But the investigation was done and the trial carried out. It's over, people.
But one man who was wounded there that day and still researches the topic claims to have a tape indicating that an officer ordered the troops to fire:
"The evidence speaks for itself," said Alan Canfora, 58, one of nine students wounded during the National Guard shooting. Four students were killed in the 1970 shootings, which followed several days of protests over the Vietnam War.
Canfora played two versions of the tape — the original and an amplified version — in which he says a Guard officer issues the command, "Right here! Get Set! Point! Fire!"
To the casual listener, the word "point" can be heard followed by the sound of shots being fired. There is no indication on the tape of who said the word.
Being an audio tape, Canfora can obviously see the officer in question. That speaks for itself, as he says.
As for the commands, I can't say I'm familiar with the Ohio Guard in 1970, but what army uses the apparently rapid sequence of orders that includes "right here" rather than "company, halt"? I never heard of the order "get set" except as a child when it followed "on your mark." And what soldier tells his men to "point" instead of "aim"? "Fire" I can buy.
But where were the pauses (if the tape I heard on the radio was what I thought it was, though honestly it was tought to make out anything) in between commands? The troops would need time to halt, order themselves, aim their weapons, and shoot.
On the radio, the report also said that an investigation is in order to find out if the Ohio Guard or Nixon ordered the troops on the campus for the express reason of shooting students. I assume they were quoting Canfora.
What is really fascinating is that when you play the tape backwards you can hear "Paul is dead."
For some people, saying it is always about Vietnam isn't a figure of speech.
