In the midst of Vietnam War, President Nixon had decided to initiate the Cambodian campaign. This apparent expansion of the Vietnam War detonated an explosion of antiwar activity that escalated to a national crisis when four students were shot at a protest at Kent State University in Ohio.
Students protesting the Cambodian incursion had been unruly and violent for days when the town mayor, LeRoy M. Satrom, declared a state of emergency and sent this letter requesting troops from the Ohio National Guard to help reestablish order.
There were over 1,300 armed troops, armored personnel carriers, mortar launchers, and helicopters on the Kent State University campus on May 4, 1970. Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on unarmed students. Nine were wounded—one paralyzed for life—and four were killed.
