Robby Stamps, 58, 1970 KSU survivor

[Kolesar]

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

Robby Stamps, 58, 1970 KSU survivor

Sunday, Jun 15, 2008

Beacon Journal staff report

Robert ''Robby'' Stamps, one of 13 students shot by Ohio National Guardsmen during a Vietnam War protest May 4, 1970, at Kent State University, has died of complications from pneumonia. Mr. Stamps, 58, died Wednesday in Tallahassee, Fla.
...
Although the random bullet that struck him in the lower back colored his life for decades to come, Mr. Stamps lived an active professional life as a counselor, author, musician and inventor.

The residue of May 4 remained with him. And he often reflected on it. ''The guardsmen who killed four students and wounded nine others have neither told the truth nor been held accountable for their actions,'' he wrote in a guest editorial for the Akron Beacon Journal in March 1996.

Mr. Stamps grew up in a white-collar neighborhood in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid. His father was a career military man who would have ''rather seen me go to jail than go to Vietnam to fight, and he told me so,'' Mr. Stamps was quoted as saying.
...
Mr. Stamps never forgot about what happened at Kent State. ''What I thought about then is that we had a military industrial complex in charge of things, profiting handsomely from making war. And I think the same thing today,'' he told the Burr.

Mr. Stamps is survived by his wife.


Read more: http://www.ohio.com/news/19952839.html

---

The article has some good insights into peace activism for the last few decades.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Very sorry to read this.

[hlthe2b]

2. RIP, Mr Stamps... and we all must keep the memory of KSU alive

[YOY]

3. This Golden Flash will miss him

Rock on Mr. Stamps.

[Bob Dobbs]

4. A real hero.

Actually deserving of adulation and mourning.

RIP Robby, and thanks for the sacrifice you made and all the things you did.

Real things.

[Kolesar]

5. Jackson State University, May 14 - 15

http://www.may41970.com/Jackson%20State/jackson_state_may_1970.htm

The May 1970 Tragedy at Jackson State University
"Lest We Forget..."

In the Spring of 1970, campus communities across this country were characterized by a chorus of protests and demonstrations. The issues were the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia; the ecology; racism and repression; and the inclusion of the experiences of women and minorities in the educational system. No institution of higher education was left untouched by confrontations and continuous calls for change.


At Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi, there was the added issue of historical racial intimidation and harassment by white motorists traveling Lynch Street, a major thoroughfare that divided the campus and linked west Jackson to downtown.
...

[murielm99]

9. Thank you.

Everyone forgets Jackson State. Even when the Kent State tragedy was fresh and new, and igniting a fresh wave of protests all across the country (my senior year in college), Jackson State merited only a few lines of print in papers all across the country. The evening news barely mentioned it.

I think it was because the students were African American. Or maybe it was just an excuse, because we were already overloaded by the incursion into Cambodia and the deaths in Ohio. Whatever the cause, we never should have allowed it.

[TooBigaTent]

14. The atrocity was even worse than Kent State in that the police actually fired

over 160 rounds INTO a DORMITORY housing students!!!

But they were only n****** so it really does not count.

And some wondered how we could have gotten such a negative view of Amerika.

[MnFats]

12. rest in peace. his pain is gone.

by the way, there are more photos of the Jackson State assault. they show the wall of that dormitory in broad daylight. it's astonishing, like a war zone.
it's surprising hundreds weren't killed.



it is true, of course, that Kent State leaves many many questions unanswered.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Lynch Street?

Does it still have same name now?

[ieoeja]

15. Now it is J.R. Lynch Street.

From the link:

"In subsequent action, the Jackson City Council voted to close Lynch Street to through traffic. Mayor Russell Davis and Commissioner Tom Kelly voted in favor of permanently closing the thoroughfare while Commissioner Ed Cates cast the only negative vote. It was during this same council meeting that the initials J. R. were added to the existing street signs, denoting J. R. Lynch Street, named for one of Mississippi's leading black statesmen who served during Reconstruction -- Congressman John R. Lynch."


I especially liked the part where some cop turned around and killed a 17 yr old high school kid standing behind the cops watching the action.

And you just have to love their excuse that someone fired at them from the third story window of a building. The cops actually believed this excused their attempting to kill everyone outside the building. Remind me never to call those cops if I'm in trouble.

"We got a call there was an armed robbery in progress. So we burst into the home and killed the suspect."

"What about the family living there?"

"Oh, we killed them too. They said the robber had a gun after all. So it only made sense to kill everyone in and around the building to play it safe. We do feel bad about the paper boy. Bad timing he happened to be riding in front of the house just as we arrived."

[elias7]

6. Not that relevant, but I knew him

I had a little league baseball coach named Robby Stamps in South Euclid, OH (suburb of Cleveland), must have been around 1973-1975. He had a scar on his cheek and he told me that he was shot at Kent State. He was very nice and fun to be around, upbeat and positive and supportive, worked naturally with kids. Not sure why I remember him amongst the numerous coaches I had, but I do, and I will mourn him.

[Dirty Hippie]

7. Here is his obituary

Robert Stamps Robert Stamps, age, 57, died Wednesday, June 11, 2008 in Madison, Florida. A private ceremony will be held on Monday, June23, at the home of Mrs. Mable Chambers. An additional memorial service will be held in San Diego California in July. Robby was born June 24, 1950, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Lloyd Stamps and Charlotte Burger Stamps. He was a parole officer, Master Addictions Counselor, published author and adjunct professor. He spoke fluent Castilian Spanish and traveled extensively. He was one of nine surviving students shot at Kent State in 1970. He was Jewish. He was an accomplished musician. Robby died of neuro-lime disease. He is survived by his beloved wife Teresa; a devoted sister Penny; brother in law Chuck; niece Samantha and several great nieces all of San Diego, California. Beggs Funeral Home Madison Chapel, Madison, Fl. is in charge of arrangements.
Published in the Tallahassee Democrat on 6/15/2008.

[liberalhistorian]

8. I knew Robby quite well. I'm a Kent State graduate

who was active with the May 4 Task Force during my student years. He was a great personal friend as well as always being a strong advocate for truth and justice, not just for May 4 facts and issues, but for progressive values and traditions as well. He had a wide-ranging intellect that remained curious and active all his life, he never stopped learning or wanting to learn. He was mindful of and recognized his place in history, but always displayed humility, grace and class. He was not bitter about what had happened to him, while, at the same time, never letting those responsible off the hook. He had a wonderful, caring, generous yet playful spirit and was always thinking of others, even though he'd never been in really good health for most of his life. He had a very calming, gentle manner most of the time that was very soothing to those around him. I remember him speaking Spanish to my then-young son, who was into languages and who was thrilled to have an adult take such an interest in him and to "practice" with him. I still have the blanket from Mexico that he gave me from one of his trips many years ago.

Those of us involved with May 4, whether as one of the victims' families, the wounded, those there and those of us in the Task Force throughout the years, have become like a family and this will hit hard. I am very, very sad.


:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Mad_Dem_X]

10. RIP, Robby. nt

[Doctor_J]

11. If Kent State were to happen today, hate radio and cabal "news"

would spin it as *'s mild response to domestic terrorism. Commander Cocaine would put on his flight suit and Tweety would declare, "women like a president who won't take any crap from hippies and other anti-american elements. I think any real american tonight is thanking Mr. Bush for nipping this stuff in the bud."

[MnFats]

18. and on Free Republic, they'd be offering to pay for the bullets...

as well as a legal team to defend the fucking murderers.

[raccoon]

16. Rest in peace. I always wondered about the other students who were injured that day. nt

[cynthia]

17. I, too, have wondered about the other 9

and how that experience influenced their lives.

The Crosby, Stills, Nash song comes to mind, "four dead in Ohio"


May he rest in peace.

[liberalhistorian]

20. James Russell, a wounded student, died

last June, the first of the nine wounded to die. He and Joe Lewis, another wounded, lived in the same Oregon town with their families and were very close. They both worked for the city. Joe Lewis had to have part of his intestines removed right after he was shot, and that has affected him physically. Dean Kahler was the most severely injured, he was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He's now a teacher, has been for a long time. Tom Grace is a social worker in New York (Buffalo, I believe, but I can't be certain), and remains active with progressive and social justice issues. He has a permanent limp, as he had to have part of a foot removed. Alan Canfora, of course, remains the most active; he was very involved with the Task Force when I was there and remains so to this day. He can rightfully be given a large share of the credit for keeping the search for the truth going and for public awareness and education programs and presentations. He also gives presentations and speeches at colleges and other organizations nationwide.

It has had a profound effect on the rest of them, as you can imagine, although they've all gone on to make good, productive lives for themselves and their families. Some of them are more open to talking about it than others; some prefer to be more private than others. Many of them try to attend the annual commemorations when they can, especially on the five-year anniversaries.

[geiger]

22. thanks, this is interesting.

are you an Ohioan? I am a Kent graduate and always used to return to campus on May 4, then got away from it. I read an interesting passage in a book by Ohio journalist Abe Zaidan (Portraits of Power: Ohio and National Politics, 1964-2004) recently in which he recounted Michael Schwartz's reaction to the shooting, when of course he had yet become President, nor probably had any idea he ever would be. He sat down and wept, on a bench at the campus where he was at the time, and then later said, "Kent State is not to be forgotten; it is something to be learned from," or something to that effect. Since Schwartz was Kent President during my time there, I was quite struck and sobered by learning about his remarks and pathos at the time of the shooting. He {Schwartz) was a good man, often accused of trying to put the shootings "under the rug," as it were, while I attended there....

[liberalhistorian]

24. Actually, I was a student Taks Force member

during the time that he was president and he did, indeed, attempt to sweep it under the rug every change he got. He was a major obstacle and we were very relieved when he retired as president. Carol Cartwright became president right after I graduated, and she was a real breath of fresh air where May 4 was concerned, especially in contrast to Schwartz. A lot of us still think he and those in his administration deliberately undercut the fundraising for the memorial, so that they could get away with building it at only one-tenth of the original plan. The scale of the original design was much larger, with an estimated cost of around one million (this was back in the mid-80's, remember, so it would likely be more now). It was all to be funded privately, with the university insisting on taking the lead in fundraising and shutting the Task Force and May 4 Foundation out of it as much as they could.

They then proceeded to sit on their hands and do almost nothing to raise the funds, all the while claiming they were working oh so hard; that was bullshit. They hardly made any calls and only perfunctory mail requests, and even that was reluctant on their part. They did just enough to be able to claim that they were doing "something", because they didn't want the full memorial built.

They barely managed to raise $100,000 in more than a year. However, when they needed six million bucks for the stupid fashion design museum, they really got on the ball and raised almost all of it in less than a year. When they had a speaker come to a May 4 education program once to give an update on what they were doing in regards to fundraising, he hardly had anything to say and couldn't wait to leave. He didn't even want to answer any questions. They wanted to be able to say there wasn't much interest so that they could get away with building it at a much smaller scale. And they shut us out of it almost entirely and said any funds raised by the Task Force or the May 4 Foundation wouldn't be included in the funds for the memorial.

The day the "memorial" was dedicated, on the 20th anniversary, May 4, 1990, it was my last May 4 as a student, as I graduated that month. It rained hard, but they set up a tent and had the dedication ceremony with state mucky-mucks, many of the same mucky-mucks who'd done their best through the years to either ignore May 4 or sweep it under the rug entirely or to denigrate it. We had a huge protest of it, we all stood on the hills above where the ceremony was held in the pouring rain and held a silent protest. The rain was so symbolic of how we all felt and what was happening, some people were crying and their tears mixed with the rain.

I woke up the next morning to find myself on the front page of the Daily Kent Stater, holding my sign and standing in the rain; I still have that. I was very surprised, of course, since there were hundreds at the protest and a LOT of pictures being taken, by local, state and national media. Some of the family members of the victims stood with us, as they had throughout the whole process of trying to get the university to even consider a memorial, then the design contest and the controversy over the first winning design and then the fundraising disaster, etc.

So, no, Schwartz may have claimed to have felt that way at one time, but he didn't do a goddamned thing once he was president; in fact, was quite the hindrance.

[geiger]

25. was it him or the Board; I get the feeling he may have been forced to shove

his personal feelings aside. I was a grad assistant at the time I was there, and got to know him and his son. Not that we ever talked about anything political, and now I do remember about the memorial ending up being a lot smaller.

I love Kent State as a school; I have great memories as a grad student in two departments. I guess the sorrow I feel is the need all these schools have for "branding" these days. The last time I was back was for an Eric Clapton concert and the gymnasium was so commercialized, I began to wonder where I was really at. This particular concert was also part of the annual folk festival, and the last time I had been to the folk festival, it was in a stinky auditorioum full of flower children next to the new stupid fashion museum (I agree, fashion museum a weird idea for Kent, since you can't even buy decent clothes in the midwest). My guess is that they don't want to be branded as the disaster university.

I salute you, my friend.

[geiger]

23. Okay, sorry, I see now that you are indeed a former Kent student..My condolences & wishes for peace

for you, and thank you, for what you do.

[DebbieCDC]

19. Yes and then the stupid f***ing state of Ohio

turned right around and re-elected that bastard Rhodes governor (he who sent the Nat. Guard into Kent State)

My home state, to my eternal shame

Left there 27 years ago and never looked back

[geiger]

21. Do you think we will ever have a Dept of Peace.

I have several books on the Kent State tragedy, and one on the Jackson State story as well.