Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

and White the night before and they felt the National Guard was impeding their rights. The congregation
was forbidden based on the assumption that Governor James Rhodes, did in fact, seek the necessary
paperwork that declared that there was a state of emergency, because it was supposed to prevent rallies,
which would prevent injuries and property damage by the students. However, now, we know that he did
not ever formalize the state of emergency. Students still would congregate at noon, despite a lot of them,
but not all of them, knowing that they were not supposed to. Even many people who did not partake in
events the previous nights grouped up with the rest of their peers to protest the National Guard’s presence
on campus. However, a lot of people still made it clear that they were opposed to the war through chants
such as “One, two, three, four, we don’t want your fucking war” (U.S. President’s Commission on Campus
Unrest, 1970, p. 263).
The National Guard, mainly those members from Company A and Company C, had a face-off with a
huge number of students (U.S. President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970). General Canterbury
told the Guardsmen to load their guns. One could inquire why the National Guard was armed against
unarmed citizens. However, the Guardsmen were vulnerable in the sense that they were being abused with
rocks and were not able to defend themselves without utilizing their guns. They were also sleep deprived.
A jeep was driven through the crowd to try to get them to disperse, but students just launched rocks at
the jeep until it retreated. At about noon, the jeep came back, and “Canterbury ordered the 96 men and
seven officers to form a skirmish line, shoulder to shoulder, and to move out across the Commons toward
the students” (U.S. President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970, p. 264). The National Guard’s main
objective was to break up the congregation of students. The National Guard eventually launched tear gas
into the gathering, because they would not disperse. Students casted the tear gas back at the National
Guard, who had gas masks on their faces (U.S. President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970). The
students also tossed rocks at the Guardsmen.
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