Kahler spent the next four months in rehabilitation at Highland View Hospital in Cleveland, relearning how to dress himself, how to eat, even how to breathe, because part of his left lung had been removed. The doctors told him he would be lucky to get out by New Year's. He left the hospital on Oct. 25.

"I was motivated. I didn't want to spend any more time in the hospital than I had to," he said. "I wanted to get back to school." He admits to feeling depressed for a couple of weeks during this time, but Kahler never sank into self-pity or despair.

"Life doesn't end after you take a bullet in the spinal cord," he said. "I think I prepared myself to die after I got shot, and when I didn't die I was very thankful that I was alive. To me, I had the rest of the world, the rest of my life to live."

And living meant jumping back into the Stark campus of Kent State as a full-time student in January 1971. But between his rehabilitation, the lawsuit that had been filed against the National Guard and the newspaper reporters badgering him, the next two quarters were rough. He slowed down after that, going to school part-time until 1977, when he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education and comprehensive social studies.

Through it all, Kahler says he "had a great time here," he said. "Just because I had one miserable day doesn't mean that I should hate the place."

After graduation, Kahler moved to southern Ohio to work with the Ohio Industrial Commission, helping businesses develop accessible and safe work sites for handicapped people. Two years later, he began working with then Secretary of State Anthony Celebrezze Jr. When Celebrezze was later elected attorney general, he asked Kahler to come with him and work as a field representative in southeastern Ohio. Since 1985, Kahler has served as Athens County commissioner.

Kahler's wife, Elizabeth, said May 4 will probably always affect Dean, no matter where he goes. "Even if he's not 'that guy from Kent State,' he's always 'that guy in the wheelchair,' " she said. Elizabeth, who is a counselor, said she thinks Dean sometimes struggles between "wanting to leave it all behind and wanting to make it mean something by retelling it again.".

Kahler admits that May 4 did leave him angry for a time, and he was obviously frustrated by the grand jury and civil lawsuits that finally ended in 1975 when Rhodes, White and National Guardsmen were cleared of all charges. But the anger has long since faded.

Not everyone agrees with Kahler's decision to forgive so quickly. Alan Canfora, who was also wounded on May 4, said he does not think enough has happened to warrant such a pardon.

Canfora and Kahler met in 1971, when Kahler spoke to an experimental War and Peace class at the KSU Stark branch. Canfora was enrolled in the class and remembers being disappointed by Kahler's forgiving attitude. "I raised my hand and said, 'Dean, we have something in common, but I can't agree with what you are saying.' "

The two got to know each other well during the trials, but while Canfora says he loves Kahler as a brother, he still can't agree with his views. "Dean's viewpoint is, as it was then, to turn the other cheek and forgive and forget. I respect that, but on the other hand, my attitude is that these National Guardsmen never spent a single day in jail - they were never punished. There is no room for forgiveness at this point."

And Canfora is not the only person still feeling the anger of the event. Even today, Kahler feels the hostility of people who were against the protests. "I've received hate mail, even as of last year," he said. "It was in relation to the memorial. I got a letter addressed to 'Dear Commie.'

"Right, I'm a commie. I was just exercising my First Amendment right. I was never indicted, never arrested, never convicted, never tried," he said. "I mean, geez, I'm a real threat to society here."

And Kahler still believes the rights he fought for 20 years ago mean more than an individual life. Even now he would repeat his role in the events of May 4.

"Anytime you're actively involved in a political situation that is volatile like that, if your beliefs are strong enough that you want to make change, that's the risk you take," he said.