Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

J. Ronald Snyder Oral History

Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

J. Ronald Snyder Oral History

Transcription Show Transcript
Narrator Snyder, J. Ronald
Narrator's Role National Guardsman on duty in Kent, Ohio, in 1970
Date of Interview 2007-11-01
Description A captain and company commander of the National Guard discusses his experiences on the Kent State University campus during the days surrounding the shootings on the campus. His unit, Company C of the 145th Infantry, was on duty on The Commons on Monday, May 4, when the shootings took place. Snyder relates his eyewitness account of the events and discusses the orders he received that day and his unit's role in the crowd control effort. He also discusses his unit's training and previous experience with riot control in 1968, their duties in April, 1970, connected with the truckers' strike in Ohio, and the various assignments he received while on duty at Kent State.
Length of Interview 45:28 minutes
Places Discussed Kent (Ohio)
Time Period discussed 1968-1972
Subject(s) Ambulances
Canterbury, Robert H.
Crowds--Ohio--Kent
Eyewitness accounts
Fassinger, Charles
Helicopters
Jones, Harold
Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970
Kent State University. Rockwell Hall
Ohio. Army National Guard
Ohio. Army National Guard--Interviews
Rhodes, James A. (James Allen), 1909-2001
Soldiers--Interviews
Tear gas munitions
Repository Special Collections and Archives
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Institution Kent State University
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Disclaimer The content of oral history interviews, written narratives and commentaries is personal and interpretive in nature, relying on memories, experiences, perceptions, and opinions of individuals. They do not represent the policy, views or official history of Kent State University and the University makes no assertions about the veracity of statements made by individuals participating in the project. Users are urged to independently corroborate and further research the factual elements of these narratives especially in works of scholarship and journalism based in whole or in part upon the narratives shared in the May 4 Collection and the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project.
Provenance/Collection May 4 Collection