Thoughts at Easter Services Turn to Troops in Iraq

Bundled in a warm coat to ward off the predawn chill, his mind heavy with the war in Iraq, D.J. Atkinson found solace Sunday among a small group of faithful who turned out for Easter sunrise services at a San Clemente park.

“Nobody likes war, but we have to support the president,” said Atkinson, 69, of San Clemente, adding that he was praying for the safe return of troops.

“We want them all back,” he said. “I think we need a lot of unity in the country right now.”

The Rev. Packard L. Okie of St. Clements by-the-Sea Episcopal Church led the service, one of many throughout Orange County held to commemorate the Resurrection.

“Many of our members are Marines who are now deployed,” Okie said at Max Berg Plaza Park, about two miles from the north entrance to the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton. “Many of their families attend our services.”

The ceremony was simple. Two guitarists provided music for the two dozen church members seated on chairs in a semicircle. Okie led members in song and prayer.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Diane Jardine-Bruce, rector of St. Clements by-the-Sea, was gearing up for a dinner she would host Sunday evening at her home for a group of Marine wives whose husbands were in Iraq.

“We have a lot of services to get through today, and I know I’ll be dead-tired,” she said. “But I felt it was something I needed to do.”

In Garden Grove, thousands of people filed into the Crystal Cathedral, where an estimated 24,000 attended day and evening services.

Outside, a dozen protesters chanted and yelled antiwar slogans, but security officials for the church said they did not cause any problems.

Most described themselves as students or local residents who oppose the war. A 23-year-old woman who gave her name only as Theresa carried a sign that read, “God Bless Iraq.”

Demonstrators didn’t deter Al Dunn, 53, his wife, Kathy, and their three children, who paused outside the cathedral for family photographs.

They had driven from Idyllwild for an extended weekend in Orange County and decided to celebrate Easter at the Garden Grove church.

Dunn and his wife said they prayed for U.S. troops in Iraq during the service, which included a special acknowledgment for those killed in action, troops stationed in Iraq, POWs and those missing in action.