Rally to support troops fizzles

Coral Wilson

About 200,000 people protested the war this weekend in London, half a

million in Barcelona, 90,000 in Paris and more than 100,000 marched

down Broadway in New York. Small groups of 150 gathered in Laguna

Beach and Costa Mesa.

To counter the antiwar protests around the world, six people

showed up to support the troops at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard

and Campus Drive in Newport Beach on Sunday. Half of the group was

younger than 6.

Jill Lindsay of Newport Beach, along with three grandchildren, and

Bernie Redding of Costa Mesa came with her son to support their

president and the troops.

Five-year-old Clare Rooney was under a different impression.

“We came to a party,” she said. “We’re going to be in a parade.”

The two women were surprised to discover that they were the only

ones to show up at the corner. They had expected a large turnout of

people and a candlelight procession led by Dorothy Bunn, the wife of

a Marine who had gone off to fight. Bunn had called it a Stand Up for

Freedom March. Lindsay and Redding had read about it in the Daily

Pilot.

“I actually expected it to be much larger,” Lindsay said.

“Something must have happened.”

Bunn could not be reached for comment by press time.

Redding came because she was tired of seeing all of the antiwar

media coverage.

“I told my friends. Everyone had something else at this time --

soccer games, church,” she said.

While 1-year old Luke Rooney practiced saying the word “flag,” his

older brother, Jake, 3, told the whole story.

“Um, we are waving, um, flags and we thought it was the wrong day

and my grandma told us we have to wait a little while. So we just

waited,” Jake said.

The children’s mother, Lindsay’s daughter, was away, helping to

transport troops for Delta Airlines. The children think she’s just

working a regular flight. Lindsay has been trying to shield them from

the television and the news.

Lindsay, an American Airlines flight attendant, said she had been

fairly complacent about the problems in the Middle East until she

lost some of her colleagues on Sept. 11. The reality of the war

didn’t register until she was affected personally, she said.

Holding a homemade sign that read, “USA all the way,” Redding’s

only direct tie to war is her older brother, who had fought in Desert

Storm. He has been suffering from a rash and fatigue ever since,

symptoms that he calls the “Desert Storm Syndrome.”

“I don’t believe in war,” she said.

But Redding believes in supporting the troops.

“There are going to be casualties. That is part of what war is,”

she said.

Her son, 12-year-old Ryan Redding, said he gets his information

about the war from television and his parents.

“[Saddam Hussein] is a threat to America,” he said.

Passing cars honked in support and the mother-son team held their

signs up higher, smiling and cheering in response.

“What time are we going to go home?” Clare was asking her

grandmother by 1 p.m. “How many minutes have we been here?”

“About 60 minutes,” Lindsay answered.

As the majority of the group packed up to leave, Clare concluded,

“So we missed the party?”