LEGION VETS OPPOSE WAR IN BALKANS; RESOLUTION URGES TROOPS BE REMOVED FROM REGION

Dressed in his stars-and-stripes baseball cap, World War II veteran Herb Nance doesn't fit the description of a war protester.

But he and many other local veterans have no use for the battle in the Balkans. They don't like President Clinton and they don't think the United States should be bombing Yugoslavia.

"I don't think we had any business being over there to start with," said the Army and Air Force veteran from Cape Girardeau.

Many local veterans like Nance applaud the action of the national American Legion, which has come out squarely against the war.

The nation's largest veterans organization wants Clinton to withdraw U.S. troops from the Balkans.

The American Legion's national executive committee unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday calling for all U.S. soldiers, pilots and support staff to be removed from the region.

"We believe the best thing we can do to support our troops, to protect our troops, is to bring them home," said Harold "Butch" Miller, the Legion's national commander. "We believe we are getting into a bad situation in Kosovo."

The resolution says the U.S.-led NATO attacks against Serbia "could only lead to troops being killed, wounded or captured without advancing any clear purpose, mission or objective."

The Legion would permit U.S. involvement if Congress passes a resolution supporting the NATO action; U.S. troops are led only by American commanders; the president explains why the action is vital to the nation's interests; and guidelines are established for the military campaign, including an exit strategy.

The Legion represents about 2.9 million American veterans.

But World War II veteran Bill Hahs of Scott City thinks the national veterans organization shouldn't have spoken out against U.S. involvement in the NATO attacks.

Hahs said the U.S. military has been involved in numerous conflicts around the world over the years. He said the U.S. had to act to protect the ethnic Albanians who were being persecuted by the Serbs.

"I don't think we can sit back and let it go," said Hahs as he relaxed at VFW Post 3838 in Cape Girardeau.

Hahs said it isn't just Clinton's war. "He's got a bunch of advisers. He doesn't act alone."

Veterans like Charles E. Woodford of Cape Girardeau simply want the U.S. military to get out of the Balkans.

"If I were God, I would have those people out of there within an hour," he said Thursday.

Woodford served in the Navy and the Air Force.

A veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, Woodford said the U.S. has no business interfering in a civil war.

"Imagine how our great-grandfathers would have felt if some of the other world powers would have interfered in our Civil War," he said.

Woodford said the U.S. has no national interest at stake in the Balkans.

Like many veterans, Woodford finds it hard to accept Clinton as commander in chief.

Clinton was a Vietnam War "draft dodger" who once wrote that he "loathed the military," Woodford said. "We loathe him right back."

Woodford said Clinton is clueless about the military. "I don't think he knows what the hell he is doing."

The U.S. will be hated in the Balkans for perhaps centuries as a result of the NATO bombing campaign, he said.

Local veteran Rodger Brown served in the Navy and the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He is a member of both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Cape Girardeau.

Brown said veterans groups historically have supported the nation's presidents in times of war.

"I cannot remember in my lifetime ever hearing of a veterans organization openly criticizing our leader," he said.

But Clinton's actions in protesting the Vietnam War and his decisions as president to cut the military budget anger veterans like Brown.

Clinton has committed the military to the Balkans conflict for personal reasons, said Brown.

"He is trying to have history look at him as a humanitarian and sacrificing the U.S. military to get there."

Said Brown, "He never was a member of the military. He never had to face going into a battle. Yet, he doesn't have any qualm of putting current military members in harm's way."