A student of Kent State University cries out and gestures as she kneels over the body of another student killed in the shooting (Photo: CNN)

On May 4, 1970, four unarmed students from the university were killed and nine others injured in a shooting during the protest. The incident together with the photographs sparked a public backlash against the war.

They also bolstered the anti-war movement amongst US students, resulting in mass protests nationwide with millions of participants. Hundreds of schools were forced to close, putting pressure on the US to end the war.

H.R. Haldeman, a top aide to former US President Richard Nixon, affirmed that the event had inflicted a direct blow to the country’s politics at that time. It became a symbol of the deep socio-political divisions in the nation caused by the war, he added.

Many books and documents have touched upon the Kent State massacre over the last three decades.

Various demonstrations against the war were held in the US between 1960 and 1970./.VNA