They took his legs at Kent State 50 years ago, but not his heart: Paul Keane

[Ohiogal]

From today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer.

***********

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vermont -- As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Kent State University shootings this spring, some may wonder what ever happened to the kid who was paralyzed almost 50 years on May 4, 1970? The kid with carrot-red hair and beard?

The kid with the carrot-red hair has been my friend for 49 of those almost 50 years. His name is Dean Kahler and his hair and beard are now white.

We became friends after the shootings, both of us students at Kent State. I was a grad student and dorm counselor, he was an undergraduate. He is 69 now and I am 75.

Four died that day. Dean was the most seriously wounded of the nine other victims.

Dean kept his paralyzed legs for at least 25 years after the shootings. Sometime between 25 years ago and today, both legs had to be amputated. I never felt comfortable asking Dean why that happened, but I know, because I was Dean’s roommate at Emerson College’s 25th anniversary commemoration of the Kent State shootings in 1995, that the musculature of his legs was by then completely atrophied from paralysis over those 25 years.

But Dean competed in wheelchair races and marathons, both before and after the amputation. He also became a public school teacher and an elected town official in his Ohio small town.

I talked with Dean for an hour by phone earlier this January, and learned things about Dean’s experience May 4, 1970, during the moments after the shootings, which I didn’t know, even though we have spent dozens of hours together over the years. Those included three days in a lobbying effort at the White House in 1973 and then, 25 years later, three days at Emerson College in Boston.

Here’s what I learned.

https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/01/they-took-his-legs-at-kent-state-50-years-ago-but-not-his-heart-paul-keane.html

[lunasun]

1. K+R

[CaptYossarian]

2. Those bastards. The kids were throwing ROCKS. Where were the rubber bullets?

Governor Reagan was probably jealous, given his attitudes toward college protesters.

How would this play out today with our dumb f*** in chief? Flame throwers maybe?

[Ohiogal]

3. Ohio's governor at the time was James Rhodes

a Republican, naturally.... he was the one who gave the Guard the okay to shoot.

Very scary times.

[CaptYossarian]

8. There were two others murdered in Mississippi about the same time--in the same circumstances.

Stephen Stills alluded to this on the live album 4-Way Street by CSNY in 1970. This was in the middle of performing For What It's Worth, when he started riffing on our war at home.

My old memory is suggesting the deaths occurred at Jackson State University.

[Ohiogal]

9. You are correct

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. Great album. Thanks for reminding us. (nt)

[CaptYossarian]

12. A Salute to Freedom of Speech. Graham Nash's "Chicago" also stands out.

"Here's one for Mayor Daley."

Yep. Wore out my vinyl copy in time for the CD revolution.

[Elwood P Dowd]

15. Still have the LP although the one I play now is an expensive Japanese import on heavy virgin vinyl.

This pressing blew away my original Atlantic LP purchased in the early 1970s and the CD release from the 1980s.

[CaptYossarian]

16. Leave it to the Japanese to perfect tech.

At least we benefit from someone else's expertise.

[IronLionZion]

13. Jackson State and South Carolina State are often forgotten

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_massacre

Everyone remembers Kent State

[CaptYossarian]

14. Kent State had the image of the crying young woman on her knees and some help from Neil Young.

Neil read the Time Magazine article and, a short time later, wrote a call to duty for a generation. It was a hell of a way to close out what should have been a decade of optimism and hope.

We lost some great leaders, 59,000 troops, the country's wide-eyed innocence, and countless brain cells in the sixties.

[bronxiteforever]

6. Sandra Scheuer was murdered and was not in the demonstration

She did not take part in the Vietnam War protests that preceded the shootings. She was shot in the neck with an M-1 rifle from a distance of 130 yards (119 m) while walking between classes. The bullet severed her jugular vein and she died within five or six minutes from loss of blood. According to the account of her boyfriend Bruce Burkland, Scheuer "was walking with one of her speech and hearing therapy students across the green. Caught in the gunfire, neither Sandra nor the young man had anything to do with the assembly of students on the green."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Lee_Scheuer

[CaptYossarian]

10. And no murder charges were ever brought to these jarheads.

Considering the fact that solving cold cases is regarded as a victory for law enforcement, I'm guessing there's no statute of limitations when it comes to murder or wrongful death.

[yardwork]

17. Those who were shot weren't even participating in the protest.

They were walking to class. They were innocent bystanders.

And among those who were protesting, it's not even clear that any rocks were thrown.

[CaptYossarian]

18. Similar to a feeding frenzy when there's blood in the water.

The Guardsmen shot at movement, as if they were in the jungle being attacked by the enemy.

"But, but they started it!" is not what you say while holding a deadly weapon with live rounds in it. This is a pre-cursor to "Stand Your Ground", which also allows people to get away with murder.

[yardwork]

19. They never should have been there.

Governors called the military to respond to protests on college campuses. Teenagers were ordered to shoot at other teenagers.

You're absolutely right that it's the same belief structure that led to Stand Your Ground. It's the belief that white men have the right to order the police and the military to fire on anyone who threatens their privilege.

Long-haired hippie students and black students protesting a war they're being drafted to die in? Shoot them. And much of America cheered. I remember.

[CaptYossarian]

20. The transition of public opinion was astounding.

Kent State, the My Lai Massacre, and the picture of the naked 11-year old girl who was burned by Napalm in Look Magazine was the trifecta that got America caught up with so-called "freaks".

[samplegirl]

4. Excellent post Ohiogal

Fifty years later this still would of been a disaster.
The same hate today magnified under trump!

[Ohiogal]

5. You got that right samplegirl

[bronxiteforever]

7. Kick and recommend.

[raccoon]

21. Thanks for posting. I often wondered about the student. I never knew his name before.

Thanks for posting. I often wondered about the student. I never knew his name before.

I think it’s great, his attitude about life. It seems to me it would be so easy to become bitter about that.