‘I was number 11 of the people that were bayoneted’

On May 8, 1970, 11 individuals at the University of New Mexico were injured by National Guard members armed with bayonets during a Vietnam War protest. One of these individuals was Daily Lobo photographer and reporter Stephen Part, who was stabbed with a bayonet in his back as he leaned over to help a fellow student.

Now a retired history and government teacher, Part said he was carrying his press badge and wearing a helmet labeled “press” when he was stabbed.

“I felt something like pressure — it wasn't immediate pain. I stood up and my belt slid up over the puncture … I put my hand back there and there was blood,” Part said.

The bayonettings took place amid nationwide demonstrations on college campuses, prompted both by the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War and the Ohio National Guard shooting and killing four student protesters at Kent State University.

At UNM, protests began after U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia on April 31, 1970, according to a UNM timeline. They further ramped up after the Kent State shootings, Part said.

“With all that was going on, it was basically all hands on deck. And if you weren't on campus that day, one of the editors or assistant editors would call you up and say, ‘We need you to bring your camera along,’” Part said.

By May 8, over 100 protesters had occupied the UNM Student Union Building for three days. Early that day, Part, with Kent State in mind and a hunch the University wanted the protesters gone before the weekend, said he waited in a parking lot across the street from the Albuquerque National Guard location. He told Daily Lobo editors he would find a payphone and call if he saw any indication guardsmen were headed toward UNM.

After a few hours with no developments, Part returned to campus. Because of concerns that potentially biased UNM students and alumni were members of the Albuquerque National Guard, Martin Vigil — the New Mexico State Police Chief — had called in guardsmen from elsewhere in the state, Part said.

On campus, Part photographed the guardsmen armed with their bayonets. Near the Student Health and Counseling building, Part encountered a colleague who had been stabbed in the arm. The last photo Part took before he was stabbed was of the sidewalk covered in blood.

Part bent over at the waist to help his colleague, and a guardsman stabbed Part in the back.

“I didn’t think I was going to get (stabbed). I had a press pass, which I was holding out from the elbow. I had a football helmet I borrowed from one of my friends – or a motorcycle helmet – and I taped on there ‘press,’” Part said.

Part’s belt acted as a tourniquet, mitigating the rapid blood loss seen in puncture wounds. Part, believing the wound could be treated with a bandaid, walked to a nearby table to receive medical treatment, he said. There, his orthopedist – who had traveled to campus after hearing about the National Guard involvement – said Part needed to get to a hospital.

Part took an ambulance to what is now known as UNM Hospital to have his wound stitched and bandaged, he said. There, doctors revealed the wound was about 4 inches deep.

Guardsmen also stabbed then-KOB-TV cameraman Bill Norlander, who had been filming the scene near the SUB, according to a May 11, 1970 Daily Lobo article.

“(Three guardsmen) closed in, stabbing (Norlander) with the bayonets and shoving him back. Eventually he had to turn and run, leaving a trail of blood that shows he jumped off the porch about 40 feet further on, landing in a rosebush,” the article reads.

The next day, Part walked from his house on Gold Avenue to the Daily Lobo office – then just south of Marron Hall – to develop his photos.

“It felt like it was our mission to get this recorded,” Part said.

The darkroom was located up two flights of stairs, and Part said he had to stop for breaks as he climbed. He developed the film, then showed the photos to fellow Daily Lobo staff who later printed them in the paper, according to Part.

“We did a great job, if I do say so ourselves,” Part said.

Lily Alexander is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander

Nate Bernard is a beat reporter with the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @natebernard14

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