty, intelligent, engaging, and fun – I remember her beautiful smile and admiring her beautiful long brown curly hair! (She and Phil looked great together!) But the one thing I remembered about that evening the most was that Allison was “spirited” – much like myself – and we immediately connected. The four of us had the best conversations that night, and the memory of that evening has never faded. As I sit here writing this to you forty years later, I have tears in my eyes knowing that this beautiful person never got a chance to reach the pinnacle of her life – and “yes”, you and your family were robbed! I have never believed that the actual truth of this horrific event ever did come out. Someone had to say, or give the motion, to “fire” that day, but no one has ever had the courage to speak the truth and take responsibility.
Our elders and everyone else thought we were all crazy in the 60’s and 70’s because we were smoking pot, wishing for peace, and protesting this needless and useless war – it’s funny how all of the music of that time period are still very popular today because of the meaningfulness of the music. Our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, dads, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces were dying horrible senseless deaths and suffering horrific injuries all because our government was lying and so politically screwed up. And that is not counting what we did to the innocent people in Vietnam – the killing, maiming, and ruination of their homes and farms. We were finally vindicated as evidenced by the resignation of Nixon and a multitude of other political events during occurred in the mid-to-late 70’s.
Upon my graduation in Business Education in the spring of 1972, I bid my family adieu, went to the Pittsburgh airport, and flew to California and I have never looked back. I started my life anew even though those memories of my college years in Morgantown have much to do with the person I am today and the way I live my life today. I am strongly opposed to the senseless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the horrific things we have done to the innocent people of those countries – much like what we did to the Vietnamese. The big problem that we have today is that the “spirit” that existed among us in the 70’s does not exist – and that is sad! At least we were united in our efforts, and we stuck together. I feel that those of us who are now in our 50’s and 60’s are just frozen as to what we can do to end the turmoil we are currently living. I, without a doubt, personally blame George W. Bush and his cronies – no one will even convince me that they are not to blame for the awful situation we are in. I close my eyes sometimes and just wonder where we would be if Al Gore had been allowed to be our President of which he was legally and rightfully elected – I just know that we would not be where we are in. When Bush and his Republican cronies had to lie, cheat, and steal his way to the Presidency, I knew immediately that we were going to be in deep shit – and that is exactly where we are today.
I am going to end now as I could go on and on, and I didn’t want to get political – but the correlation between how I met your sister and what is happening now does lead to me to speak of our current situation. I wish you well with your courageous endeavors with your Project, and I thank you for listening to “my” story. I may look you up when you come to San Francisco on August 7th and 8th or please feel free to contact me.
Best Regards,
Betsie Diamond
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As an ethnographer, the story you just read is why I do what I do, providing a place for people to speak whose voices would not otherwise be heard. No more fitting tribute, other than the identities of the guardsmen and the Lieutenant, so at least they could be confronted, than the story you just read could be for Allison. Great story. Keep up the good work. Good post.