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Allison Beth Krause

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Allison Beth Krause Famous memorial

Birth
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
Death
4 May 1970 (aged 19)
Kent, Portage County, Ohio, USA
Burial
Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA GPS-Latitude: 40.4223403, Longitude: -79.8255125
Memorial ID
View Source
Victim of the Kent State University shooting. She was a student protester who was shot and killed during the anti-Vietnam War protest demonstrations. During the mid-1960s to early 1970s, the United States was engaged in the Vietnam War, a conflict that had split the country into two factions: those that opposed the war and those that supported it. By 1968, the country was so badly divided that President Lyndon Johnson (Democrat) decided not to seek a second term, and Republican Richard M. Nixon won the Presidential election with a campaign promise to end the war. Nixon's plan was to slowly disengage the American military from Vietnam, while increasing South Vietnam's participation, but most antiwar factions wanted immediate US withdrawal from Vietnam. On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced that he sent the US military into Cambodia to destroy enemy military supply centers, which the anti-war protesters saw as an expansion of the war. The invasion aroused a storm of nation-wide protests, especially on college campuses. On Kent State University, protest demonstrations were called for May 1 and May 4. On the evening of May 1, protesters set fires and threw rocks and bottles at police cars, and attempted to set fire to the ROTC Building on the campus. The next day, May 2, Kent city mayor Leroy Satrom declared a State of Emergency, and asked Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes to send the Ohio National Guard to help maintain order. Governor Rhodes sent the Guard onto the campus to put an end to the demonstrations. When the Guard arrived on campus the evening of May 2, over 1,000 protesters greeted the National Guardsmen with rocks and a large demonstration. The ROTC Building was on fire, and when the city firemen attempted to put out the fire, they were pelted with rocks. In Kent city, stores were vandalized and looted. About noon on May 4, following a demonstration on campus, as both sides were withdrawing, the National Guard suddenly fired about 65 rounds of ammunition at the demonstrators, killing 4 students and wounding 9, in what appeared to be a spontaneous massed weapons firing. Killed were students Allison Krause, Jeff Miller, Sandy Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Ironically, two of the four killed were not demonstrators, but were on their way to class and got caught in the barrage of shooting. Earlier, Krause and her boyfriend, Barry Levine, had protested the Cambodia Incursion and Levine later admitted they had been cursing the Guardsmen and throwing rocks at them. The killings spurred more demonstrations on college campuses across the US. In October 1970, a state Grand Jury exonerated the Guardsmen of any wrongdoing. Two years later, in October 1972, the parents of the slain and wounded students filed suit in US District Court, demanding a federal Grand Jury, which was finally started in December 1973. Eight National Guardsmen were eventually tried in 1974, but the charges were dropped when it was ruled that prosecutors failed to prove their case. In January 1979, the parents of the slain and wounded students settled out of court for $675,000 and a "letter of regret" from Ohio officials.
Victim of the Kent State University shooting. She was a student protester who was shot and killed during the anti-Vietnam War protest demonstrations. During the mid-1960s to early 1970s, the United States was engaged in the Vietnam War, a conflict that had split the country into two factions: those that opposed the war and those that supported it. By 1968, the country was so badly divided that President Lyndon Johnson (Democrat) decided not to seek a second term, and Republican Richard M. Nixon won the Presidential election with a campaign promise to end the war. Nixon's plan was to slowly disengage the American military from Vietnam, while increasing South Vietnam's participation, but most antiwar factions wanted immediate US withdrawal from Vietnam. On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced that he sent the US military into Cambodia to destroy enemy military supply centers, which the anti-war protesters saw as an expansion of the war. The invasion aroused a storm of nation-wide protests, especially on college campuses. On Kent State University, protest demonstrations were called for May 1 and May 4. On the evening of May 1, protesters set fires and threw rocks and bottles at police cars, and attempted to set fire to the ROTC Building on the campus. The next day, May 2, Kent city mayor Leroy Satrom declared a State of Emergency, and asked Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes to send the Ohio National Guard to help maintain order. Governor Rhodes sent the Guard onto the campus to put an end to the demonstrations. When the Guard arrived on campus the evening of May 2, over 1,000 protesters greeted the National Guardsmen with rocks and a large demonstration. The ROTC Building was on fire, and when the city firemen attempted to put out the fire, they were pelted with rocks. In Kent city, stores were vandalized and looted. About noon on May 4, following a demonstration on campus, as both sides were withdrawing, the National Guard suddenly fired about 65 rounds of ammunition at the demonstrators, killing 4 students and wounding 9, in what appeared to be a spontaneous massed weapons firing. Killed were students Allison Krause, Jeff Miller, Sandy Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Ironically, two of the four killed were not demonstrators, but were on their way to class and got caught in the barrage of shooting. Earlier, Krause and her boyfriend, Barry Levine, had protested the Cambodia Incursion and Levine later admitted they had been cursing the Guardsmen and throwing rocks at them. The killings spurred more demonstrations on college campuses across the US. In October 1970, a state Grand Jury exonerated the Guardsmen of any wrongdoing. Two years later, in October 1972, the parents of the slain and wounded students filed suit in US District Court, demanding a federal Grand Jury, which was finally started in December 1973. Eight National Guardsmen were eventually tried in 1974, but the charges were dropped when it was ruled that prosecutors failed to prove their case. In January 1979, the parents of the slain and wounded students settled out of court for $675,000 and a "letter of regret" from Ohio officials.

Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson


Inscription

Beloved Daughter and Sister

"Flowers are better than bullets"
May 3, 1970



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Added: May 22, 2002
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6438617/allison_beth-krause: accessed ), memorial page for Allison Beth Krause (23 Apr 1951–4 May 1970), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6438617, citing Parkway Jewish Center Cemetery, Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.