So many years have passed since the Ohio National Guard ended the lives of Allison Krause, Jeff Miller, Bill Schroeder and Sandy Scheuer and wounded nine others. Forty-two years... Such a very long time.... But no matter how much time passes, those of us who lived through Monday, May 4, 1970 remember the trauma as if it were yesterday. I guess we always will.
To those of you who asked me to write about the 40th anniversary event back in 2010 after I returned, please forgive me. I simply couldn't do it. I found myself utterly drained. I felt good about what I had experienced. I felt devastated by again being at Kent State. And, in the end, I just wanted to keep my silence, to hold tight to those private experiences, to shield my heart from any more interaction on the subject.
But, over the years, you have all been so supportive of my work on this issue that I couldn't shake the sense that I owed you a recap. And, in the two years since, several things have come to light about the shootings, things that perhaps answer some questions while raising new ones. So, today, to honor the events of 2010 and to remember the horrors of 1970, I give you that long and long overdue diary on the 40th anniversary. Of course, in the end, these diaries are written primarily to honor those bright young lives cut short on that sunny May day so very many years ago.