Sandra Scheuer | |
|---|---|
_in_the_Boardman_High_School%2c_Youngstown%2c_Ohio_yearbook_(1967).jpg) Scheuerc. 1967 | |
| Born | Sandra Lee Scheuer (1949-08-11)August 11, 1949 Youngstown, Ohio, US |
| Died | May 4, 1970(1970-05-04) (aged 20) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound to neck[1] |
| Resting place | Ohev Tzedek Cemetery,Mahoning County, Ohio, U.S. 41°03′39″N80°42′43″W / 41.0608°N 80.7119°W /41.0608; -80.7119 (approximate) |
| Occupation | Student |
| Known for | Victim ofKent State shootings |
Sandra Lee "Sandy" Scheuer (/ˈʃɔɪ.ər/; August 11, 1949 – May 4, 1970) was an American student atKent State University inKent, Ohio, when she was killed byOhio National Guardsmen in theKent State shootings.
Scheuer was born inYoungstown, Ohio, the daughter of Sarah (Lacko) and Martin Scheuer.[2] She had an older sister, Audrey. She was Jewish.[3] She was an honors student inspeech therapy, and was a graduate ofBoardman High School.
Scheuer did not take part in theVietnam Warprotests that preceded the shootings. She was shot once in the neck with anM-1 rifle from a distance of 130 yards (119 m) while walking between classes. The bullet severed herjugular vein and she died within five or six minutes fromloss of blood. According to the account of her boyfriend Bruce Burkland, Scheuer "was walking with one of her speech and hearing therapy students across the green. Caught in the gunfire, neither Sandra nor the young man had anything to do with the assembly of students on the green."[2] Three other unarmed students were also killed in the shootings:Allison Krause,Jeffrey Miller, andWilliam Knox Schroeder.
The shootings led to protests and a nationalstudent 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 inWashington, D.C., against the war.
Scheuer had been a member of theAlpha Xi Delta sorority,[4] and current members of this sorority speak in her memory each year on the Kent State University campus at the May 4 Task Force's commemoration of the 1970 tragedy.
In 2018 an exhibit in memory of Scheuer called "Sandy's Scrapbook", based on an actual scrapbook she kept while attending Kent State, opened at the University's May 4 Visitor Center.[5]
Just after Scheuer's death, the songwriterHarvey Andrews composed a song titled "Hey Sandy",[6] whose lyrics are addressed to her:
Did you see them turn, did you feel the burn
Of the bullets as they flew?
In the song "Ohio", which was written immediately after the shootings, folk rockerNeil Young made a reference to Scheuer in the chorus:
What if you knew her,
And found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
While unconfirmed, it’s been speculated thePolaris song "Hey Sandy", the theme song to the showThe Adventures of Pete & Pete, is a reference to Scheuer with lyrics regarding shooting and having picked a target.
Scheuer is also remembered in poetGary Geddes' poem "Sandra Lee Scheuer", found in his 1980 collectionThe Acid Test.[7] An image of a memorial to Scheuer was included in the CD case toThe Argument (2001) byFugazi.[8]
Not long after the shooting, Harvey Andrews, a British songwriter, wrote the song, "Hey, Sandy" about her death...