Scan barcode
A review by uberbutter
67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence by Howard Means
4.0
67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence by Howard
261 pages
★★★★
“Two students were killed because of commitment, one was killed because he was nosy, and one because she chose the wrong route to class” Dean of Student Activities stated shortly after the killings at Kent State. And that is the Kent State shootings in a very small nutshell. But as we know, there was so much more. Who was to blame? Is there anyone to blame? Was it just mass confusion (why yes, it was!)? If you’re looking for those answers, you may not get them. After all, even nearly 50 years after the tragedy the injured 9 (including one paralyzed for life) and killed 4 – we still lack most solid answers to pretty much everything that happened that day and leading up to it. Just a lot of theories.
But if you’re like me, you didn’t know much about the whole incident to begin with, except for the basics of National Guard vs Protestors gone terribly wrong. This book gave me a lot of good information on what happened, what caused the National Guard to show up at a state college in MASSIVE numbers, and the aftermath. The author did a lot of research and discusses much of the hearings and paperwork afterwards and interviews many people that were on both sides of the shooting. Who was to blame? Well that probably depends who you talk to huh? Reading more on this subject just made me think of all the recent incidents in the United States – people vs authority. What authority is too much, when should deadly force be used, and what justifies fairness? Well, unfortunately no one really know the answer there either – or maybe we wouldn’t see such difficult situations so frequently.
A well-researched and informative book on the tragic events of May 4, 1970.
261 pages
★★★★
“Two students were killed because of commitment, one was killed because he was nosy, and one because she chose the wrong route to class” Dean of Student Activities stated shortly after the killings at Kent State. And that is the Kent State shootings in a very small nutshell. But as we know, there was so much more. Who was to blame? Is there anyone to blame? Was it just mass confusion (why yes, it was!)? If you’re looking for those answers, you may not get them. After all, even nearly 50 years after the tragedy the injured 9 (including one paralyzed for life) and killed 4 – we still lack most solid answers to pretty much everything that happened that day and leading up to it. Just a lot of theories.
But if you’re like me, you didn’t know much about the whole incident to begin with, except for the basics of National Guard vs Protestors gone terribly wrong. This book gave me a lot of good information on what happened, what caused the National Guard to show up at a state college in MASSIVE numbers, and the aftermath. The author did a lot of research and discusses much of the hearings and paperwork afterwards and interviews many people that were on both sides of the shooting. Who was to blame? Well that probably depends who you talk to huh? Reading more on this subject just made me think of all the recent incidents in the United States – people vs authority. What authority is too much, when should deadly force be used, and what justifies fairness? Well, unfortunately no one really know the answer there either – or maybe we wouldn’t see such difficult situations so frequently.
A well-researched and informative book on the tragic events of May 4, 1970.