KENT, Ohio (WJW) – People gathered at Kent State University on Thursday to commemorate four people shot and killed on the campus 53 years ago.
It was then, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on Kent State students during a war protest.
The demonstration was students against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
Four were killed, and nine others were wounded. Countless lives were changed forever.
Kent State University students demonstrating against the US war in Vietnam and its expansion into South East Asia are confronted by tear gas of the National Guard. The Guard opened fire on the students, killing four. 
Kent State University students demonstrate to protest the widening of the war in Souteast Asia. National Guardsmen open fire on the 1,000 students and four fall dead, including two young women. Eight others are wounded. National Guardsmen are shown approaching a school building as students watch, a student is shown bleeding on the ground and a student on a stretcher is wheeled to an ambulance. 
National Guardsmen are seen here on May 4th, 1970, moving across the common on the Kent State campus, where four anti-war protesters were shot and killed earlier. 
(Original Caption) 5/4/1970-Kent, OH- Picture shows an aerial view of police firing tear gas on student protesters on the Kent State University. 
(Original Caption) 5/7/1970-Kent, OH- Kent State University students disperse as tear gas-firing National Guardsmen (background) follow in pursuit on the university’s campus May 4. Four youths- two boys and two girls -were killed and several others injured when guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of about 500 students. The guardsmen were called out to quell anti-war demonstration protesting expansion of the war into Cambodia. Photo shows a body and three people in the street. 
(Original Caption) KENT, OHIO: National guardsmen fire tear gas at students on campus of Kent State University in this May 4, 1970 photo. 
Youths flee as they try to escape exploding tear gar fired into their midst by National Guardsmen on the Kent State University campus. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) 
Ohio National Guardsmen prepare to leave the Kent State University campus. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
The theme “Power of our Voices theme” is to tie the anti-war movement of 1970 to emerging movements today.
Events allow the Kent State community, and the public, to gather to reflect, share memories, and pass the lessons learned then to new generations of students.
The gatherings on campus have been a two-day event. On Wednesday, there was a lecture series, film screening, and annual candlelight vigil and walk.
