Robby Stamps (1950-2008)

Robby Stamps died Wednesday, June 11, 2008, in Tallahassee, FL, of complications from Lyme Disease.

Stamps was one of nine students wounded (four killed) on the campus of Kent State University, May 4, 1970, when Troop G of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on an unarmed crowd of protesters. The National Guard had been called to quell student protests of President Richard Nixon's invasion of Cambodia.

The demonstration of May 4 was over when the National Guard fired. They shot into an unarmed crowd that was walking away. Of the nine wounded students, most were struck in the back or sides.

Stamps was 495 feet from the troops that fired. He was hit in the right buttock and survived. Later, when asked in court about his physical proximity to the Guard when shots were fired, he answered: "As soon as I heard the sound of gunfire, I turned around and ran . . . as fast as I could. . . . My back was directly to the National Guard."

Click here for May 4 Center Director Alan Canfora's Memorial Tribute to Robby Stamps.