Ezio - thanks for posting the lyrics. I have a few scraps on the story behind this song:

[1972:] Here the theme is destruction of the innocent in America. How often I've heard "yes, but it could never happen here". (Notes Harvey Andrews, 'Writer of Songs')
[1979:] [A] lament for the death of Sandy Scheuer, accidentally killed in the Kent State University shootings in 1970. (Woods, Revival 114f.)
[1989:] On 1 May 1970, the day after Nixon had announced an escalation of the [Vietnam] war into Cambodia, young Americans at campuses all over the country held mass meetings and planned strikes. The anger even spread to northern Ohio, to Kent State University, where there was a series of angry demonstrations, and the National Guard were called out after a building had been set on fire. Demonstrations continued on 4 May, when students gathered at a field in the middle of the campus. The National Guard arrived, tear gas canisters were thrown and rocks lobbed back in exchange. Then the soldiers started firing into the students. Four were killed, one crippled for life, and many wounded. (Denselow, Music 108f)

Being German and quite young at the time, I had no idea what the song referred to. But it reminds me of a demonstration in Berlin in 1966 where a student was shot dead by police. His name, Benno Ohnesorg, is still well known in Germany, and his death is seen as the starting point for the student unrest of the years 1967-68. Is Sandy Scheuer still remembered in the States? Is there anything to be added to the story? I think Harvey's comment is still very relevant. - Susanne