Not enough support
Deepa Bharath
Local war veterans say American soldiers braving enemy fire and
sandstorms in the Persian Gulf are probably not getting enough of
what they need most from their fellow citizens -- support.
Negative comments adversely affect troops and deflate morale, said
Alvin “Bud” Anderson, who was a fighter pilot in World War II and is
an active volunteer at the Costa Mesa Historical Society.
“The negativity affects soldiers quite a bit,” he said. “They are
human beings, too. If they get the feeling that their country is not
behind them, that’s going to affect how they perform. Look at what
happened in Vietnam. It’s a classic example.”
Being a soldier is hard enough without the criticism, Anderson
said.
“These are very difficult jobs to do,” he said. “They train very
hard to do this.”
They don’t need critics standing on the sidelines and heckling
them, Anderson said.
Gil Ferguson, a veteran of three wars, says it pains him to hear
former military personnel criticizing the war as analysts for the
media.
“We’ve lost more people in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago in
the last few days than we have in the Persian Gulf,” the Newport
Beach resident and former assemblyman said. “To move an army hundreds
of miles in the desert and to lose only a couple dozen soldiers is
miraculous.”
Ferguson spent three years fighting World War II as a machine
gunner in the South Pacific. He was also called to Korea twice and to
Vietnam three times, twice as a soldier and once as a war
correspondent.
Newport Beach resident and World War II veteran George Grupe said
what these former military officers say “really hurts the combat
troops.”
“Some of these former generals and admirals must just keep their
mouth shut,” he said. “We’re also getting secondhand advice from all
these media people who don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Grupe said he is positive that the war will end with victory for
the United States and the removal of Saddam Hussein.
Ferguson said he believes the “war is being fought rather
brilliantly.”
“I think we’ll wind up this war quickly, maybe even in a week or
so,” he added.
Ferguson said the key to survival for the troops is “to be a good
soldier.”
“Do what you’re supposed to do at the time you’re supposed to do
it,” he said. “Don’t do anything unnecessary. I know people who got
killed because they went out to look for souvenirs or visit their
buddy in another platoon.”
* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be
reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.
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