Survivors still living Feb. 8, 1968

Thomas Kennerly still thinks about Feb. 8, 1968.

After three nights of heightening racial discord over efforts by students of then-South Carolina State College and others to desegregate the local All-Star Triangle Bowl, a crowd of unarmed protesters gathered at the head of the campus.

He and other students were going to the end of campus to see what was going on. By the time they got to their destination, they were met with a hail of bullets from the South Carolina Highway Patrol that sent them either running from the scene or immediately diving for the cold ground.

While he didn't know it at first, he was hit three times even as he tried to help get other bleeding students to the college infirmary.

"We heard a whistle blow, and the hair on the back of your neck just kinda' raised up because you knew something wasn't right. Then, the next thing we saw was that some officers didn't shoot, but there were some who were trained in on us. I immediately hit the ground and got hit three times," Kennerly said.

"It was such that you really didn't know how bad you were hurt ... because I was trying to get help and carry one of the other kids to the infirmary. He got shot in the back probably an inch from his spine. We had to get these students to the infirmary, and I realized then that I had been hit. The emotions from that particular moment were so deep and ingrained that whatever you felt didn't mean much because people who were really hurt needed somebody and were about to die," he said.

Kennerly vividly reflects upon what has become known as the Orangeburg Massacre. Three students -- Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton -- were killed and 27 others were injured when S.C. Highway Patrol troopers opened fire on the crowd of protesters at the head of the campus.

• Video  CLICK HERE to watch video footage from Friday's silent march and torch lighting.

Kennerly was among the survivors, victims' families and the Orangeburg community who congregated on the campus of South Carolina State University Friday morning to observe the 40th anniversary of the events.

Kennerly said while Friday's commemorative ceremony did a lot to increase awareness of the event, the time for healing is now.

"I still think about it and not just on Feb. 8. I think about it because we've got so much that we can do in terms of trying to heal. I'm very sensitive to the needs of other people. Even though I was hit three times, I was still hopeful and prayerful that there would be some way found to resolve all this," Kennerly said.

"It's probably an impossibility, but we still have to try. I believe there are those who really are about doing what's right. You can't forget, but you can forgive. You just have to understand and respect the fact that there are those, and still many more, who will never recognize a race of people of being equal. We could be at peace to some degree, but there are still things that will never change."

Bobby Eaddy was also wounded that fateful night. A pellet is still lodged less than an inch from his heart, too delicately placed for a physician to remove.

"Doctors thought that it was too dangerous to remove, so I'll take it to my grave," said Eaddy, noting that the program was like "a bittersweet homecoming."

"I thought they actually did a very adequate job of just bringing the memories back alive. I've just gotten back to South Carolina. We get to come down periodically for the games, but I've never had the opportunity to experience this and am very pleased to be here. Dr. Sellers is one of the people who was very instrumental back during the day. Having an opportunity to really get to talk to him was wonderful," Eaddy said. "It was emotional."

The Rev. Lowman Jamison, too, remembers the events of Feb. 8, 1968, as if they were yesterday. He was the last person to speak with Hammond before his death. He had carried Hammond, with whom he was walking to the front of the campus, to the infirmary in attempts to save his life.

"I had a car down there. I took two loads to the hospital after that,' said Jamison, who was making his first appearance at a commemorative observance.

"I want the story to be told right, and it needs to be told. I think Sellers' speech was wonderful, and I'm glad that he brought out the point that he wasn't the cause of this. Sellers never caused any problems on State College campus. I've been knowing him practically all my life even before he came to school down here because I knew the Sellerses down in Denmark," Jamison said. "The main thing that his making me happy is that I got a chance to meet Sam's family."

Diana Hammond Carter is Hammond's younger sister. She said while the ceremony was an "excellent" remembrance, she wished more SCSU students had attended.

"I think the auditorium should have been full. I don't know if the word is not getting out, or if there's apathy among the students here because they're so far removed from the civil rights movement. But, as far as the overall program, I think it was excellent," she said, noting that she idolized her slain older brother.

"He was a stellar athlete. He was the first black at one of the local high schools to get a letter. I just miss him so much. He did start the Bulldog football team as a freshman. So you just miss the opportunities of what he would have become had Feb. 8, 1968, never happened," she said, stressing that the Orangeburg Massacre has not garnered enough attention on the state and national levels even after 40 years.

"Before reconciliation can come, before I can go on as Sam's sister, the United States needs to recognize this," she said.

Nineteen-year-old SCSU junior Ashley McCoy said the program was very informative.

"It was a good thing to have this program. I learned a lot about the history of everything that happened -- why it happened and how it happened. I mean, I have heard about it and read it in books, but the experience of being here where it happened ... and to listen to the people who were involved in it was very good," McCoy said.

SCSU students Tywone Williams, 20, James Jackson, 22, and Roderick Russell, 22, were also impacted by the ceremony.

"It's a very momentous occasion in just seeing the survivors ... and their reactions. They were wounded and injured 40 years ago. That's why I wanted to come and see it myself. Even though he (Sellers) didn't give his life like the other three did, he did go to prison, which is a great sacrifice," said Williams, a junior computer science major.

Jackson, a senior history major, said a state investigation is needed. "I think an apology nowadays will not be good enough. How can we move on when there really hasn't been any reconciliation of this? It's sad, but the program was a great tribute."

Russell, a senior marketing major, said the program was an eye-opener for those who didn't really have any knowledge of the events.

"I think it was a lot of hurt and pain, and I think this tribute is something to really help those people fill that void," Russell said.

State Rep. Bakari Sellers, Cleveland Sellers' son, said the commemorative tribute was an important day on which to honor the three slain students who he considers heroes. He said the SCSU family is an extension of his own family who gathered to "acknowledge our past and look forward to the future."

"Today is a very emotional day in our family, but it's a very good day. We have a long way to go before we have peace and reconciliation and truth and justice in South Carolina, but my dad is awesome, and I love him," Sellers said.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.