Have most forgotton May 4? Ritter asks

Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, said Sunday he wonders why the observance of May 4, 1970 shootings of four Kent State students was not packed. with people.

The shooting deaths 38 years ago of four students by the Ohio National Guard need to be seen as a gift — a lesson — to the entire United States, Rtter said. But if the May 4 commemoration continues to have low attendance — the event was attended by about 400 people — and Americans refuse to read and understand their U.S. Constitution, then those lost lives will have been for nothing, keynote speaker Scott Ritter said.

''While I applaud those who are here today, I have to ask, why isn't this hillside covered with the citizens of this country?'' Ritter asked. ''Where are the students of Kent State? Where are the citizens of this community? Where are the citizens of Ohio? Where is the media?''

The program in which Ritter and others spoke started at noon on the campus commons, near the university's memorial and markers that show where four students were killed and nine wounded on May 4, 1970, as they protested the Vietnam War and presence of the National Guard on campus.

While the event is based on the shootings 38 years ago, many of the attendees also were protesting the ongoing war in Iraq.

Ritter said whatever their feelings about the Iraq war, people should never denigrate the service provided by the Americans fighting there because they are willing to die for us.

''These are men and women who have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,'' he said.

''Have we done everything we can to ensure the sacrifice that they are prepared to make is in a cause worthy of the sacrifice?'' Ritter said. ''And I will tell you, no, we have not.''

The rights of American freedom of speech and assembly were trampled ''on this very spot,'' shortly after students buried a copy of the U.S. Constitution near where the memorial stands to protest their government's actions, Ritter said. Those protesters were defending the Constitution, he said.

Click on the headline to read the full Beacon Journal story by Jim Mackimmon.

Blogger Note: May 4 has not been forgotten by the BJ retirees blog and website. You can go to the Commentary section of our website anytime and read the section on Remembering May 4. There you will find links to hundreds of photos by BJ photographer Paul Tople, photos and cartoons by retired BJ staffer Chuck Ayers, a Chronology by the Kent State University Library and a list of collections in KSU archives, the great John Filo photo and a link to Al Canfora’s website.