KENT, Ohio (WBNS) - Monday, May 4 marks 50 years since four students died and nine others were injured on Kent State's campus.
Members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators.
The impact of the shootings triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close.
Shooting victim Dean Kahler remembers that day and how it changed his life.
On May 4, 1970, on Kent State's campus, a rally brought thousands of students together to protest President Richard Nixon expanding the Vietnam War into Cambodia.
Kahler, who was 20 at the time, decided to go.
"The reason I went there was to find out information about what we were allowed to do. I got caught up being tear-gassed Sunday evening and no direction, they were saying 'you all you are gathered illegally' and they started shooting tear gas," says Kahler.
What Kahler didn't expect is for the Ohio National Gaurd to eventually shoot bullets at students from the top of the hill near Taylor Hall.
"I saw them turn in unison, lower their rifles and start their fire. As soon as they turned with the deliberation that they did, I jumped to the ground and covered my head, and prayed that I wouldn't get shot," says Kahler.
In those 13 seconds, the bullets killed four people and wounded nine.
"I jumped on the ground and I started hearing the bullets around me and I'm thinking, 'Why are they shooting at me?' I'm 100 yards away, I'm not even close to them. And then I got hit. It was like a bee sting. I didn't bleed. All of my bleeding was internal, don't ask me why. I was hit below my shoulder blade," he says.
That one bullet was enough to injure his spinal cord, putting Kahler in a wheelchair for life.
Since then, he's continued being an athlete, participating in two marathons, half marathons, and finishing many other races.
Kahler says he lives his life with no regrets, just a hope that people learn from history and act now.
"The life lesson that I learned, you don't let them control you, those people who are in charge and holding them accountable," he says about elected officials, "I want people to know they have to make their elected and public officials, make them know they can't get away with gross abuse of power. Just like Governor Rhodes did and hold officials accountable."
Fifty years after the May 4 shooting that changed his life, he needs no reminder of what thousands of people stood up for back then.
Here's his plan for commemorating the day: "I'm going to say a little prayer when I wake up, say a little prayer, I'm going to remember, I'll write on my Facebook page my memories of that day. Hopefully, my brother will stop over, we'll have a beer and toast to life," he says.
This year, for its 50-year commemoration, Kent State is going virtual. Their website includes a virtual candlelight vigil and famous musician performances and reflections from David Crosby, Jesse Colin Young, and Graham Nash, among others.
You can learn more about the noon commemoration that's happening Monday by clicking here.