Rival Rallies Held in Support of Peace, Troops : Ventura: Thirty anti-war demonstrators are vastly outnumbered by a weekly pro-troops gathering across town.

A splinter group of about 30 protesters, calling themselves the radical element of the Ventura County anti-war movement, marched Saturday from Memorial Park to the Armed Forces Recruiting Office in Ventura to protest U.S. actions in the Persian Gulf.

The marchers, who endorse civil disobedience to achieve their goals, are members of the Nonviolent Action Group of Ventura County, an offshoot of the Ventura County Coalition for Peace in the Persian Gulf, said organizer Coleen Ashly.

The group broke no laws Saturday.

“As the war escalates, our actions will continue to escalate,” Ashly said.

Meanwhile, near the County Government Center at Victoria Avenue and Telephone Road, the weekly support-the-troops rally drew an estimated 250 to 300 people.

It vastly outnumbered its rival demonstration a couple miles away, but attendance was down from previous weeks.

The anti-war rally and march sometimes captured the spirit of 1960s protests against the Vietnam War. The demonstrators sang folk songs, read poetry and shared feelings. They carried signs that read: “I Am Not Anti-American; I Am Anti-War” and “Working for Peace Is Patriotic.”

Some marchers were veteran members of anti-war and other political organizations. Some, like Vietnam veteran Gary Parker, were not.

“I’m a very conservative person,” Parker said, “I voted for Bush.”

Parker said he is not against war in general, but he is against the Persian Gulf War because he thinks the U.S. is fighting only for oil.

“We didn’t go to help the Baltic states. We didn’t go into Afghanistan,” Parker said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure we got a problem here, and it’s pure oil.”

Parker had a copy of his discharge papers from the Navy taped to the back of a clipboard he carried. He said he keeps it with him because sometimes others don’t believe he’s a Vietnam veteran.

Korean War veteran Frank Peterson of Ventura also believes that the war is unnecessary.

“They should have let the sanctions work. Let the negotiations work,” he said. “They don’t have to kill people to change their minds.”

Protester Mindy Lorenz, the Green Party candidate in the 19th Congressional District last year, said she has always been opposed to the presence of U.S. troops in the Gulf.

“I’m really terrified of the ground war--just useless carnage,” Lorenz said. “It’s really important for the people who believe in peaceful conflict resolution to be out in the streets.”

Across town at the County Government Center rally, Jim Birmingham said Vietnam veterans are determined to show support for the troops.

“We want to make sure that when the troops come home, they don’t have to face what we did,” Birmingham said.

Richard Camacho, president of the Vietnam Veterans Ventura County, said he was gratified at the public’s support of the troops now, but uneasy about the future.

“I’m concerned about when the ground war starts and the casualties start rising,” Camacho said. “Not only the troops, but the families are going to need support then.”

Kyle Yates, 25, sat across the street from the demonstration selling support-the-troops T-shirts to benefit the Port Hueneme Boys and Girls Club. He said he had some friends serving in the Gulf.

“It would be nice to have peace,” Yates said, “but you gotta do what you gotta do.”

People in passing cars honked horns in support of the demonstrators and U.S. troops.

Camacho viewed the constant horn blowing with mixed feelings.

“We expect the attendance to drop off,” Camacho said. “It becomes easier for people to just drive by and honk.”