Back U.S. Troops, Demonstrators Urge

About 100 demonstrators gathered near John Wayne Airport on Saturday evening, waving flags and urging passersby to honk in support of U.S. troops.

Some held portraits of their children dressed in military uniform. Others carried signs bearing the names of loved ones deployed to the Middle East. Tena Galbreath held her 18-month-old son, Dylan, and wore a T-shirt urging her husband to “Come home soon, Jim.”

“This isn’t about my personal opinion of the war,” said organizer Jane Altman-Dwan of Newport Beach. “This is about our boys who are over there. They need reinforcement at this point.”

The crowd chanted “We support President Bush” and sang “God Bless America.” They were joined by several Vietnamese American demonstrators who had held a rally backing U.S. policy earlier in the day in Little Saigon. Organizers of that event in Westminster said about 400 people attended.

Altman-Dwan said she wanted to gather people in Orange County in response to the antiwar protests, including one in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that drew thousands as part of International Women’s Day.

Mark and Louise Archambeault of Long Beach said they fear “another Vietnam.” Their son Joshua, 21, is aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. They want to do all they can to boost his morale.

“What did those guys feel like over there in Vietnam?” Louise Archambeault asked. “They felt horrible, like they’d been deserted. We don’t want that to happen again.”