Kent StateIn 1970, the nation was at the height of controversy. The generation gap that had begun to widen in the 1960s was now more of a ravine. America's youth were finally standing up and raising their voices to protest all the problems plaguing the country they would control in the years to come. Many events have helped fuel the flame in the hearts of Americans. One such event was the Kent State University incident. It was an event that touched the nation and left such a deep mark, and yet it only lasted thirteen seconds. In thirteen seconds, the Ohio National Guard, along with the rest of government by association, established itself as the new enemy. All eyes were on them, scrutinizing their every move, pointing out every mistake they had made. Interestingly enough, most don't even know exactly what happened in those thirteen seconds, but they did know that it left four students dead and nine students injured at the hands of the National Guard, so that was enough to hit the heartstrings of millions of people. Even today, twenty-nine years later, we still don't really know what happened. Who fired the first shot and was it provoked? Was it necessary for the National Guard to be present on this typically quiet university campus? And why did it have to end in such tragedy? There are so many questions and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story. Before choosing sides, you must always examine the facts. The most important fact to know about the situation at Kent State University is that in the days leading up to the shooting, the campus was anything but calm. It all started on Thursday April 30th......in the middle of the newspaper...and no one went there. In all the books, magazine articles and web pages devoted to this subject, it's impossible to find an impartial one. I have to admit that I did my research on behalf of the students, but the more I read about the situation on campus in the days leading up to the shooting, the more I asked myself, "How would I have handled a situation?" like this if I had been a member of the Guard? I can only conclude that there is no right answer to this question. There are so many questions and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story. Now that I have thoroughly researched both sides of the story, I still have no idea who I think was wrong. There are simply too many unanswered points in the stories on both sides that I can no longer say that I am for or against one or the other..