BACKING THE WAR (GLOBE) For troops, a show of support By Darryl McGrath, Globe Correspondent, 3/30/2003 CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. - The mother of two Army soldiers deployed for the war in Iraq, Kathy Buckley took the stage with a certain amount of pride yesterday at a rally to support the troops that drew an estimated 10,000 people to this small town near Albany. She hasn't heard from her son Daniel, 20, since he sent an e-mail three weeks ago as the Army's 181st Transportation Battalion prepared to head into Iraq.
The last word from her son David, 23, with the 68th Engineering Co., came on March 18. But she's confident they are faring well, and joining two dozen other military mothers onstage yesterday to receive the crowd's applause couldn't help but boost her spirits. ''I'm doing good,'' said Buckley, 47, of Melrose, N.Y. ''God's been good. And to see a rally like this is really good - we need this support.'' Away from the hostilities, massive antiwar demonstrations in cities across the country and around the globe have dominated news coverage in recent weeks.
But other Americans have been turning out in growing numbers to show their support for US troops. While there were more antiwar actions in Boston, New York City, Washington, and other cities yesterday, there also were smaller prowar rallies slated in Harrisburg, Pa., and elsewhere. Hundreds of determined troops supporters drew notice with a rally in San Francisco, a city that has been home to perhaps the most active US antiwar movement.
The organizers of the rally in Clifton Park, a suburb of 33,000 that's 7 miles north of Albany, had expected a few hundred people to gather on the town green and hear veterans and politicians speak. Instead, with help from a local talk-radio host, thousands of people came from across the Albany region, creating a traffic jam of flag-bedecked cars and pickup trucks and filling every parking space within walking distance. Town officials estimated that 20,000 people attended; state police put the number at 10,000.
Still, the turnout surprised and delighted Clifton Park Town Supervisor Philip Barrett, an Army veteran who called for the rally. ''Look at all these people - this is unbelievable,'' Barrett said. ''We're just a little town. But we're a patriotic town, and we're proud of our troops.'' The military has a visible presence in upstate New York. The Watervliet Arsenal, the nation's only manufacturer of large-caliber cannons, has been operating in Watervliet, just north of Albany, since 1813. Fort Drum, home to the Army's 10th Mountain Division, is on the Canadian border, north of Syracuse.
Hundreds of military reservists and members of the National Guard from the Albany area have been mobilized, and hundreds have been called to boost security in New York City since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Until yesterday's rally, war protests had outnumbered support-the-troops efforts around Albany. In the most recent demonstrations, hundreds of high school students walked out of their classes in one-day protests against the war in the last two weeks, and war protesters closed a major highway outside of Albany on March 20 by lying down in the road. Albany talk-radio host Scott Allen Miller of WGY-AM has made the war a frequent topic on his show. Miller seized on the support-the-troops rally as a cause and heavily promoted it after organizers invited him to speak.
Miller, who is outspoken in his belief that the United States must oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, said the rally was needed to ''simply communicate the idea that there are people in the capital region who - regardless of their politics - support the men and women in uniform.'' WGY is owned by Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio station operator. A number of Clear Channel stations around the country have organized or paid for similar rallies. ''This is a very touchy area, so in my opinion, the smart hosts or the smart stations have focused the proactive, promotional thing of what radio does toward support of the troops, or support of the families of the troops,'' said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a national industry trade journal.
Such analysis didn't seem to matter to the crowd at yesterday's rally, where the emotions and the flag-waving were straightforward. People came because they knew someone serving in Iraq, have a friend or neighbor with a child serving, or because they simply wanted to show their support for the troops. ''It sounds pretty silly or simple, but I really need to support my troops,'' said Ernie Rau, 46, a Gulf War veteran who retired from the Army in 1999 as a sergeant first class. ''I've got friends, soldiers I trained, over there now. They're leaders now. I'm sure they're doing a wonderful job.'' This story ran on page B5 of the Boston Globe on 3/30/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
Easier to read: Formatted
BACKING THE WAR (GLOBE) For troops, a show of support By Darryl McGrath, Globe Correspondent, 3/30/2003 CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. - The mother of two Army soldiers deployed for the war in Iraq, Kathy Buckley took the stage with a certain amount of pride yesterday at a rally to support the troops that drew an estimated 10,000 people to this small town near Albany. She hasn't heard from her son Daniel, 20, since he sent an e-mail three weeks ago as the Army's 181st Transportation Battalion prepared to head into Iraq.
The last word from her son David, 23, with the 68th Engineering Co., came on March 18. But she's confident they are faring well, and joining two dozen other military mothers onstage yesterday to receive the crowd's applause couldn't help but boost her spirits. ''I'm doing good,'' said Buckley, 47, of Melrose, N.Y. ''God's been good. And to see a rally like this is really good - we need this support.'' Away from the hostilities, massive antiwar demonstrations in cities across the country and around the globe have dominated news coverage in recent weeks.
But other Americans have been turning out in growing numbers to show their support for US troops. While there were more antiwar actions in Boston, New York City, Washington, and other cities yesterday, there also were smaller prowar rallies slated in Harrisburg, Pa., and elsewhere. Hundreds of determined troops supporters drew notice with a rally in San Francisco, a city that has been home to perhaps the most active US antiwar movement.
The organizers of the rally in Clifton Park, a suburb of 33,000 that's 7 miles north of Albany, had expected a few hundred people to gather on the town green and hear veterans and politicians speak. Instead, with help from a local talk-radio host, thousands of people came from across the Albany region, creating a traffic jam of flag-bedecked cars and pickup trucks and filling every parking space within walking distance. Town officials estimated that 20,000 people attended; state police put the number at 10,000.
Still, the turnout surprised and delighted Clifton Park Town Supervisor Philip Barrett, an Army veteran who called for the rally. ''Look at all these people - this is unbelievable,'' Barrett said. ''We're just a little town. But we're a patriotic town, and we're proud of our troops.'' The military has a visible presence in upstate New York. The Watervliet Arsenal, the nation's only manufacturer of large-caliber cannons, has been operating in Watervliet, just north of Albany, since 1813. Fort Drum, home to the Army's 10th Mountain Division, is on the Canadian border, north of Syracuse.
Hundreds of military reservists and members of the National Guard from the Albany area have been mobilized, and hundreds have been called to boost security in New York City since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Until yesterday's rally, war protests had outnumbered support-the-troops efforts around Albany. In the most recent demonstrations, hundreds of high school students walked out of their classes in one-day protests against the war in the last two weeks, and war protesters closed a major highway outside of Albany on March 20 by lying down in the road. Albany talk-radio host Scott Allen Miller of WGY-AM has made the war a frequent topic on his show. Miller seized on the support-the-troops rally as a cause and heavily promoted it after organizers invited him to speak.
Miller, who is outspoken in his belief that the United States must oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, said the rally was needed to ''simply communicate the idea that there are people in the capital region who - regardless of their politics - support the men and women in uniform.'' WGY is owned by Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio station operator. A number of Clear Channel stations around the country have organized or paid for similar rallies. ''This is a very touchy area, so in my opinion, the smart hosts or the smart stations have focused the proactive, promotional thing of what radio does toward support of the troops, or support of the families of the troops,'' said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a national industry trade journal.
Such analysis didn't seem to matter to the crowd at yesterday's rally, where the emotions and the flag-waving were straightforward. People came because they knew someone serving in Iraq, have a friend or neighbor with a child serving, or because they simply wanted to show their support for the troops. ''It sounds pretty silly or simple, but I really need to support my troops,'' said Ernie Rau, 46, a Gulf War veteran who retired from the Army in 1999 as a sergeant first class. ''I've got friends, soldiers I trained, over there now. They're leaders now. I'm sure they're doing a wonderful job.'' This story ran on page B5 of the Boston Globe on 3/30/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
rhunter@vets4constrestore.org