It happened here: when the Ohio National Guard murdered protesting students

I’m reminded of another time. Richard Nixon was President. The country was off balance. Anti-war protestors were loud and everywhere. May 4th, 1970 is a  day etched into my memory.

I was watching the speedometer, about to tell my mom she was speeding, when she burst into tears and pulled over. The Kent state murders were breaking news. Four students shot dead by members of the Ohio National Guard. Allison Krause was one of them. Her aunt was a friend of my mother’s from a long ago life in Pennsylvania. She also knew Allison’s mother. Her overwhelming grief was too much for me, never having seen a grownup bawling with their entire body.

I did not understand what was happening to her. She tried explaining while gulping down tears. “Was Allison a hippie?” Hippies were a wonder to me. I knew about Vietnam and that hippies were against the war. Years later, my mom told me I asked that day if she’d let me go to Canada if they drafted me. “What did you say?” “Yes,” she responded.

Events of the day triggered the above image. Hearing our government claim to (allegedly) fight antisemitism while expelling documented immigrants (as well as crime free undocumented immigrants) for whom Jewish activists are in the streets protesting, such as Never Again Action, is loaded with frightful irony. Most of us come from immigrants’ who navigated peril to get to the United States.

Another recollection dripping with irony is remembering my father’s habit of putting down the newspaper and saying: “it’s a good day for the Jews. We’re not in the paper.” We are now every day headlines.  Regardless of one’s politics, it’s not easy to be Jewish in America today or any where. Add to this our overwhelming political differences. Despite these differences, I hope we all agree that we should not betray the memory of Allison Krause, the 19-year-old Jewish college student killed along with three other students by her country’s National Guard on May 4th, 1970 at Kent State University, protesting the Vietnam War. May the memory of Allisson always be for a blessing.

Allison Beth Krause obituary

Allison Krause 1968. Photo from Wikipedia.

From the time she volunteered at a mental hospital in high school to the time she helped organize a campus wide march against the Vietnam War as a freshman, it was clear that Allison Krause was an activist.

Even though her family moved every few years for her father’s job, Allison found a home in Kent. She remembered fondly the times she traveled with her mom, dad and younger sister to eat at the Robin Hood, the only “white cloth” restaurant in the area.

While she was a good student and wanted to attend Kent State, she was worried about how she would be perceived if she joined the Honors College (see letter excerpt on panel at right).

Allison the Activist included photos and samples of homework, as well as images and films of her marching in protests.

At her funeral, one of her high school teachers ended his eulogy by stating, “In her own quiet way, she symbolized the best in young people.”

Alienation is common among all people. Many problems develop when communication between people is difficult or non-existent. It is the root of all violent outbreaks, war and all general disharmony. We live in a world with many fellow human beings and to realize that each person is not entirely alone will make alienation an obsolete human characteristic.

Interment: Parkway Jewish Center Cemetery, Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.