Legionnaires try to block
KSU 'terrorist' memorial

By KAREN FARKAS

STAFF WRITER

A group of Ohio American Legion members wants state officials to block construction of the May 4 Memorial at Kent State University, saying it would be a "memorial to terrorists."

Members from the legion's District 10, which borders Kent, submitted the resolution to the resolutions committee of the state legion, which is having its annual convention here this weekend.

The committee will review the resolution today. If approved, it would be considered tomorrow by the general membership of the state legion, said spokesman Douglas A. Weakley.

He and Clifford F. Toalston, commander of the district, said they would not comment on the resolution before the vote was taken.

KSU President Michael Schwartz and Dean Kahler, who was paralyzed when the Ohio National Guard shot at Vietnam War protesters on May 4, 1970, on the KSU campus.

said they were disappointed with the resolution.

Kahler said he was especially disappointed. He said people who were for or against the Vietnam War must start talking to each other and mending fences.

The proposed resolution states the memorial will honor those who lost their lives in the shootings and "these same persons were engaged in arson, wanton destruction of public and private property, desecration of the United States flag, as well as felonious assault upon the National Guard, while the guard was under orders to protect the lives and property of law-abiding citizens and students."

It says further: "The construction of this memorial would be an insult to the patriotic veterans who served their country honorably and well."

Schwartz said, "There may be a misunderstanding of what the memorial is designed to do. We are asking the designers to design a site of peace and reflection and learning so that people can go there and con-

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Memorial

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template the events of those times.
This is a sincere and serious effort to
educate generations to come."

Four students were killed and nine
were wounded during the protest. It
was almost 15 years before the KSU
Board of Trustees voted to commis-
sion a memorial.

"I thought that over the last 10 or
11 years since the war in Vietnam,
there had been some sort of healing
going on between generations," said
Kahler, an Athens County commis-
sioner. "It looks to me that a certain
generation is trying to disrupt and
tear apart any constructive work
going on since 1975. I am very disap-
pointed."

The shootings resulted in almost
10 years of investigations, legal bat-
tles and allegations against the stu-
dents and National Guard. Twenty-
four students and one professor were

indicted for inciting the shootings.
Nearly all the charges were dropped,
but one defendant was convicted of
interfering with firemen and two
pleaded guilty to first-degree rioting.

In 1971, the Justice Department announced there would be no federal grand jury probe. "They called the shootings unnecessary, inexcusable and unwarranted," Kahler said.

Eight guardsmen were indicted by
a special state grand jury in March
1974 but were acquitted. In 1979 the
state agreed to settle civil suits filed
by the families and students and paid
$675,000.

In 1985, after a year of study, a
committee appointed by Schwartz
recommended a memorial be built.

After a national search, which
attracted 698 entries, the winning
design was unveiled in April. Unable
to negotiate a consulting contract
with the winning designer, trustees
recently disqualified that entry and