Never Forget the Power in Photography

(c) John Paul Filo

[Photo used under fair use rationale]

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the day journalism student John Paul Filo raised his camera to his eye and pushed the shutter button to capture a moment that will forever be etched in my mind, as I am sure it is in millions of others. During 13 seconds on May 4, 1970 the horrors of war, both near and far, became a stark reality.

I was 12 at the time of the shooting and terribly naive about the Vietnam war and other social indicators even though my brother was one of those serving his country. Only is it now, four decades later, I finally realize the impact that this one photo had on me. Wow! I am sad it took me this long to put the pieces together, but I am suddenly very happy where my life is today because of it.

If you don't know the tragic story at Kent State those fateful few days, I encourage you to read about and, more importantly, learn from it.  For those who do remember the events, I direct you to a 200+ photo collection I had never heard about or seen before tonight, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#