Posted on 03/04/2004 6:50:59 AM PST by chance33_98
Students Rally to Show Support for U.S. Troops Home and Abroad
A group of about 30 UC Berkeley students donning yellow ribbons and waving U.S. flags took time from their lunch breaks to rally for U.S. troops at home and abroad yesterday on Sproul Plaza. The noon rally was put on by the California Patriot, a conservative campus publication, in an effort to show continuous support for U.S. troops, according to Andrea Irvin, publisher of the magazine and president of the Berkeley College Republicans.
Students signed a poster with words of encouragement for soldiers, writing, “Thank you for upholding our nation’s dearest values,” and “Thanks for your hard work, it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
The color yellow was used for ribbons and posters to correspond with the national color that symbolizes support for U.S. troops.
The rally featured speakers who emphasized that support for troops should not be tied to political beliefs.
Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, shared his firsthand experience in Iraq.
“I saw people die,” he said. “They were proud to have gotten to serve their country, and that’s the most important thing.”
He also spoke of the legacy of Sept. 11, 2001.
“It’s going to take time to eradicate the evil throughout the world, but let there be no doubt that we’re better off today than we were a year ago,” Rutter said.
The crowd punctuated his words with cheers and applause, and waved U.S. flags.
A small group of protesters also waved U.S. flags, but instead chanted, “Support the troops? Bring them home.”
They held signs with quotations from disenchanted soldiers. One read, “I feel like a pawn in Bush’s game of global imperialism.”
Derek Wright, one of the protesters and a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said the rally was “total hypocrisy.” He disagreed with what he called the speakers’ pro-war stances.
“If they really supported the troops, they’d bring them home, not leave them where they are getting killed on a daily basis,” he said.
Despite the opposition, organizers said they felt the rally was a success.
“Different people have different views of what it means to support troops,” Irvin said. “They want to bring them home, we want to show our support of them there. We don’t agree with their viewpoint but they have every right to show it here.”
You're right, I fear.
I'm impressed and encouraged by the devotion of these young folks...especially because they're at Berkeley! :o)
I'd be a lot happier if this SOB would get off the government teat and get a job in the dreaded private sector.
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