When Patrick McLaughlin enrolled at Ohio University in 1969, he had already completed one year of combat duty in Vietnam and two years of active duty in the U.S. Army.

McLaughlin was on campus in the spring of 1970 -- a time when Ohio University students were protesting the Vietnam War and the presence of ROTC programs on campus. After Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four Kent State University students during a war protest on May 4, 1970, the violence increased at Ohio University and eventually led to the closing of the university and the cancellation of the spring commencement ceremony.

McLaughlin persevered, earning a bachelor's degree in general studies, and later, a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1976. He would later become the U.S. attorney general of the Northern District of Ohio.

McLaughlin, who is a founding partner of a law firm in Cleveland, returned to campus this summer to participate in the Cantigny First Division Oral History Project. While here, he shared his memories of life on campus in 1970s.