Grim Thoughts of War Turn to Acts of Faith and Protest : Rallies: More than 1,000 people attend vigils and demonstrations to show support for troops as well as opposition to gulf policy.

Some prayed for peace, others for swift victory.

Some protested a war they feel would be disastrous. Others waved flags and placards supporting President Bush and the troops in the Persian Gulf.

As Congress voted Saturday to authorize an attack to force Iraq out of Kuwait, more than 1,000 people attended prayer vigils, street protests and patriotic rallies across Orange County.

About 700 people gathered at both the Disneyland Hotel and the Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim for an international prayer vigil that included videotaped messages from political and evangelical leaders from around the world.

“We ask that (God) turn this man (Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein) back. . . ,” said Paul Green, Southern California director of Concerts for Prayer, which organizes mass prayer meetings. “But if not, we ask that the conflict would be short.”

A Texas preacher delivered a more terse message.

“We ask that You (God) would drive back Saddam Hussein in shame,” Larry Lea, pastor of Church on the Rock in Rockwall, Tex., said in a videotaped prayer.

Outside the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, clusters of red, white, blue and yellow balloons festooned street lights and trees. About 15 people waved flags and held placards, one of which said, “To our troops in the Gulf: We love you.”

A small cassette player blared “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and Army hymns.

Sandra Boyd of Buena Park said she organized the rally because she did not want anti-war protests to go largely uncontested, as they did during the Vietnam War.

“We’re pretty happy with Congress’ decision,” she said. “We’re praying for peace, but we’re going to support our troops.”

Supporting the troops was a concern echoed Saturday by people across the political spectrum.

“I’m not here to argue for war or against war, I’m here to support the troops,” said Betty Rogers, 40, of Anaheim, who attended the Tustin rally. “I didn’t agree with the Vietnam War, but I felt the men needed our support.”

Meanwhile, about 350 anti-war demonstrators massed along Bristol Street, across from South Coast Plaza.

“It’s just like Vietnam--the country is split in half already,” said Jim Gibson, 42, of Anaheim, who was an Army coroner in Vietnam.

Gibson said he fears that for the most part, the United States will not give veterans returning from the Persian Gulf the support they will need. “The psychological damage will set in, and they’ll be forgotten when they get back,” he said.

“If they (the Iraqis) were coming across the border, I’d get a gun myself,” Gibson added. “I’m against war unless it’s the last resort, and this is not that type of situation.”

Nearby, Edward and Linda Schatzman of Anaheim held a placard that read, “War is good business. Invest your son or daughter.”

“There’s nothing worth dying for and nothing worth killing for,” said Edward Schatzman, a 30-year-old engineer.

Barbara Jean Rosenbaum, a member of the group Beyond War, held a placard that read, “Attack on Israel Could Mean Nuclear War.” She said if Saddam Hussein makes good on his threat to attack Israel, the Israelis might retaliate with nuclear weapons--a concern, she said, that was not addressed during the congressional debate over whether to authorize use of force.

“I don’t think that a lot of people have thought about the fact that that could be one of the outcomes of the war,” she said.

Rosenbaum said she is no longer optimistic, but believes a war could be avoided.

“If the United Nations will work together and not let the embargo leak, and take (NATO) and mold it into a good United Nations peacekeeping force, we could rotate forces through Saudi Arabia forever while Saddam Hussein sits there. . . ,” she said. “People have to change their thinking about using wars to solve their problems.”

Others criticized the anti-war demonstrations, saying they undermine U.S. troop morale and the United States’ international bargaining position.

“Although they have all good intentions--because nobody wants to see a war, it’s a terrible waste of life--as in Vietnam, those good intentions are playing into the hands of the enemy, in this case Iraq,” said Bill Ring, founder of the Vietnam Combat Pilots Assn., which he said has more than 100 members in Orange County. “We feel maybe we’re in the 1991 silent majority.”

A former Marine Corps captain, Ring said he won the Distinguished Flying Cross in Vietnam in 1968. The 45-year-old investment banker from Mission Viejo supports the president’s Persian Gulf policy, saying the stability of Middle East oil supplies is a vital U.S. interest worth fighting for.

“The problem was that we were not allowed to win the war in Vietnam,” he said. “If we are going to commit ourselves to a war in the Middle East, let’s allow them to win this one.”

Ring’s group is asking the public to drive with their headlights on all day on Jan. 15 to show support for the men and women in the Gulf.

“If you were in Saudi Arabia, wouldn’t you want to know . . . that the best manpower and equipment that this country had to offer was there to support you from a military standpoint, and . . . that the country, even if we didn’t want a war, was behind you?” Ring asked.

On Saturday evening in Laguna Beach, about 110 people gathered for a candlelight peace vigil along Coast Highway. They chanted “give peace a chance” and held placards that said, among other things, “Can U.S. Afford a $30-Billion War?” and “Draft Beer, Not People.”

Beth Leeds, 49, a peace activist who runs a group called Light Around the World, said she was moved to organize the event after she heard that the United States had ordered 200,000 wooden coffins.

“That got me out of my seat,” Leeds said. “I’m totally opposed to violence. You can’t fight for peace.”

Times staff writer Anita Cal contributed to this report.