Ordinary Citizens Are Chipping In to Help Pay for War

WASHINGTON —  Business owners, veterans and other ordinary people around the country are sending unsolicited checks to the government.

They are helping to help pay for the war in the Persian Gulf. So far, they’ve chipped in more than $31,000 to help finance the war--enough to pay for maybe 17.3 seconds of fighting in the Persian Gulf. The Bush Administration estimates the war is costing between $150 million and $1.65 billion a day.

“I’ve got a brother over there . . . I don’t think it’s too much for me to do,” Patrick Carroll, the owner of a steel fabricating business in National City, Calif., said Friday. Carroll contributed $500 to the war effort, saying he just wanted to do his part.

Without being asked, individuals, small companies and groups around the United States have chipped in, the Pentagon said. Sixteen companies contributed a total of $28,555 to the war effort while 22 organizations, mostly American Legion posts in various locations, gave a total of $2,645.