'Four Dead in Ohio'

May 1, 2007 — -- A victim of the 1970 Kent State University shootings says a new audiotape proves an Ohio National Guard commander gave troops an order to fire on antiwar protesters.

"We're not seeking revenge; we're not seeking punishment for the Guardsmen at this late date," Alan Canfora, who was shot in the wrist, said Monday.

"All we want is the truth because we seek healing at Kent State for the student victims, as well as the triggermen who were ordered to fire. And healing can only result from the truth, and that's all we want."

Canfora played a third generation audio CD copy of the 1970s-era reel-to-reel audio recording. "Right here! Get set! Point! Fire," Canfora claimed can be heard on the tape just before the crackle of gunfire. But even after playing the audio several times at a press conference at Kent State University, it was still hard to discern the words he said were shouted.

Canfora wants the government to reopen an investigation into whether an order was given to fire on the students or -- as the Ohio National Guard has consistently claimed -- the guardsmen mistakenly believed they were being shot at and opened fire.

A spokesman for the FBI's Cleveland office said the agency was unaware of the press conference or the charges that a command to shoot could be heard on the tape.

"Certainly the FBI would be more than willing to sit down with these individuals and talk about what information they have,'' Cleveland FBI spokesman Scott Wilson told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit.

He said the agency would be willing to sit down with Canfora and others to discuss "any evidence" they may have to share.

When the smoke cleared, four students were dead and nine more were wounded.

The shooting brought a bitterly divided nation to its knees. Photos of the aftermath printed in national magazines dramatically changed the course of the American conversation over the war in Vietnam.

"It was very chilling for me to hear," Canfora told ABC News. "I knew the 12.53 seconds of gunfire was coming, and I was prepared for that, but when I heard that order to fire, I was stunned. I have to admit I shed a few tears right there on my computer."

The shootings -- a burst of 67 shots in 12.53 seconds -- were the inspiration for one of the most famous and recognizable rock anthems of that tumultuous time, Neil Young's "Ohio."

Tin Soldiers and Nixon's coming

We're finally on our own

This summer I hear the drumming

Four dead in Ohio/Four dead in Ohio

Eight guardsmen were indicted by a grand jury, but a judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence before it went to trial.

The following year, victims' families filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the governor and the state's National Guard. It too was dismissed, but in 1979 the dismissal was overturned because of improper exclusion of evidence and eventually the families were each awarded about $63,000.

Canfora, who sought and received a copy of the tape from the Yale University archives, is making the tape available to the public at a press conference at 2 p.m. in Ohio today, as well as on his Web site www.may4.org

He said he has spent months corroborating the alleged command order from testimony.

"Our official position is that we have no comment on the tape or on the possible investigation,'' said James Sims, deputy director of public affairs for the Ohio National Guard.

Spokespersons for the FBI in both Cleveland and Washington D.C. did not immediately return calls for comment.

pThe reel-to-reel tape was made by then-student Terry Strubbe, who placed the microphone to his tape recorder on his windowsill overlooking the antiwar rally. Strubbe turned over a copy of the tape to the FBI and keeps a copy in a safe deposit box in Kent, where he still lives, according to Canfora.