40yrs ago: “Guard, prepare to fire!”

(11 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

On the day before the Kent State Shooting anniversary I placed a post on a few sites, this link goes to my site, with some reports about that tragic day. In the reports it was mentioned that an audio tape, recorded by a student, was being analyzed, that has taken place and the results are being reported. The question still remains, for me and many, why these National Guard weapons were loaded with live rounds, added to the many other questions!

40-Year-Old Audio Recording Reveals Ohio National Guardsmen Were Ordered to Fire at Kent State

May 8, 2010

The Plain Dealer revealed a bombshell today, confirming what many have long suspected occurred during the infamous  Kent State shootings of 1970. New analysis of a 40-year-old audio tape of the event reveals that the Ohio National Guardsmen who fired on students and anti-war protesters on the fateful day of May 4, 1970 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio were ordered to prepare to shoot.

Click on photo for CBS News report.

“The significance of the new audio analysis may be more historical than legal,” said Sanford Rosen, one of plaintiffs’ attorneys in the civil lawsuit.

Stuart Allen, right, and Tom Owen analyze what they’re hearing on an audio tape of the Kent State shootings at Allen’s lab in Plainfield, N.J., May 6, 2010.(AP Photo/The Plain Dealer)

Forensic audio experts Stuart Allen, seated, and Tom Owen,discuss the contents of a tape that captured the events leading to the May 4, 1970 Ohio National Guard shootings at Kent State University.

The gunfire by the Guard killed four and wounded nine. The command heard clearly in the enhanced audio had never before been detected, and may finally uncover the mystery surrounding the tragic event. 28 Guardsmen, in unison, pivoted, raised their rifles and pistols, and fired 67 times. This tape shows without a doubt that they were ordered to do so, and that the shots were neither in response to sniper fire nor spontaneous.

Snip

Stuart Allen and Tom Owen reviewed the audio tape. Both are well-renowned forensic audio experts who have decades of experience in working with law enforcement agencies, private clients, and the government. They donated their time and services due to the potential historical significance of the project and their possible findings.

Some of the other bullet points revealed through Allen and Owen’s analysis and published in the PD included:

       * There is a sound fragment milliseconds before the gunfire starts. Allen believes it could be the beginning of the word “Fire!” – just the initial “f” before the sound is overrun by the fusillade. Owen said he can’t tell what the sound is.

       * The frequency of the voice giving the command changes as the seconds pass. “I’m hearing a Doppler effect,” Allen said, referring to the familiar pitch change that occurs as a siren passes. “It’s as if he was facing one way and turned another,” Owen said. That’s consistent with eyewitness accounts that the Guardsmen spun around from the direction they had been marching just before they fired.

       * The 1974 Bolt Beranek and Newman analysis concluded that the first three gunshots came from M1s, the World War II-vintage rifles carried by most of the Ohio Guardsmen. The M1 is a high-velocity weapon with a high-pitched gunshot sound. Continued Here and Here {second link has the audio cut}

You have to listen extremely closely to hear what the audio experts are reporting and I’m sure many will say they either don’t hear it or denounce even if they do, i.e. fox type opinion reporting.

One of the reasons I placed that first post the day before, out of many, was I had found that there was a truth tribunal being conducted over two days and that was being streamed live. You can find out more as well as where the testimonies will be archived by visiting this link.

For more information on the activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings visit the university’s website Here as well as Here