Ohio State Students Rally Behind America's Warriors in Iraq
by Jim Brown

(AgapePress) Students at the second-largest university in the United Stated have turned out in full force to show their appreciation for American troops deployed overseas.

The rally took place on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus and included both supporters and opponents of the war in Iraq. Air Force Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Todd Stewart was the keynote speaker at the event organized by the school's undergraduate student government.

Stewart says he emphasized how important it is for American citizens to let members of the military know their sacrifice and service are valued, whether they are active duty in the Reserves or National Guard, career military people, or just putting their life on hold for several months or years to answer their nation's call.

"I shared with them my own direct experience after Vietnam where some of our fellow citizens really abused the military for serving [there] -- and I also shared with the group that I thought that that was reprehensible," the retired officer says.

General Stewart served 34 years in the Air Force and currently heads Ohio State's program for international and homeland security. He says the 50,000 students enrolled at Ohio State generally represent the spectrum of opinion in Ohio and the nation concerning the war.

"I would say a majority certainly, and probably close to two-thirds ... support the current policy in the war as a recourse of action given failure of diplomacy," he says, noting that is his personal estimate. "And then there's probably another third or so that are against the war."

Stewart says he stressed to students the importance of supporting the decision of the nation's representative democracy to liberate Iraq, and urged them to pray for their fellow citizens who have been asked to execute the decision of America's political leaders.

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