Rally draws 2,000 at Missouri Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- About 2,000 people rallied Saturday at the Missouri Capitol in support of U.S. troops at war in Iraq.

The rally drew veterans and relatives of active military members, as well as many of Missouri's top politicians, including Democratic Gov. Bob Holden and Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Talent.

Many, also, came with a message for those protesting the war in other parts of the country.

"We will not tolerate the war protesters," said retired Marine Col. Don Ballard of Kansas City, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient who rallied the crowd from the Capitol steps. "They have the right to free speech, but they ought to do it in a way that's not demeaning to the troops that are over there representing our country."

There were no anti-war protesters Saturday at the Missouri Capitol, although a couple dozen had been there earlier in the week. Jefferson City is located in the center of Missouri in a predominantly rural and conservative area.

It is headquarters to the Missouri National Guard and about 50 miles north of the Army's Fort Leonard Wood, a basic training site that also specializes in preparing troops against chemical warfare and other weapons of mass destruction.

People attending Saturday's rally passed through metal detectors set up at the perimeter of the Capitol grounds, which was fenced in for the event.

A local merchant had planned the rally before the war began. After the attack in Iraq, it quickly grew into a much larger event.

Among the crowd was Kimberly Maikai, of California, Mo., holding a sign declaring: "Support the USA and our troops or shut up!" Numerous others held red, white and blue signs simply stating: "We support Our Troops!"

Bob Roettgen, an Army veteran twice wounded in Vietnam, wore two small American flags on top his baseball cap.

"I don't believe in all the anti-war protesting going on," said Roettgen, of Holts Summit. "I want to show I'm proud of America and believe in what it stands for, and there's a lot of people like that."

Holden proclaimed Saturday "Support Your Troops Day" in Missouri.

Talent, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Saddam Hussein as "ruthless and bloodthirsty as anyone who has ever led a government."

"What our men and women are doing in Iraq now is a necessary and right thing, and I have never been more convinced of anything in my public life," said Talent, a freshman senator who previously spent eight years each in the U.S. House and Missouri House.

Also on hand for the rally were U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshof, whose brother-in-law is an Army artillery captain advancing across the Iraqi desert.

Ballard acknowledged that in the months heading up to the war, he was torn about whether it was the right course of action. But he said he concluded that President Bush made the right decision. He said it was the responsibility of all Americans to support the troops and avoid the "deplorable" reception that greeted him and other Vietnam veterans.

"We've got to go out and sell America on supporting America," he said to the cheers of the crowd.