In an effort to bring the truth out, the Akron Beacon Journal, along with members of the Knight newspaper team, conducted their own intense investigation and wrote a thirty thousand-word report on the Kent State shootings. The report later won a Pulitzer Prize, and offered many conclusions and answers to frequently misconceived notion of that day, like that of the four that were killed in the incident, none were participating in any of the rock throwing that supposedly triggered the outburst from the Guard. The report also sheds light on the actually shooting, saying that most of the guards fired their weapons in the air, and only a few of them fired shots into the crowd in a state of panic and a ?follow the leader style.?
The voice of national leaders closely echoed that of the citizen of Kent, Ohio. President Nixon issued a statement that seemingly placed the blame on the students, asserting, ??when dissent runs to violence, it invites tragedy.? In the Kent Record Courier, the citizens of Kent purchased an ad reading, ?THANK YOU GENERAL DEL CORSO AND THE NATIONAL GUARD.? Even the Mayor of Kent praised the National Guard for their actions. In response to the shootings, the Ohio National Guards received record amounts of main, the number of letters they got in favor of the way they handled the situation beat the number of opposing letters fifteen to one. It was felt that the resentment seen from the townspeople towards the student came from the destruction of their private property during the day?s prior the shootings.
There were mixed feelings among the Ohio National Guard, too. Several days after the shootings General Canterbury was over heard telling someone that the Guard chaplain, John Simons, who felt the shootings unjustified, had to be ?shut up.?
Now, nearly thirty years later, nobody has yet been held accountable. There have been plenty of speculations and rumors, all of which were twisted and distorted outrageously by the media. The families of the victims of the shooting have exhausted their resources in trying to bring some closure to their pain. After more than eight years of litigation they received nothing more than a meager monetary settlement to replace all they had lost. Nobody was held responsible for the injuries of nine and deaths of four young students, and nobody has been to this.
In all of the books, magazine articles, and web pages dedicated to this subject, it is impossible to find an unbiased one. I have to admit that I did go into my research in favor of the students, but the more I read of the situation on campus in the days prior to the shooting, the more I found myself asking ?How I would I have handled a situation like that if I had been a member of the Guard?? I can only conclude that there is no right answer to that. There are so many questions, and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story. Now that I have thoroughly studied both sides to the story, I still have no idea who I think was in the wrong. There are simply too many unanswerable wholes in the stories from both sides that now I can?t say I?m for or against either one.