Reservists Get Warm Welcome : Homecoming: Some Air National Guard members returning from overseas missions are circumspect about Gulf War’s escalation.

Kimberlie Broadhurst clutched an American flag and a bunch of red, white and blue balloons as she waited to greet her father Sunday on his return from a monthlong overseas mission with the California Air National Guard.

Her sister, Brandee Broadhurst, was even more unabashedly patriotic, wearing a T-shirt that read “America, Love It or Leave It” and voicing unmitigated support for President Bush’s decision to launch a ground war Saturday into Kuwait and possibly Iraq.

“I don’t think he would have launched a ground attack unless the majority of Iraq’s weapons were taken out,” said Brandee, 16, a student at Thousand Oaks High School.

Many relatives of the 92 reservists returning home Sunday to the Channel Islands Air National Guard Base were highly enthusiastic about Bush’s order to send ground troops into battle. But in sharp contrast, some of the reservists themselves were more circumspect about the war’s escalation after spending the last month airlifting military supplies across Europe.

“I don’t think anyone likes to see it, but it’s better to do it now,” said Maj. Bob Kramer, 40, a pilot who volunteered for the supply mission for U.S. bases in England, Germany, Iceland, Italy, and Turkey. “I don’t think any of us are real happy about it. I didn’t see anyone celebrating.”

As the last of the four returning C-130 cargo planes and crews landed Sunday night, the Ventura County Coalition For Peace in The Persian Gulf staged a candlelight vigil in Ventura. The group, which has drawn small crowds to its protests in recent weeks, attracted about a dozen participants Sunday.

Susan Spreuer, who joined the twilight protest, said the weak turnout was symbolic of the blind faith that Americans have put in the President. But she said the Bush Administration has, through coercion of the press, hidden the truth about the war and the devastation wrought on innocent Iraqis.

“People are blindly supporting an administration that is manipulating them by manipulating the press,” said Spreuer, 46, of Ventura.

“They watch CNN, hear 11 casualties and that’s an acceptable loss,” she added, referring to reports of coalition losses.

Neal Ortenberg, a school psychologist from Oxnard, said Bush was not predisposed to negotiating because he wanted to demonstrate the United States’ pre-eminence as a world power. “As long as military might is the tool of negotiations, the United States maintains its superiority,” said Ortenberg, 45.

Capt. Chuck Golden, one of the reservists returning Sunday, said he learned of the ground campaign Saturday during a stopover in Bangor, Maine. His plane had taken off from England on Saturday morning before the invasion began.

Golden, a navigator, hesitated to discuss the invasion Sunday before saying, “the fact that the coalition has held together like it has . . . would seem a good sign.”

“You need a clearly defined goal and public support. Without those two things you can’t successfully wage a war,” said Golden, 30, a software engineer from Westlake who was greeted by his wife, Patty.

David E. Kassow, a 20-year-old Ventura College student, said he departs for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as part of a reserve medical evacuation unit. Kassow said he supported the ground invasion because “Bush had to put his foot down and show them he means business.”

His mother was also supportive, although her son may soon be close to the front lines, retrieving the wounded. “He’s our only son, but this man Hussein is crazy,” said Cheryle McPhetridge, 43. “He’s scorching the land and systematically killing Kuwaitis.”