A light fog hung over Taylor Field as spectators began to gather at the Victory Bell Wednesday night. One by one, each person lit a candle and calmly passed it around, making sure everyone had one to hold for the 49th annual May 4 Candlelight Vigil and Walk.

In the Prentice Hall parking lot, the lights on the makers dedicated to the victims who died on May 4, 1970, had gone dark, awaiting the walkers to return with their candles. Mourners — some with tears in their eyes, others with blank expressions — visited each marker, remembering the students who lost their lives.

More than 2,000 demonstrators came to Taylor Field to protest the Vietnam War that day. After the National Guard ordered the crowds to disperse, they then fired into the protesters.

Thirteen seconds. Sixty-seven shots. Four students killed, and nine others wounded.

Forty-nine years later, different generations stood together, holding their candles high with hands protecting the flames from the soft breeze and misting rain. If one candle went out, another person lent theirs to make it burn bright again. Small conversations ensued among the crowd, which included  Kent State administrators President Beverly Warren and Todd Diacon, the executive vice president and provost, who will soon take her place.

Some lent their tissues to neighbors. Some brought their own candles, protected in mason jars with lighters in tow just in case.

Some groups made conversation, remembering Kent State nearly 50 years ago and how much the campus and its climate has changed. A group of freshmen discussed what it had learned about May 4 in one of its classes this year, and how students remember the tragedy’s details from high school history books.

Around 11 p.m., nearly 300 community members, students and staff shuffled silently together, close to one another, commencing the walk. As the vigil coiled around campus, students walking by joined in and cars stopped to watch. Some spectators asked what was going on, and the walkers silently looked at them, wishing they already knew.

It was silent the entire time.

Close to midnight, the crowd gathered at the tall tree in the parking lot, surrounded by the markers. Each person put their candles in a circle around the tree, followed by a short prayer. Some put their candles next to the markers, illuminating each name forever etched in stone.

Jeffrey Miller. Allison Krause. Sandra Scheuer. William Schroeder.

Lydia Taylor is the digital content editor. Contact her at [email protected].

Photos by: Jarett Theberge