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Friday, February 15, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
PIZZA SHUTTLE HOT ON THE SPOT! "NO COUPON SPECIALS"
Have you kicked your cat today?
Campus group is pro-troops
By Nedra Beth Randolph
Kansan staff writer
Dwayne DeSylvia's father served three tours of duty in the Vietnam War, and DeSylvia doesn't want to see a repeat of the mistreatment of veterans that occurred after that war.
Kris Caylor, Salina junior (left), explains the Support Our Soldiers program to Ryan Borchardt, Leawood senior, at the Kansas Union. Students were asked yesterday to sign the sheet and then get together for a picture to send to the troops to let them know that KU students support them.
Mike Turner/KANSAN
Consequently, he and a friend have formed a campus group to raise support for troops stationed in the Persian gulf.
Support Our Soldiers was organized last month by DeSylvia, Windsor, Co., senior, and Kris Caylor, Lawrence junior. They said they created the group because they wanted the soldiers to know that they had the support of the people on the home front.
"Our aim is not to take a stance on the policy." DeSylvia said. "This group is about the people, not the war.
"I don't want to see the troops treated badly like they were after Vietnam," he said. "They aren't in the Middle East because they want to be there, they're just doing their job."
Caylor said. "The troops should be recognized like they were after World War II. They should get a parade."
Cayler, who was in the Navy for three years and plans to re-enlist after graduation, said he knew how important it was for the troops to know that they were supported by their country.
He said one of the group's goals was to bring together other groups in our effort to keep all people
"We challenge both sides, anti-war and pro-war, to come to our rally and show support for our soldiers," he said. "When the soldiers see the two
groups fighting about the war, that's "hat drops the morale."
Aida Dabbas, Amman, Jordan
graduate student and president of the campus peace group Voice, said that although Voice also supported the troops, she would not attend any rallies in support of the troops.
"The problem with the support groups is that they say they have no opinion on the policies of the war, but that is a very dangerous position," she said. "To have no opinion on a war is naive."
Dabbas said there was a misconception that peace groups were anticapitalist.
"The best way to support the troops is to bring them home right now," she said. "No American blood should be shed."
junior, attended the first support-thetroops rally, but he said he thought an official campus group was unnecessary.
"It's kind of silly to make a permanent organization for a temporary thing such as war," he said. "It's hard, but the enemy is there, the war isn't going to last forever."
There will be a Support Our Survie
drives early at 3:30 p.m. in front of
the library.
David Kinnamon. Overland Park
The group also plans to have a table in the Kansas Union from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday so students can sign sheets that will be sent to the troops. Caylor said he would try to get the signatures to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Operation Dust, so the general could present them to the troops.
Troop-support group plans rallies
Kansan staff writer
By Nedra Beth Randolph
Another support-the-troops group has sprung up in Lawrence.
Kansans in support, founded by Janice Nesler-Loux, Lawrence resident, will conduct rallies once a month until the war ends.
The first rally will be from 1 to 3 p.m. tomorrow at the South Park gazebo, 12th and Massachusetts streets.
She said she decided to form the
"We plan to have these rallies once a month until the last one, which will be our celebration," Neesler-Loux said. "I hope we won't need to have very many."
group when she kept seeing so much media coverage of anti-war rallies.
"Lawrence was getting a bad rap," she said.
She said rallies conducted by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice presented the image that the law supported the war or the troops.
Nesler-Loux, whose father served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, said she knew how important it was thatiders to know they were supported.
"It doesn't matter if you support the war or not, the troops deserve our support," she said. "We care more about the troops than we do
about the war."
Members of the campus group Support Our Soldiers will speak at the rally.
Kris Caylor, Lawrence junior and one of the founders of SOS, said the two groups might combine resources in the future.
"It seems like we have very similar aims in mind." he said.
"Everybody should support the troops even if they don't support the policies," he said.
"Yesterday and Today"
CONCERT
THIS SATURDAY FEB. 16, 1991 7:30pm-9:30pm FREE in Big 8 room 5th floor Kansas Union
Sponsored by SUA, KU Endowment and Black Men of Today.
in celebration of Black History Month
STUDENT UNION ACTIVITIES