500 rally at Capitol to honor U.S. troops Organizers back Bush, incursion into Iraq

Countering weeks of protests against the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, about 500 people gathered Saturday at the Capitol to show support for the war and President George W. Bush. "The people fighting for our freedom and the freedom of Iraq need to see we are behind them," said Gary LeMonde, a 42-year-old printer from Lansing. He clutched a folded American flag to his heart - the flag that flew aboard the Navy ship he served on during a rescue attempt of the 1980 Iran hostages. "Support is crucial for morale," LeMonde said. Friends and family of past and present military members joined hundreds of others in waving American flags and singing the national anthem. At several points, the crowd chanted "U-S-A" and "Bush! Bush!" The Lansing chapter of the Free Republic, a grassroots conservative group, organized the rally. The rally came one week after hundreds of anti-war demonstrators protested at the Capitol and in cities across Michigan. On Friday, East Lansing police arrested 14 of the nearly 100 protesters who shut down the city's main thoroughfare for more than an hour. Jasan Boles, 33, of Lansing said such protests send the wrong message. He served as an Army specialist in the first Gulf War. "People need to see support for our troops, not protests," Boles said. "Nobody realizes how much this support means to the troops fighting for us." No anti-war demonstrators went to the Capitol on Saturday, but about 40 protesters demonstrated at a Marine recruiting office in East Lansing. Bob Alexander, state facilitator of the Michigan Peace Network, said the Capitol rally sent the wrong message about protesters. "We're not anti-troops," Alexander said. "We pray they come back safely and come back soon. The clear problem is George Bush, not the troops." Shirley McGaughy of Durand supports Bush's decision. But most of all, she supports her son, an Army combat engineer. Before he left for Kuwait seven weeks ago, 19-year-old Keith Stewart told her: "Don't worry, mom. I'll be OK. I'm doing what I am trained to do." "It's so hard," she said at the rally, holding a photo of him. "I cry all the time. But he's doing what he needs to do for all of us." Amid thunderous chants and flag-waving, attendees bowed their heads for a moment of silence to honor the first U.S. and British casualties. Candy Little of Grand Ledge brought her children, 11-year-old Mike and 8-year-old Melanie. The kids have been watching the war on television and wanted to show their support, she said. At the rally, they held small American flags. Mike and Nancy Benson don't know anyone in the military but they drove from Grand Rapids for the event. They held a homemade banner that read: "Got freedom? Thank our troops." Alex Hart, 20, wanted to show that not all college students are against the war. "The opposition sickens me," said Hart, a sophomore finance major at Michigan State University. "There are American lives at stake and they still protest. It's wrong."

For a photo gallery, go to www.lsj.com

There is a photo gallery in the "Online Extras" portion of the page, near the middle.

I was at this rally. It was very encouraging seeing so many people who agree with us.

Indeed it was. I'm also encouraged to see this crowd estimate matches mine. :-) Perhaps I'm starting to get better at estimating crowd sizes as I attend more rallies.

And beyond the 500 were all the tourists and passersby who stopped to listen, applaud, thumbs up, etc. I only heard one negative comment the entire time I was there. Kristinn, Angelwood et al did a fantastic job!

I asked another post-doc if her boyfriend, a Chicago cop, had helped to bust some of those protesting A-holes the other night on their rampage down Michigan Avenue after having blocked traffic on Lake Shore Drive during the day. She laughed and referred to the fiancee of a Ph.D. back in town: "So and so was one of those A-holes." The guy said that he had told his fiancee that the post-doc's boyfriend would be on duty there. He said she asked the post-doc to tell her boyfriend not to hurt her. The post-doc said she gave her boyfriend her full permission to break any heads he needed to if they were threatening him.

The fiance of the protester told me that protesting is what made the U.S. great and that the U.S. had supported many brutal regimes and dictators around the world and cited Pol Pot as an example. Pol Pot! Ha ha ha.

Americans are realising that we outnumber the ant-patriotic idiots.

We had a rally in Chico Ca. and about 200 showed up, but the local paper gave us one photo and a short paragragh in thier paper.

I would like to post pics but do not know how. Any one have a tip on how I can post some pictures of the rally I was at?

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