On May 2, 1970, LeRoy M. Satrom, Mayor of Kent, Ohio, wrote to the Commander of Troops, Ohio National Guard, requesting assistance in restoring order to the city, particularly near Kent State University. On May 4th, National Guard troops fired into a group of student protesters, killing four and wounding nine others. This is a photostatic copy of Mayor Satrom’s letter that was submitted to the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest.
Letter from LeRoy M. Satrom, 5/2/1970
From the Records of the Kent State University Investigative Team
“Operation ‘Oregon,’ a search and destroy mission conducted by an infantry platoon of Troop B, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), three kilometers west of Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province. An infantryman is lowered into a tunnel by members of the reconnaissance platoon.” 04/24/1967
Why Vietnam?
Forty years ago on March 29, 1973, American combat troops withdrew from Vietnam (although this did not include all American military personnel). After more than a decade of fighting, the U.S. had signed the Paris Peace Treaty two months earlier, ending direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. This film (excerpted here) documents the buildup to the Vietnam War, from the withdrawal of French troops to the bombings of the U.S. Embassy and the intense fighting American troops engaged in to combat Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Cong. The footage features President Lyndon Johnson, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
Accepting his honor
On December 2, 1969, the widow of Army Staff Sergeant Clifford Sims accepted the Medal of Honor on her husband’s behalf from Vice President Spiro Agnew. SSG Sims was killed when he threw himself on a booby-trap as it exploded, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.
Photograph of Spiro Agnew Posthumously Awarding Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Clifford C. Sims, 12/02/1969
via DocsTeach
A crowd of visitors gathers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the day before its official dedication, 11/13/1982
Moments before the U.S. flag was replaced by the Vietnamese flag, Vietnamese Air Force crewmen line up before one of the 62 UH-1 “Huey” helicopters turned over to them November 4, 1970, along with command of the Soc Trang airfield.
Members of the military police keep back protesters during their sit-in at the Mall Entrance to the Pentagon., 10/21/1967
(Some protestors at this sit-in were attempting to “levitate” the Pentagon. The angle of this photo makes it difficult to tell if they were successful.)
“They should be allowed the opportunity to earn return to their country, their communities, and their families, upon their agreement to a period of alternate service in the national interest, together with an acknowledgement of their allegiance to the country and its Constitution.”
Presidential Proclamation 4313 of September 16, 1974, by President Gerald R. Ford announcing a program for the return of Vietnam era draft evaders and deserters, 09/16/1974
(Not the first controversial pardon issued by President Ford.)
Letter from National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, 8/1/1968
Records of District Courts of the United States; exhibit from criminal case 69CR180, United States v. Dellinger, et al.
This criminal case file relates to the case in which the defendants, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Bobby Seale (aka the “Chicago Eight,” later the “Chicago Seven”) were accused of inciting riots during the Democratic National Convention of 1968. On March 20, 1969, the grand jury returned indictments on the eight persons on charges of conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce with the intent to incite a riot, in violation of the Anti-Riot Act. Six of the defendants were indicted on individual charges of traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to incite a riot, in violation of the Anti-Riot Act. The trial of these individuals began on September 24, 1969 and lasted 13 months. On November 5, Judge Hoffman sentenced Bobby Seale to four years in prison for contempt of court and declared a mistrial in the prosecution of Seale. The case file includes the transcript of the proceedings, an indictment, appearances, bench warrants, citations, dockets, mandates, motions, notice of appeal, petitions, orders, statement of proceedings, subpoenas, and a verdict.
via DocsTeach
Vietnam….A Marine stands watch in an observation tower as Lieutenant Commander McElroy, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines chaplain, holds mass on Hill 950., 07/31/1967
On May 4th, 1970 Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on unarmed students at Kent State University who were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia. In a period of 13 seconds, the National Guard troops wounded nine and killed four. This map, prepared for the Commission on Campus Unrest, shows “the Commons” area on the Kent State Campus, the movement of the National Guardsmen, and the locations where students were shot.
“Lieutenant Commander Dorothy Ryan checks the medical chart of Marine Corporal Roy Hadaway of Calera, Alabama aboard the hospital ship USS Repose off South Vietnam. Miss Ryan, from Bronx, New York, is one of 29 nurses aboard the hospital ship selected from 500 volunteers of the Navy Nurse Corps.” 04/22/1966
![My Tho, Vietnam. A Viet Cong base camp being [burned]. In the foreground is Private First Class Raymond Rumpa, St Paul, Minnesota, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, with 45 pound 90mm recoiless rifle. 04/05/1968
Army Specialist Fourth Class Dennis Kurpius, photographer](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1clvuX8BQ1qhk04bo1_1280.gif)
My Tho, Vietnam. A Viet Cong base camp being [burned]. In the foreground is Private First Class Raymond Rumpa, St Paul, Minnesota, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, with 45 pound 90mm recoiless rifle. 04/05/1968
Army Specialist Fourth Class Dennis Kurpius, photographer
Receipt for Captain Robert White, last American prisoner of war released after Vietnam War, 04/01/1973
C-123 in flight
This C-123K aircraft flies a paratrooper-dropping mission over Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on March 27, 1969. Originally designed during World War II as a glider, the C-123 was used extensively during the Vietnam War to operate out of dirt and other un-improved airfields.
