Affidavit of Donald S. Mackenzie
9/15/1970
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After the Kent State shootings, the Commission on Campus Unrest traveled to Ohio and took testimony from witnesses, including this statement by Donald Mackenzie, one of the wounded students.
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. The public was unaware that Nixon had been secretly bombing Cambodia since mid-March 1969—an escalation of a covert bombing campaign started by Johnson in 1965.
Students had been protesting for days when the town mayor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to help reestablish order. Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on unarmed students. Nine were wounded—one paralyzed for life—and four were killed.
Nixon created the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest to investigate protests at schools across the country. It concluded that “the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted and inexcusable.” A federal grand jury indicted eight guardsmen, but found they were not subject to criminal prosecution because they acted in self defense.
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Richboro Pa
September 15, 1970
I, Donald S. Mackenzie, Bustleton Pike, Richboro Pa. make the following statement to Charles E. Stine who has shown me his credential as an investigator, President Commission on Campus Unrest.
I am a senior in the School of Business, Kent State University, Kent Ohio.
On May 4, 1970 I was shot while in the Prentice Hall parking lot in the area farthest away from Taylor Hall.
Immediately prior to being shot I was watching the Ohio National Guardsmen proceed from the football practice field toward the Commons. They seemed to be retracing their
steps.
As they climbed the hill near Taylor Hall almost as they got to the top of the incline I noticed one Guardsmen turn to his right and fire his weapon. It was a rifle held at his hip, rather than at his shoulder.
The other Guardsmen in the same formation also turned [illegible letter struck through and initialed D.S.M.] and fired. D.S.M.
When I saw the Guardsmen turn and fire my reaction was to turn around and run away. I was running and ["listening to" struck through and initialed with D.S.M.] hearing the shots. I had run only a few steps and had the sensation of being hit.
I remember thinking as I ran that they probably were shooting blanks. I remember in the split second after being hit they aren't shooting blanks.
My back was turned as I ran from the Guard. I was hit with what at the time felt like a hard force on the rear of my head. [Illegible words struck out and initialed D.S.M.] I fell on my left hand in a reflex action came to my face. I saw blood was coming from my face.
I regained my balance enough to get to the other side of ["the" printed by hand] wood bordering the parking lot.
I was treated at the KSU Health Center and later at St. Thomas Hospital, Akron Ohio. D.S.M.
I have a small scar on my neck and another on my cheek. My jaw was broken from the shot which pierced my head.
I have always associated my wounds with the Guardsmen; their turning toward the [struck through: group and initialed D.S.M.] general area where I was and their shooting have convinced me that I was shot with one of their bullet.
I HAVE READ AND INITIALED THE TWO PERVIOUS [sic] PAGES AND ALL CORECTIONS [sic], THIS STATEMENT IS THE TRUTH. DONALD S. MACKENZIE
Witness
Charles E. Stine
Presidents' Commission
on Campus Unrest
Richboro Pa
September 15, 1970This primary source comes from the Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards.
National Archives Identifier:
596838Full Citation: Affidavit of Donald S. Mackenzie; 9/15/1970; Records of the Kent State University Investigative Team, 1970 - 1970; Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards, Record Group 220; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/affidavit-donald-mackenzie, May 5, 2024]