Brian VanDeMark

It looked to a lot of college-age Americans as though the war was being expanded or intensified, which inflamed their already pre-existing opposition to the war rather dramatically.

Yes, I mean, this is a theme which we see operative today as well, which is the American public was deeply divided.

The polarization in the American body politic was profound.

To simplify things a bit in order to make my point,

Opponents of the war who tended to be young grew increasingly frustrated, resentful, and angry about the persistent American involvement.

And let us not forget the 1968 and 1969 were the bloodiest years of the war in terms of American casualties.

For example, in 1968, 45 Americans were caught dying a day in Vietnam.

And much the same remained the case through 1969.

So you have rising American casualties, a protracted American conflict, which is intensifying the polarization.

American society between those who oppose the war and more traditional socially politically conservative Americans who want to maintain the commitment and view the growing voices of protest and dissent and criticism of the war and at a more broad level the American system quote-unquote It angered them.

So the center is collapsing effectively right in America in 1970 and that sounds troublingly similar to what's happened here in the last few years and

It's in northeastern Ohio.

It's about an hour southeast of Cleveland near Akron.

Yes, I think Kent State in many respects was a very typical American university then and now.

By 1970, as I said, college students have lost their deferment slash exemption status, so they're now fully exposed to the draft.

Many of them have brothers or cousins or friends who have been to Vietnam and have reported back the frustrations and hardships and lack of success in terms of America's military effort there.

And there are increasing numbers of Vietnam veterans

on the GEI bill who are enrolled at Kent State now.

And this is in a mix with a residential population of the town of Kent, Ohio, which is very traditional and very conservative.

And I think that created a very volatile mixture, which is part of the broader setting for the tragedy.