William Knox Schroeder (; July 20, 1950 – May 4, 1970) was a student at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, when he was killed by

Ohio National Guard The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the List of governors of Ohio, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army Nation ...

smen in the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings (also known as the Kent State massacre or May 4 massacre"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years before (Ma ...

Background

Schroeder was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, the son of Florence Ella (Endebrock) and Louis Arthur Schroeder. He had an older sister, Nancy, and a younger brother, Rudy. Schroeder moved with his family to

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

, when he was in elementary school and graduated from Lorain High School where he was an honors student and an outstanding athlete. Already an Eagle Scout, at age 17 Schroeder applied for the Army

Reserve Officer Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

(ROTC) Scholarship. He received the Academic Achievement award from both the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1874, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

and from

, where he was a psychology student. He also earned the

Association of the United States Army The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is a private, non-profit organization that serves as the professional association of the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 121 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not ju ...

award for excellence in history.

Kent State shootings and death

Schroeder was killed by a single shot in the chest from an M-1 Garand

battle rifle A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge. The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to differentiate automatic rifles chambered for fully powered cartridges from automatic rifles cha ...

. According to reports, he was not taking part in the Vietnam War protests that preceded the shootings, but simply walking between classes. He, along with Sandra Scheuer, was caught in the gunfire. His college roommate, Louis Cusella, stated that he believed Schroeder was trying to flee when shot: "Bill was 332 feet away from the nearest National Guardsman, not much of a threat. He was shot with a folder in his hand." Official reports stated that Schroeder was actually 382 feet from the National Guard at the time he was shot, while lying on the ground facing away from the Guardsmen. The bullet entered his left chest at the seventh rib, piercing his left lung, and some fragments exited from the top of his left shoulder. He died almost an hour later while in a hospital undergoing surgery. Sandra Scheuer was shot in the neck and also died. Two other students were killed in the shootings: Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller. The shootings led to protests and a national student strike, causing hundreds of campuses to close because of both violent and non-violent demonstrations. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. Five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

against the war. The personal writings and effects of William Schroeder, as well as supporting material about his life, are on display in a special section at the May 4 visitor center at Kent State University as of summer 2019.

References

External links

*
''He Told a Kent State Classmate He Was 'Scared' of the Unrest. Two Days Later He was Dead''
A 2020 ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' ''news article'' focusing on William Schroeder
Archived FBI files
relating to the Kent State shootings
May4Archive.org
– maintained by author J. Gregory Payne, Ph.D * ''Kent State Truth Tribunal'':
''webpage''
founded by Laurel Krause and Emily Kunstler devoted to the May 4, 1970 shootings * ''Four Dead in Ohio'': A

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

br>''audio documentary''
pertaining to the Kent State shootings {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, William 1950 births 1970 deaths American people of the Vietnam War Colorado School of Mines alumni Deaths by firearm in Ohio Kent State shootings Kent State University alumni May 1970 in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Ohio People from Cincinnati University and college killings in the United States