With the escalation of the Vietnam War , the Ohio Guard was again called upon to engage in combat upon foreign shores . Both the Ohio Army and Air National Guards deployed units to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . The mission to support state authorities still continued during this time with the Ohio Guard playing a key role in quelling a full-scale riot at the Ohio Penitentiary in 1968 and in helping to curb the violence associated with the trucker 's strike in 1970 . It was subsequent to this latter event that the Ohio Guard was involved in one of the most unfortunate events in its long history , the Kent State shootings of May 4 , 1970 . Called to the campus Kent State University to quell demonstrations and anti-war protests , members of the guard — in what was recently described as " one of America 's most horrific campus tragedies " — killed four unarmed students and wounded several more , garnering severely negative international attention and criticism , especially as some of the victims were simply passersby
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
Ohio Army National Guard