Crowd Shows the Flag, Feet in Desert Shield Stadium Rally

It was like the Fourth of July with a twist: the American flags and the Marine Corps marching band and the patriotic speeches were present, but so were people wearing T-shirts emblazoned with sayings like “U.S. Forces Can Do It In the Sand” and “I’d Fly 10,000 Miles to Smoke a Camel.”

And so it went Saturday when several hundred people walked around San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, a “support walk” on behalf of Operation Desert Shield that was spawned by the Persian Gulf crisis.

Earl Simmons, replete in his camouflage pants and holding an American flag atop a 10-foot pole, was there with his family. “We’re all-Americans,” he said proudly. “We’re supporting our guys.”

Richard Smith pushed the wheelchair of a 67-year-old friend who had served in World War II. “I was a Marine in Vietnam . . . and I wish we had the kind of support when we came home that these guys will have when they come home. That’s why I’m here, to show my support for the guys over there, to let them know we’re thinking about them.”

Carol Fitzgerald was there, wearing her personally-fashioned brass bracelet inscribed with the name of her Marine husband and the words, “1990--’Til Our Fighting Forces Return.” She and a buddy have made 500 of them for friends.

“Walking around the stadium,” she reflected, “is a lot easier than walking through sand, isn’t it?”

And Jack McKeon, fired nine days ago as general manager of the San Diego Padres, was there, too. “I want to show our good people overseas that we support them and care for them.”

Had he ever before walked around the outside of the stadium where he had spent so much time inside? “I don’t think so,” he said after reflection.

The event was organized by Mary Alice Hill, former athletic director at San Diego State University and now a civilian employee coordinating recreational activities at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base.

She wants the support walks to spread worldwide, she told participants--children and spouses and parents of sailors and soldiers and Marines, and active military people, and retired ones, and a platoon of Young Marines between the ages of 8 and 17, and people who just showed up because . . . .

“We will send a message of support, of love, of courage,” she said, “and we will send a strong message to our adversaries that we are to be reckoned with.”

Some walkers thought the turnout was impressive, especially since they had only heard of it through word-of-mouth. Others wondered aloud why more people hadn’t shown up. In the background, a club of Porsche owners raced through a slalom course on the stadium parking lot, and the screeching tires carried to the walkers.

“I was hoping for more of a crowd,” Hill conceded later. “But we only had two weeks to prepare for this.” The next walk, she said, will be Oct. 20 at Camp Pendleton--this time, on the beach.

“There’s a difference between what’s happening over there now, and what happened in Vietnam,” said Fitzgerald, the woman with the bracelets. “But I’m worried about the long run, down the road, when people start losing their enthusiasm. Any war can turn like Vietnam did, if it lasts too long. You’ll see.”

But for most, it was a rah-rah sort of day: Most everyone sported red, white and blue scarves around their necks, held small flags and walked briskly around the stadium. George Sczepaniak said he did it in 11 1/2 minutes. And his wife was moved to tears by the sight. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? To show our support!” Danny, son No. 4, is in the Air Force in Germany as a technical sergeant, and Michael, son No. 5, is in Saudi Arabia as an Air Force plane mechanic.

Ten-year-old Anthony Triviso addressed the crowd, standing atop a flatbed truck and sounding strong into a microphone: “My father’s over there, defending the country with the other Marines . . . because of stupid people who want all the oil and all the power. I mean, it’s stupid.”

He said his father might not be back home for a year. “My brother and I kind of miss him a whole bunch,” he offered.

When the walk was done, and it didn’t take that long, everyone waited in line to receive a free poster copy of a painting drawn by artist and former professional baseball player Gene Locklear. It showed the back side of a fighting man in combat gear, kneeling atop a knoll overlooking a desertscape. Ethereally drawn into the sky were ambiguous images of his family.

Locklear signed each poster, and wondered how valuable his original artwork might one day become. “I hope this war ends and the original won’t be worth much at all,” he said.

Virtually the last person to leave the parking lot was Brig. Gen. Mike Neil, the private-practice lawyer and Marine Corps reservist who recently took command of Camp Pendleton while the other boss is overseas.

He was asked by someone to autograph one of Locklear’s posters. Then another person asked, and another. “People just started coming up to me, and I couldn’t say no,” he said. For about an hour and a half, Neil signed posters--not with just his name, but complete with a short message for each recipient.

“The country is behind you and this is a proud time for all of us,” he wrote on one that was destined for a Marine in Saudi Arabia. “Thanks for what you are doing. B Gen Mike Reid. Semper Fi!”

To another, he wrote, “There’ll be plenty of cold showers and cold beer when you get home!”