The Vietnam War and The Kent State Massacre : 3D Gallery

Vietnam war and Kent State Massacre

This exhibit was made to honor the brave people who protested the Vietnam war and those who lost their lives doing so. In this exhibit you will see the cause of the Kent State Massacre, what happened and the aftermath, and how it led to other protests in the U.S.

The Cause of the Protests

The cause of all the protests in the United States was the Vietnam war. People mainly protested because of the U.S's involvement in the war and the draft. Many people also protested the war because they thought the U.S couldn't win. This picture is one of the many protests that took place in the United States.

Why did Kent State Protest?

Kent State protested because Nixon decided to invade Cambodia. “Controversially, the president made his decision without notifying his Secretary of State William Rogers or Defense Secretary Melvin Laird. They, along with the rest of the American public, found out about the invasion when President Nixon addressed the nation on television two days later. Members of Congress accused the president of illegally widening the scope of U.S. involvement in the war by not receiving their consent through a vote” (History.com Editors). This decision to not inform the public caused the Kent State Protest.

What happened during the protest?

There were rumors about radical acts that would take place at the protest, so the national guard was sent to Kent to keep the protests at bay. By the time the National guard got to the protest, the protesters had already burnt down an ROTC building and had fights with the firefighters trying to put out the blaze. (History.com Editors)

Ohio National Guard

There was a lot of tension between the National Guard and the protesters. On May 4th, the National Guard was ordered to tear gas the protesters. The guards said that they were in fear for their life, which is why they shot at unarmed civilians. Later on, the guards would have been attacked by the protesters, if not for the Kent State University faculty marshals, who begged them not to confront the guards and risk their lives. ( Lewis and Hensly)

4 students Dead

After continued conflict between the guards and the protesters. Four people ended up dying with nine others injured. Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder and Sandra Scheuer were the four students who were killed. (Lewis and Hensly)

Aftermath

People were devastated about the outcome of the Kent State Protest. “Many believe it permanently changed the protest movement across the American political spectrum, fostering a sense of disillusionment regarding what, exactly, these demonstrations accomplish—as well as fears over the potential for confrontation between protesters and law enforcement” (History.com Editors).The outcome made people feel like their voices were not being heard and if they protested they could be killed.

Everlasting Effect

People protested the Vietnam War because they felt that it went against everything the U.S had worked for.

To respond to the quote, " For many Americans, the enduring memory of the Vietnam War is of the protests that defined a generation and shattered the illusion of America's purity on the world stage. But for the 3 million men and women who served in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s, the memories are more visceral: the fog of combat, the stench of death, the sting of returning to a seemingly ungrateful nation." Many Americans remember the protest more than anything else because the protests were something that everyone could relate to. The everyday person did not know what it was like to fight in Vietnam, so they could not relate to that side of the Vietnam War. For those who did serve, they had more of a passion because they could see both sides of the war and why it was unwanted.

More Protests

One example of veterans of the Vietnam War being able to see both sides of the war is when they protested by throwing their medals on the capitol. 1000 Vietnam Veterans went to the Capitol Building and threw their medals at a statue in protest. By throwing away their medals, the veterans were defying the government and showing their denouncement of the war. There were many more protests about the Vietnam War to come. (Althaus)

Works Cited

Below is a link to my work cited document with the sources and pictures I used.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12rpbHe-5ieRLc6_F7nOby9aESUbqJA1ocOhy1oQVJ0k/edit?usp=sharing

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The Vietnam War and The Kent State Massacre