OBITUARY: OHIO NATIONAL GUARD COMMANDER CHARLES FASSINGER IS DEAD

Nov. 23, 2008: Kent May 4 Center Director Alan Canfora extends his condolences to the family of Charles Fassinger who died November 22, 2008, at his home in Tennessee. Mr. Fassinger was being treated for leukemia but died in his sleep unexpectedly at home, according to his daughter Susan Crawford.

On May 4, 1970, Lt.-Col. Charles Fassinger was the highest-ranking uniformed officer on Blanket Hill at Kent State University when a different officer shouted the verbal command ordering Troop G shooters to fire 67 gunshots into a crowd of unarmed student anti-war protesters.

In recent years, Mr. Fassinger was the most visible spokesperson representing the guardsmen. Fassinger visited the campus & spoke casually with KSU students, professors and May 4 Task Force students.

Fassinger extended his hand to Alan Canfora on the KSU campus in April of 2007. On May 15, 2008, Canfora & Fassinger appreared together onstage at an educational forum in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored by the Ohio Historical Society. Again, we had the opportunity to meet privately and speak cordially. I believed Chuck Fassinger was getting close to revealing certain truths so I especially regret his passing as a lost opportunity for truth born of diplomacy.

As I said to Mr. Fassinger at that time, I personally welcome the opportunity to meet any of the 1970 Kent State guardsmen, publicly or privately, to discuss truths of our tragedy of May 4, 1970. Here in Kent, Ohio, we do not seek vengeance or retribution at this late date, we only seek the truth.

Hence, my own personal heartfelt sympathy is extended to the family of Charles Fassinger at this time.

--Alan Canfora, Director, Kent May 4 Center,
Kent, Ohio, November 23, 2008.

SEE ALSO:

*** see also, re: Canfora/Fassinger at forum in Columbus, May 15, 2008, includes photo:
http://www.columbusmessenger.com/NC/0/3158.html

*** close-up photos of Lt. Col. Fassinger at moment of May 4, 1970 gunfire at KSU:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#4955334785724973074

http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#5063130042337517634

*** added May 4, 1970, photos, Lt. Col. Charles Fassinger:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#4955331772860530706

http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#4955331842016280594

*** for use of these photos,

contact Howard Ruffner: hruffner@gmail.com

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*** see also, re: Fassinger visits May 4 Task Force students and Canfora at KSU, April 5, 2007:

http://media.www.kentnewsnet.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2007/04/16/News/National.Guardsman.Meets.With.May.4.Task.Force.For.First.Time-2842966.shtml

1970 Ohio National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fassinger meets with 2007 students of the May 4 Task Force!

On April 12, 2007, the highest ranking uniformed officer of the 1970 Ohio National Guard troops at Kent State University met with members of the May 4 Task Force student organization on the campus of Kent State University. In 1970, although General Robert Canterbury was the highest ranking officer on Blanket Hill at the moment of the historic student massacre, Lieutenant Colonel Fassinger was the top uniformed officer because General Canterbury was wearing a suit and tie along with a gas mask perched upon his head.

Charles Fassinger, now age 76, was filmed during his two-hour question/answer session which was attended by Kent May 4 Center director Alan Canfora, one of the nine students wounded by gunfire at KSU on May 4, 1970. Fassinger also was filmed twice earlier that week including his visit to the May 4 educational class at KSU taught by 1970 tragedy eyewitnesses Dr. Laura Davis and Dr. Carole Barbato.

Is it a coincidence Fassinger suddenly re-emerges at Kent weeks prior to the imminent announcement of new proof of the May 4, 1970, National Guard verbal command to shoot unarmed Kent State students?

Here's a recent article published by the DAILY KENT STATER student newspaper

"National Guardsman meets with May 4 Task Force for first time"

by Kiera Manion-Fischer

Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: News

Was the shooting justified? - That was the question on the May 4 Task Force members' minds when they met with retired Lt. Gen. Charles Fassinger, one of the commanding officers of the Ohio National Guard in May 1970.

April 5 was the first time a member of the National Guard has met with the May 4 Task Force.

Fassinger answered the Task Force members' questions for two hours at the meeting. Associate provost Laura Davis and Carole Barbato, associate professor of speech communication, arranged for Fassinger's visit to Kent State. Davis and Barbato both teach a May 4 class and interviewed Fassinger to document the perspective of a key member of the National Guard.

Jim Mueller, Kent State alumnus and former co-chair of the May 4 Task Force, said people at the meeting kept coming back to the question of whether the National Guard was justified in shooting at the students.

Davis was a Kent State student during May 4, 1970, and witnessed the shootings. She said the Guard only has the right to fire in two possible situations: If its members were given an order to shoot, or if they felt their lives were in danger.

"From evidence that I observed and from what I have read since then and from photographs that I've viewed, the guards were not in imminent danger," Davis said. "There was no immediate risk to the guards' lives."

On May 4, 1970, Fassinger was standing behind the troops who fired their weapons.

"I have no reason ever to doubt, (that) as a group, they felt what they said they felt," Fassinger said. "They had a right to fire if they felt their lives were in danger."

Fassinger said his purpose is not necessarily to defend the Guard, but simply to tell his story - what he saw, heard and did, as well as to explain the National Guard's perspective in general.

Alan Canfora was one of the wounded students on May 4th. He was shot through his right wrist. Canfora was also one of the founding members of the May 4 Task Force.

He said he has discovered "absolute proof" that the guardsmen were ordered to fire. Canfora said he asked Fassinger at the meeting whether there was an order.

"I never heard an order, and I certainly never gave one," Fassinger said.

Canfora said the discussion remained cordial throughout the meeting.

"I did shake his hand, after some consideration, in the interest of healing and finding the truth," Canfora said. "It's time to heal the wounds."

Mueller said the group has always been open to hearing the point of view of the Guard.

"We always get flak for not having a balanced program. Whenever we would invite a guardsman or someone who has a different opinion, they would decline the invitation," said Sarah Lund-Goldstein, senior history major and member of the May 4 Task Force.

"After so many years, we should have some honest dialogue," Mueller said. "That's a step in the right direction."

Contact news correspondent Kiera Manion-Fischer at kmanion@kent.edu.

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