The demonstrations at Kent State were in response to the US carpet-bombing of eastern Cambodia

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/tl02.html

1969-1974
Caught In The Crossfire

On March 18, 1969, American B-52s began carpet-bombing eastern Cambodia. "Operation Breakfast" was the first course in a four-year bombing campaign that drew Cambodia headlong into the Vietnam War. The Nixon Administration kept the bombings secret from Congress for several months, insisting they were directed against legitimate Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge targets. However, the raids exacted an enormous cost from the Cambodian people: the US dropped 540,000 tons of bombs , killing anywhere from 150,000 to 500,000 civilians.

Shortly after the bombing began, Sihanouk restored diplomatic relations with the US, expressing concern over the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. But his change of heart came too late. In March 1970, while Sihanouk was traveling abroad, he was deposed by a pro-American general, Lon Nol. The Nixon Administration, which viewed Sihanouk as an untrustworthy partner in the fight against communism , increased military support to the new regime.

In April 1970, without Lon Nol's knowledge, American and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia. There was already widespread domestic opposition to the war in Vietnam; news of the "secret invasion" of Cambodia sparked massive protests across the US, culminating in the deaths of six students shot by National Guardsmen at Kent State University and Jackson State University. Nixon withdrew American troops from Cambodia shortly afterwards. But the US bombing continued until August 1973.

Meanwhile, with assistance from North Vietnam and China, the guerrillas of the Khmer Rouge had grown into a formidable force. By 1974, they were beating the government on the battlefield and preparing for a final assault on Phnom Penh. And they had gained an unlikely new ally: Norodom Sihanouk, living in exile, who now hailed them as patriots fighting against an American puppet government.

[FightingIrish]

1. Looking at history in the rear view mirror

In march of 1970 I was deployed to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, with a Navy patrol squadron. We flew four engine turbo-prop patrol aircraft over the South China Sea looking for trawlers infiltrating arms to the Viet Cong. The night the regime changed in Cambodia, my crew was the alert crew. We were awakened in the middle of the night, given a highly classified briefing and sent to the waters just off what was then Sihanoukville. Like most grunts in any war, we didn’t have the big picture and it wasn’t until years later that I realized we had taken part, insignificant as it was, in a coup. It was an uneventfful flight but we were aware that two similar aircraft had been downed by the Cambodians months earlier.

The following year, we were flying out of Utapao, Thailand, from a Base also used by the Air Force B-52s. Some nights we’d eat at the Air Force officers club. I was always kind of amazed at the mystique of the “BUFF” crews. They wore fancy tailored flight suits like the Blue Angels and had a big graphic over the bar celebrating their status as dealers of death from the sky. By the time I resigned, I and most of my friends were dead set against the war.

[flyarm]

4. Thank you for your service FightingIrish..my boyfriend at the time flew the Thud in Nam..

I appreicate your service!

Didn't we all say then..never again?????

fly

[KoKo]

2. Nobody want's to look in the Rear View Mirror...that's why this post deserves a KICK!

:kick:

[flyarm]

3. Kissinger..nicknamed "THE BUTCHER OF CAMBODIA"..

AND HIS TIES TO THIS ADMINSTRATION..do the homework.

eom