Posted on 02/28/2003 3:37:02 PM PST by dep
Troop support is rallying cry
Hundreds brave cold at event.
Fifty feet from the courthouse memorials dedicated to servicemen and servicewomen killed in the Persian Gulf War and four others, Mabel Rogers stood. Wary of war but proud of a son-in-law who is perhaps on the verge of fighting one, she said that today's peace demonstrators insult the very people willing to die for them.
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| Michael McNamara photos |
| Above, Richard Facemyer of Ashland recites the Pledge of Allegiance last night at the Boone County Courthouse Square during a rally to support U.S. troops. Despite the cold, a few hundred people turned out for the event. Below, Debbie Maxfield, right, Mabel Rogers, obscured by sign, and Lewis Rogers stand in the front row at the rally. Participants were encouraged to bring signs to show their support for U.S. troops in the Middle East. |
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"It irritates me because I don't think they realize actually what our" military "men and women are doing for us," the Columbia woman said. "I question in my mind if" anti-war protesters are "big enough to defend our country."
Her husband, another participant in a rally last night for members of the U.S. military, agreed. "I say we need to be praying for our troops and our government and what it's doing instead of complaining about it," Lewis Rogers said.
The Rogerses and hundreds of others withstood freezing temperatures at Boone County Courthouse Square to show their appreciation at a rally organized by Zimmer Radio Group. A pastor, a Green Beret and others spoke at the event.
Rick Nolte was there, too, holding a Sept. 12, 2001, copy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pictured was a panorama of the New York skyline, the Statue of Liberty standing tall in the smoke and dust rising from the collapsed World Trade Center towers.
"I truly believe that when I hear some of the politicians talk that they forgot what happened on this day," Nolte said. He believes a war in Iraq should be the next battle in the United States' fight against terrorism. "It has to be done," Nolte said.
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released yesterday found that 59 percent of 1,004 adult Americans interviewed this week backed war with Iraq.
Count James O'Donnell among those who have never second-guessed their position on a possible war in Iraq. He stood at the courthouse square last night with his wife and a handful of others holding "Peace is Patriotic" signs.
"We're here to support America, which we don't think is the same thing as supporting what America does or proposes to do," O'Donnell said.
Army recruiter Clint Jeffries, a Green Beret, told the crowd he disagrees with peace demonstrators. People in the military, however, are willing to die to protect the rights of Americans to freely practice religion, to choose the jobs they want to work, even "to belittle this country and our troops," he said.
"In Iraq, protesters are not covered by the media. They're covered by dirt," Jeffries said. "The people of Iraq want to be just like us - free."
Saying he attended last night's rally not as a demonstrator for or against war, state Rep. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, told the crowd that U.S. troops deserve nothing less than the support of all Americans.
"I believe that's what all of us should do, regardless of our position," Graham said. "These are volunteers, and they volunteer their lives ? their futures."
One of those volunteers is the Rogers' son-in-law. Last night, the soldier's wife stood on the square wondering what the war might hold for her husband's future. "I'm scared to death," she said.
Senator Bond (R)
Senator Talent (R)
The State senate in GOP control
The State House in GOP control
we got you and your traitor allies in our sights - and I would get upset except for the fact that I know your a loser and you know that your a loser - its common knowledge!
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