40th Anniversary of Kent State

As many of us know May 4th is the 40th anniversary of the massacre at Kent State in Ohio. Our country was in the middle of a revolution that changed us forever.

Unfortunately, I had not thought of Kent State for years. I say unfortunately in that I missed the passing of a good friend who was one of the students wounded that day 40 years ago. Jim Russell was a very unique man. When he and his wife Nell moved to Oregon in the early '80s they lived in a surplus M.A.S.H. tent while they built their house, that took them 11 years.

I met Jim shortly after the first section of the house was finished. Jim and Nell and their daughter Rebecca expanded the house a couple more times over the years. Jim was a serious Model Railroader, the Northern Pacific Railroad was his favorite and he modeled it as it was in 1956. We spent many an afternoon chasing trains up and down I-5 and through the Columbia Gorge.

Jim was the Best Man at my wedding, his toast was classic 'Mr Spock' "Live long and prosper." As both of us moved to other jobs we lost touch, we would run into one another every now and then at the Local Hobby Shop, chat for an hour or so, promise to get together for lunch or dinner, but those plans never seemed to come together.

Today being the 40th anniversary of Kent State, I like so many others went searching for information regarding the insanity of that day. I found information about Jim and as I read it noted that he had died in 2007. My heart sunk when the information permeated my brain. It is strange to mourn the passing of a friend that has been gone for almost 3 years.

You see Jim wasn't only one of the 9 students who were wounded that day 40 years ago but he was also the step brother of William Schroeder, one of those who lost their life on that fateful day.

Jim was never bitter over the event of May 4, 1970, he used his experience to let others know about how things can go terribly wrong when no one is in charge. Jim would speak to graduating High School classes around the Portland area letting them know the real truth of the events of that day. The insanity of that day was that of the 13 students wounded or killed only 1 was actually involved in the protest, the others was bystanders. Jim and William were walking by the commons when the National Guard opened fire.

Good Bye, my friend you and your life will never be forgotten.