Groveland Twp.-On Monday, May 4, 1970, Dane Lovelady was 21-year-old student at Kent State University.
Lovelady, now 58 and a township resident, was just a few hundred yards from the campus area where four students were killed and nine wounded by gunfire from Ohio National Guard troops.
According to newspaper reports, the shootings came after four days of increasingly agitated demonstrations by members of the student body. The Kent State students were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia prompted by President Richard Nixon on April 25, and announced in a television address five days later.
Last week marked the 37th anniversary of the shootings and Alan Canfora, a Kent State University student who was shot through the right wrist by the Ohio National Guard, continues to fight for justice for the students.
‘We’re seeking truth and justice,? said Canfora, in an interview with The Citizen on Tueday. ‘Those students were silenced forever, now we can raise awareness. There are people out there with a conscience.?
Last week Canfora released the only known reel-to-reel recording of the exact words of the recently-discovered Ohio National Guard verbal command to shoot unarmed Kent State students on May 4, 1970. Seconds before the massacre, an Ohio National Guard officer shouted, ‘Right here, get set, point, fire.?
The reel-to-reel tape recording was taken from a dorm room at Johnson Hall, where a student wanted to record the sounds of the demonstration. The student was forced to exit the room after being overcome by tear gas.
‘He left, the tape kept playing, and now we have the proof,? said Canfora. ‘We want this case reopened and this tape will clarify what went on that day at Kent State.?
On the morning of May 4, Lovelady walked on campus and recalled lots of unrest.
‘I was in an industrial psychology class at the time of the shootings, it was mid-morning,? said Lovelady, a native of Parma Ohio, a city near Cleveland. ‘There were lots of demonstrators on campus trying to agitate students and get everyone riled up. It was working.?
‘People were real antsy on campus, there were war protests going on’not different from other campuses around the country during that time. The professor told us students that we could go to the demonstration if we wanted to since it was during class time. He knew what was going on, so the whole class left and we all headed over to the commons area where the demonstration was to be held.?
‘When I got outside the building there were ambulances everywhere and helicopters were flying around’the shootings had already occurred. I couldn’t see any of the area where the students were since the student union was between me and the commons. The Ohio National Guard had also put up barricades to block the area from the scene.?
‘I was not real afraid at the time just concerned when I realized what had happened. They closed the campus and the next day they canceled the rest of the school year, about 30 days of school were left. We had the choice to finish classes in the fall or take correspondence classes.?
‘It was about three weeks later that I was questioned about what I saw and remember about the events of that day. I still have the transcripts of the questions and you could tell I was uptight from my answers. But this was nothing like the Virginia Tech shootings’the military was involved here and protests were going on.?
While the May 4 Kent State University shootings has been the focus of the investigation, Lovelady said other encounters with the Ohio National Guard also occurred.
On Sunday, May 3, the day before the shooting, Lovelady was at the Kent State Library watching a demonstration from the second floor window.
‘The Ohio National Guard had asked the protestors to disperse. They refused and soon the students started throwing rocks at the soldiers’it was obvious they were abusing the guardsmen, so they advanced on the students. One of my friends was bayonetted, she was bleeding in the second floor ladies? room. I helped them carry her out to an ambulance waiting outside the library’I think she survived. I left soon after. I lived off campus, it was not a good situation.?
Lovelady completed his degree from Kent State University in Industrial Psychology in 1971 and in 1973 moved to Waterford, working for General Motors Truck and Coach in Pontiac. He later moved to Groveland Township and retired from General Motors a few years ago.