Saturday, May 10, 2025

For What It's Worth

 

“For What It’s Worth”

Fortnightly March 8, 2023

Johnny Hilton

 

     Springtime on the USC campus in Columbia, SC is a beautiful thing, almost idyllic, flowers blooming by the reflection pool, lovers walking hand in hand, small groups sitting on the ground in the Horseshoe, dreams of what the summer might bring.  In the spring of 1970, I was finishing my third year at the University of South Carolina.  This spring seemed a little different than the previous two, however.  There was a different ambiance in the air.  Hair lengths in the Frat house were getting a little longer.   Sgt. Peppers was playing on the second floor even though Jerry Butler was still going strong on the juke box in the lounge. Things seemed to be changing.   Could it be that Robert Zimmerman’s anthem of 1963 was finally coming to pass on fraternity row in the sleepy south?

     We had just come out of one of the most dynamic decades ever, “The Sixties,” a time of significant cultural and social change.  The Civil Rights Movement was bringing about changes in our laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 dealing with racial equality.  The Civil Rights Movement changed the way individuals of different ethnicities interacted with each other.  In addition, the “Hippie-Counter Culture” came into full bloom during the decade.  In 1967, the “Summer of Love” brought 100,000 “Flower Children” to the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.  In August of 1969, a music festival was held on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm forty miles southwest of Woodstock, NY.  It was billed as “an Aquarian Exposition: 3 days of Peace and Music” and attracted more than 400,000.  Woodstock, as it came to be known, is regarded today as a “pivotal moment in popular music history and as a defining event for the counterculture generation.”  The counterculture has been defined as an “anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed in the 1960’s.”  The movement grew as the civil rights movements grew and with the “intensification of the Vietnam War.”  Oh yes, let us not forget about the war in Vietnam as it certainly was a major catalyst in the changes that took place in the sixties and in the events of the Spring of 1970 in Columbia, about which you shall hear more shortly.

     Following their defeat in 1954 the French withdrew from Indochina.  After the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam, the U.S began its financial and military support of South Vietnam.  Under President John Kennedy U.S. involvement grew from less than a thousand “advisors” in 1959 to 23,000 troops by early 1964.  The Gulf of Tonkin resolution in August of 1964 allowed President Johnson to drastically increase the number of troops to 184,000.  As the war continued, the number of US troops engaged continued to grow to 500,000 in 1968.  Despite General William Westmoreland’s predictions of victory and that “the end is coming into view,” that proved not to be the case. 

     The TET offensive by the North Vietnamese in January of 1968, in which 85,000 North Vietnamese troops conducted offensive attacks in over 100 cities in the south, brought about a turn in public opinion and support of the war by many Americans.  Richard Nixon was inaugurated in January of 1969 and soon implemented a policy known as “Vietnamization” in which he promised to transfer responsibility for a conclusion of the war to the South Vietnamese troops and to begin U.S. troop withdrawals.  In November of 1969, when the news broke of the “My Lai Massacre” in which American troops reportedly killed hundreds of South Vietnamese villagers, opposition to the war increased significantly particularly among young people across America.    The student protests, sit-ins and demonstrations that had been happening at Ivy League and West Coast colleges saw an increase at this time. The University of South Carolina and most other southern universities had remained quiet thus far but that was about to change.  On December 1, 1969, the draft lottery, the first since WWII, was initiated which eliminated many deferments for military service for students and teachers.  On April 29, 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops crossed the eastern border of Cambodia in order to confront North Vietnamese troops that were using eastern Cambodia as a staging area for attacks across the border into South Vietnam. 

     Let us digress for a moment and revisit this notion that the Sixties were a time of “significant cultural and social change.”  As we know not everyone likes change or new ideas and there was often much opposition to some of the changes that are associated with the decade of the sixties.  Not everyone in America felt that the civil rights movement was a step in the right direction.  Civil rights marchers and peaceful protestors were often met with opposition in many different forms which might be verbal or could be fire-hoses and police dogs.  Not everyone in America felt that Flower Children and Hippies touting peace, love and freedom were sharing a message consistent with the “American Way”.  Moreover, some felt that the Counterculture was a “Pinko conspiracy” and a threat to the very foundations of capitalism.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly, the differing, opposing, and changing positions on the wisdom of our involvement in Vietnam are well documented and well known. 

    So let us now return to the spring of 1970.   As previously noted, on April 29, 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops crossed the border and entered Cambodia.  Many in the US felt this was contrary to Nixon’s promise to bring an end to American involvement and was in fact an escalation of the war.  College students on many campuses reacted immediately, erupting with protests to show their opposition in what Time Magazine called “a nation-wide student strike”.

     One such campus was Kent State University in Kent, Ohio whose students had already been actively protesting the war for several years.  When the announcement was made by the Nixon administration regarding the “Cambodian Incursion” a new wave of protests began.  On Friday, May 1, a peaceful demonstration of about 500 Kent State students was held on a grassy knoll in the center of campus known as the commons.  As the students left the demonstration area there was visible and widespread anger regarding the recent war developments.  It was announced that another rally would be held on Monday, May 4.  

     That weekend was marred with several skirmishes between young people, the police and National Guard.  Friday night some windows were broken downtown.  The mayor declared a state of emergency and closed all the bars which further increased tensions.  Tear gas was used to disperse the crowd.  Things became increasingly tense on Saturday as there were rumors that the ROTC building was in danger of being vandalized.  The Governor called out the National Guard which didn’t arrive until 10pm by which time the ROTC building was on fire.  Tear gas was used to disperse the crowd.  On Sunday evening there was a rally on campus which then moved downtown.  The Guard used tear gas and bayonets to break up the crowd.  Several students received minor injuries from being bayoneted.

      On Monday, May 4, as previously announced, a peace rally was held on campus with approximately 2,000 students gathering on the commons.  Around noon the National Guard ordered the crowd to disperse using a bullhorn but the crowd did not respond.  Tear gas canisters were then fired at the crowd but their trajectory was short only resulting in the demonstrators moving back slightly.  The Guard then advanced toward the crowd. Some students threw rocks at the guard.  The crowd of students dispersed somewhat with several groups moving away in different directions from the advancing guard.   Tear gas was fired in different directions at the different groups of students.  Some members of Troop G were ordered to kneel and aim their weapons toward a group of students gathered in a nearby parking lot but none of the guardsmen fired at that time while aiming at the students.   An officer did fire a handgun into the air.  The Guard began moving back in the direction from which they had originally come.  Protestors began following the Guard as they retraced their steps.

     At 12:24pm a sergeant turned and fired his 45 caliber pistol at the crowd of students.  Several Guardsmen also turned and began firing at the students.  At least 29 of the 77 Guardsmen fired 67 rounds which lasted about 13 seconds.  When the firing started, many students ran and some dropped to the ground.  Many students at first believed they were firing blanks.  Four students were killed and nine others were wounded.  Those killed were standing between 265 and 390 feet away from the guardsmen.  Those wounded ranged from 71 to 750 feet away.  This was the first time a student was killed in any anti-war gathering in the United States.

    The shootings caused huge anger and uproar at college campuses nationwide.  More than 4 million students participated in demonstrations, walk-outs and strikes at hundreds of campuses across the country causing hundreds of campuses to be shut down.  Public opinion across America regarding the war in Vietnam was significantly affected as a result of the shootings and the student strikes.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch…..

      On Tuesday, May 5, the USC Annual Awards Day was being held on the Horseshoe to honor alumni, faculty and student excellence and to mark the transition from one student body president to his successor.  A group of about 300 students carrying four crosses with the names of those killed at Kent State marched from the Russell House student center to the Horseshoe, walking around the Horseshoe and then being seated behind the speaker’s platform.  Both the outgoing and incoming student body presidents acknowledged the presence of the demonstrators in a positive way.  Among the demonstrators were members of a group known as “The Student Emergency Coalition for Academic Freedom.”(more about this group later).  There were no incidents as the demonstrators sat quietly during the awards ceremony.

    The USC Student Senate voted on Wednesday, May 6, to hold a voluntary student strike and boycott of classes to be held on Thursday and Friday.  The reasons given for the strike were the Kent State killings, Solicitor John Foard’s threats against USC faculty perceived by some as infringement upon academic freedom (more about this later as well) and non-students being banned from entering the Russell House.  The Student Emergency Coalition announced on Wednesday that a rally would be held on Thursday on the Horseshoe at noon and that a sit-in would be held at the Russell House later that day.

      Those of us walking from the Kappa Sig house to class on Thursday morning discovered that student attendance in class was down that day.   When we returned back to the house there was some discussion among those present in the lounge about the call for the boycott of classes and the rally to be held on the Horseshoe that day.   Thus far, those of us in the fraternity had not participated in any anti-war protests although there was significant concern about the war in Vietnam.   Since the shootings on Monday, there was a lot of talk and dismay in the frat house about the students killed at Kent State.  There was also talk that maybe some of us might drop by the announced protest events and see what was going on later that day.

    At midday on Thursday a crowd estimated to be between 1,000 to1,500 gathered on the Horseshoe in support of the student strike.  It was suggested by some in the crowd that the flag be lowered to half staff in memory of the students killed at Kent State.  There was some disagreement from some members of the student government, but a vote was taken among all those in attendance which was overwhelmingly in favor of lowering the flag, so it was lowered.  At the conclusion of the rally, most of the students left the Horseshoe and gathered at the Russell House. 

    We heard there was going to be a sit-in at the Russell House, so two of us walked over from the fraternity house to see what was going on.  There was a huge crowd of students gathered all around the Russell House.  Initially, we stood out on the lawn and later climbed up and stood on the narrow wall of the ramp leading into the front entrance of the Russell House.  Many students were walking up the ramp and going inside. 

     By mid-afternoon an estimated 500 students had entered the Russell House.  Shortly thereafter, University officials announced that the Russell House was closing and that everyone should exit the building.  The general response from the crowd inside was they were not leaving.  It was then announced that those refusing to leave the building would be subject to disciplinary action or possible arrest.  In a few minutes, those inside were told that the SC Highway Patrol had been called and were on the way.  By this time the crowd outside the Russell House had grown to nearly 2,000. 

     When told they would be arrested most of the students inside the building began to leave.  The Highway patrol and J. Pete Strom, Chief of S.L.E.D., arrived around 5:00 slowly pulling the police cars through the crowd blocking Green Street.  There were mixed feelings being expressed by the huge crowd of students in Green Street and those on the ramp leading into the Russell house.  Some students were cheering the arrival of the police while others tried to block the police from going up the ramp and entering the building. 

   My fraternity brother and I were still standing on the wall of the ramp when the police started moving up the ramp to enter the building.  Just as they were about to reach us we jumped down off the wall to the ground.  There was a guy standing beside us on the wall who didn’t jump.  As we reached the ground, and started to move away, we turned around to see the guy that had been standing next to us being hit in the head by a highway patrolman wielding a night stick.  He fell to the ground with his head bleeding.  Some students standing next to where he fell offered assistance.  We decided to move a little farther back.

   By the time the police started entering the building the number inside the Russell House was down to about 75.  Once the police were inside there were 36 students left sitting in a circle on the floor of the main lobby holding hands.  The students were told by Chief Strom they would be arrested if they did not exit the building.  The students responded that they wanted to be arrested.  One of those arrested later shared her feelings that “being arrested was our only option to maintain our rights.”  Since there was such a huge crowd still in front of the Russell House those arrested were taken out the kitchen entrance and placed on a Department of Corrections bus. 

     When students in front of the building learned the arrested students were being taken out the back, hundreds rushed to the rear of the building with about 150 sitting down in the street in front of the bus.  The students sitting in front of the bus were asked several times to move but would not. A little before 6:00 a call was made requesting backup from the National Guard.  A few minutes later three National Guard buses pulled up on Bull Street not far from the parking lot where the Corrections bus was parked.  Finally at about 6:30, with highway patrolmen walking in front of the bus moving students out of the way, the bus began heading slowly down Bull Street and eventually to the S.C. Detentions and Evaluation Center.  Those refusing to leave the Russell House were charged with trespassing and interference with the normal operation of a university building.

     On Friday, May 8, there was a rally at the Horseshoe of 400 students who then marched down to the Statehouse steps to protest the arrest of the students the day before and to support their reinstatement to the University and that their trespass charges be dropped.  The doors of the Statehouse were locked and about 50 highway patrolmen in riot gear came to the Statehouse shortly after the students arrived.  Students stayed on the steps about an hour and then returned to campus.  The University Board of Trustees announced on Friday that hearings would begin on Monday for those arrested on Thursday at the Russell House.  Things were quiet on the campus over the weekend.

     Let us again digress here for a moment and get a little background on some issues that contributed to the unrest of some students at USC in addition to the War in Vietnam and the Kent State shootings.  As suggested earlier, things on the USC campus were quiet compared to many other universities around the country but there were issues that were of concern to some students.

    One of these issues was the court-ordered closing of the UFO, a coffeehouse located on Main Street in Columbia frequented by hippies, antiwar-activists, and service men from Fort Jackson.  On January 15, 1970, the UFO was ordered closed.  The Solicitors office indicated the “corruption of juveniles as one of the major points” of the indictment.   There were several rallies held previously in Columbia protesting the closing of the coffeehouse, the largest of which attracted 500 attendees.  Then on April 28, three of the “officers” of the UFO were sentenced to 6 years in jail for operating a public nuisance. 

   After the trial Solicitor John Foard went on a campaign against the college professors who testified in defense of the UFO saying based on their testimony, "there are professors who don't belong at the University.” This prompted many students to become concerned with the protection of academic freedom at USC. 

    A third issue that was of concern to many was only allowing USC students to enter the Russell House in an effort to keep “anti-establishment activists” out.  Plain clothes policemen were placed in the Russell House and were arresting non-students often in what was perceived by some as being in a “heavy-handed way.”  The Student Emergency Coalition for Academic Freedom, the organization that called for the sit-in at the Russell House, was organized in response to these concerns.

 

  Let us now return to our time line…...    

     On Monday, May 11, there was a rally of three hundred or so students during the mid-afternoon on the Horseshoe.  The purpose of the rally was to show support for dropping the charges and reinstating the students arrested for trespass at the Russell House sit-in.  The students then marched over to the Administration Building where a meeting of the Board of Trustees was taking place upstairs.  Upon arriving at the Administration Building a small group of students tried to enter the building.  Student marshalls and campus police would not let them inside.  However, the protestors were persistent and around 4:00 the student marshalls and campus police stepped aside and the protestors went into the lobby area.  Unfortunately, there were a handful of students that began throwing papers on the floor and ransacking offices.  By this time a huge crowd of students, mostly curious onlookers, had assembled outside the building as word had spread quickly across campus that students were “taking over” the Administration Building.  We heard about it at the Kappa Sig house so a couple of us walked over to see what was going on. 

    Around 4:15 Highway Patrolmen and SLED agents assembled in the parking lot behind the building.   A small group of students started throwing rocks at the Highway Patrolmen ultimately making the situation significantly worse.  The Highway Patrolmen and SLED agents entered the building from the rear door and went upstairs where the Board of Trustees were still meeting discussing action to be taken regarding those arrested at the sit-in on Thursday.

    The crowd of students around the administration building and Horseshoe continued to grow to an estimated 3,000 by 6:00.  Soon word spread among the crowd that the National Guard was on the way.  When the Guard arrived they formed a line across the Horseshoe on the Sumter Street end along with a contingent of Highway Patrolmen.   They began moving toward the Administration Building with bayonets fixed on the rifles of the guardsmen as they marched forward. After advancing a hundred yards or so their pace quickened and they charged forward.  Students on the Horseshoe all ran away from the charging guardsmen, resulting in a very large group clustered on the east end of the Horseshoe in front of McKissick Library.  The Guard halted their advance and then began using tear gas to disperse the crowd.  The crowd split into several different groups running in different directions.

     This scenario of groups of students forming and then being broken up with tear gas continued all evening and into the early morning hours of Tuesday.  The Guard began chasing groups of students and as the students ran into their dorms, tear gas from back packs was shot into the doorways of the dorms.  Students began throwing bottles out of their dorm windows and from the roof down on the guard.  The Guard responded by shooting tear gas canisters up on the roof getting tear gas into the air conditioning system of the dorms.  This caused many students to leave their dorms, thus increasing the number of students outside running around the campus. Many students who had to leave their rooms were angry at being gassed and joined in with the demonstrators throwing rocks and bottles at the Guardsmen.  A student complained “I’d like nothing better than to go to my room, but the gas has gotten into the ventilation system.  Every time I go back there, I can’t stand it.” 

     Over 100 students were treated Monday night at a temporary aid station set up at the Lutheran Center on Pendleton Street for tear gas inhalation and other injuries.  Around 20 were treated at the USC infirmary with a smaller number treated at local hospitals. My fraternity brother and I witnessed a student hit in the head by a tear gas canister causing considerable bleeding.  The tear gas canisters were being fired by grenade launchers.  In this case, the Guardsmen were not in sight of where we were standing.  The canister came over the roof of a building having been fired from the opposite side.   A total of 600 National Guard troops were deployed to the campus Monday night.   A “State of Emergency” was declared by the Governor Monday night and an 11pm curfew was imposed which was pretty much ignored. 

     It was announced that classes would be held on Tuesday and that any students in groups of more than 3 would be arrested.    All other activities and meetings on campus were cancelled.  Classes were held on Tuesday and things were quiet.  There was lots of tear gas lying all around and when a National Guard jeep would drive by it would stir it up.  It was a bizarre, eerie, and troubling sight to see a National Guard jeep with a soldier manning a mounted machine gun in the back of the jeep driving up and down Sumter Street passing by the fraternity house.  There were 75 Guardsmen on campus during the day on Tuesday.

     A 9pm-6am curfew was imposed for Tuesday night.  There was a rally Tuesday afternoon at Valley Park of about 500 students who marched down to the State House around 6:30pm.  The crowd sat on the Statehouse steps while five students met inside with Governor McNair, requesting amnesty for those arrested at the Russell House on Thursday.  As the rally was ending, those sitting on the steps were encouraged by several student speakers to go peacefully back to campus and comply with the curfew.

     However, there was more trouble Tuesday night as many students did not comply with the curfew.  Many, many students were very angry about the presence of the National Guard on campus and angry about the use of tear gas, which affected thousands of students who were not at all associated with the protests, rallies, or sit-ins.  This anger brought on a backlash resulting in many students becoming more involved in the protest movement.  Unfortunately, the backlash also resulted in lots of rocks and bottles being thrown at law enforcement and the Guardsmen.

      Thinking back on it now, there were probably a significant percentage of Guardsmen who were called to the campus who did not relish that assignment.  Many probably didn’t like shooting tear gas at students.  There were probably a number in the Guard who were opposed to the war and had actually joined the Guard to avoid going to Vietnam.  But in that moment it was hard for many students to think beyond the immediate discomfort, pain, anger and even fear they were feeling about the National Guard being on campus.  It almost felt like we were being attacked by foreign invaders.

     Around 9:00pm, when the curfew went into effect, there was still a group of 300 or more students gathered outside the “Honeycomb dorms” near the corner of Main and Blossom Street.  Guardsmen numbering around 200 were called to the scene and immediately began discharging more tear gas. Students on the street and students inside the dorms were throwing rocks and bottles at the Guardsmen.  A few Guardsmen were picking up rocks and throwing them back at students.   Bright National Guard searchlights were being flashed up and down the outside walls of the Honeycombs.  Highway Patrolmen entered the Honeycombs to chase down and arrest students, although this was later denied by officials of the Highway Patrol.  Arrests were made all over the campus that night.  At least 104 students and some innocent bystanders on the periphery of the campus were arrested.  Male students who were arrested that night had their heads shaved for “sanitary” reasons.   There was more tear gas used that night so the layer on the ground Wednesday morning was thicker than ever.  More tear gas canisters were shot on the roofs of the Honeycomb dorms as well. 

   Classes were held on Wednesday and things were calm during the day for the most part.   A small contingent of Guardsmen were on campus Wednesday.  All activities on campus were cancelled that day except for classes.   There was talk that Jane Fonda was coming to town to speak at a rally.  Wednesday evening there was a rally at Maxcy Gregg Park at which university faculty members urged students to refrain from violent activity.  Flyers were passed out at the rally saying there would be another rally on Thursday evening at 7:00 at Maxcy Gregg at which Jane Fonda would be speaking.  The 9:00 curfew was still in effect.  Students left the rally in time to get back to their dorms before 9:00.  Faculty members conducted forums for discussion of student grievances that night in numerous dorms. Wednesday night was much calmer than the previous two nights.

      Classes met on Thursday without incident.  There was a lot of buzz all day regarding Jane Fonda’s visit to USC.  Fonda was invited to Columbia by an organization known as “GI’s United Against the War in Vietnam.”  She was engaged in a “tour” of sorts, traveling around the country to express her opposition to the war in Vietnam, attending rallies in cities and towns where military bases were located.  Fonda spoke at the rally in Maxcy Gregg Park on Thursday evening to a crowd of an estimated 4,000 people which included several of us from the Kappa Sig house.  Her message was “in order to bring about social change become political and avoid violence.”  The rally ended peacefully and there were no confrontations on campus that night. 

    On Friday, May 15, Governor McNair announced that he was relaxing the curfew so that it would only be in effect from 12:00 midnight to 6:00am.  Classes met on Friday without incident.  Many students left town for the weekend and I’m sure I was one of them.  On Saturday the curfew was lifted.  National Guardsmen were no longer on Campus. 

   So in retrospect….. The usually idyllic spring, in 1970 anyway, turned into a traumatic mess.   The tranquility was interrupted by lots of tear gas; students arrested for trespass, inciting to riot, conspiracy to destroy records, and curfew violations; lots of rocks and bottles thrown; name calling, yelling and cursing; ransacking of the administration building; and heads cracked with night sticks. 

    What caused all this?  The war in Vietnam, the Hippies of the Counter Culture, the death of students at Kent State, the UFO trial and solicitor Foard’s campaign against college professors and possible threats against academic freedom, plain clothes policemen in the Russell House?   University President Tom Jones said the UFO and the academic freedom issue were significant contributing factors.  It seems it was a perfect storm that brought all these things together.  But even as bad as it was, USC didn’t close like hundreds of other universities did, and no one was seriously injured. Thanks to faculty members who intervened, Governor McNair who listened to students from both sides of the controversy (McNair was a Kappa Sig by the way), and just maybe Jane Fonda who called for political solutions not violence. 

     So how did these events affect us in the frat house?  We were in the middle of a situation unlike any we had ever experienced before.  As a result we discussed issues we really hadn’t talked much about before.  There were varying points of view, of course, about many of the factors that were contributing to the unusual circumstances we were facing.  There weren’t any hippies in the fraternity; we hadn’t participated in any anti-war rallies, although as mentioned earlier, none of us were eager to head to Vietnam.  There were mixed feelings regarding the sit-in at the Russell House, some felt the response by law enforcement was extreme, others not so much.  Things took a turn, however, when the National Guard and the tear gas and the curfew came into our world.  Many of us were not happy with the tear gas and not happy about Guardsmen with rifles and bayonets and jeeps with machine guns mounted on the back. 

     The curfew meant that we were trapped all together in the house.  We started talking to each other about dissent, civil disobedience, and the civil rights movement.  We started talking about a legal system that sometimes didn’t treat everyone the same because of differing backgrounds, differing points of view or because they looked or dressed differently.

      Somehow we began feeling that we were being oppressed by the powers that be and it didn’t feel right.  These were topics and feelings that weren’t usually talked about in the fraternity house if you know what I mean.  And we kept talking about all this for the remaining days in that spring semester.  It was a time of growth in our awareness, understanding, and empathy of what it is like to be treated differently or treated unfairly.  Without sounding too dramatic, the last few weeks of that “idyllic” spring was a life changing experience for many of us. And…..Life is good! 

 

“For What It’s Worth”

  Written by Stephen Stills 

There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and they carrying signs
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side"

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man comes and take you away

You better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

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