AREA FAMILIES WAIT FOR WORD ON SOLDIERS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Kenneth Johnson says there is "no question" that his son, Brad, is one of the American pilots involved in the U.S. air attacks against Iraq.

And since war erupted Wednesday, Johnson said he has found it difficult to do anything but wait, watch and worry.

"We're scared just like everyone else," he said Thursday. "It's a very uncomfortable feeling, one I've never experienced before. It's a feeling that I could lose my son."

Brad Johnson, an Air Force fighter pilot, flies the F-16 "Fighting Falcon." He has been in the gulf since Aug. 8.

"He called last Friday and said it was the last phone call he could make," the father said. "I really don't know anything more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

Johnson, of Cape Girardeau, said that based on initial reports of few causalities, he is optimistic that U.S. forces are doing well.

But, he said, he would like to hear official reports from Defense Secretary Richard Cheney and other government sources more often. Unconfirmed reports of dog fights or casualties are the most disturbing, he said.

He said it's a very tense time for the entire family because of the certainty that his son is involved in the air attacks.

"Right now the pilots are doing it all. The ground forces are not committed yet. The pilots are the ones who are at risk.

"I think the world has to be proud of the pilots right now. I don't see how anyone couldn't be proud of them. I'm certainly proud of my son."

Judy Cobb speaks proudly of her three sons, all of whom are in the military, and says serving their country is "what the boys were born to do."

One son, Donald, 19, is an Army medic who has been stationed in Saudi Arabia since September. Harold, 31, an operation specialist in the Navy, is currently aboard ship en route to the Persian Gulf, and 23-year-old Ronald's Air Force company has been put on alert and is set to join the forces in the gulf at any time.

Cobb said when she first heard news of war in the gulf, she cried.

"I still don't know if it really has hit me or not," she said. "I support what our country is doing, but at the same time, I'm a mother, and I'd do anything to see my boys home."

Cobb, of Chaffee, watched television attentively Thursday night as reports of Iraqi missile strikes on Israel occupied the network news.

She called the war "something you just have to live with."

Two of her five sons are not in the military. "Thank God," she said. For now, those two sons, along with friends and neighbors, have helped Cobb keep her mind off the war, and her fears.

"It really makes you feel good that people care like that," she said.

Hubert Murphy, a retired Air Force master sergeant who lives in Jackson, also watched developments in Iraq and Israel closely Thursday. His son, Rick, an Air Force sergeant, is currently stationed on an American air base in Saudi Arabia.

A heavy duty weapons specialist, Rick Murphy is a crew chief in charge of loading aircraft with weapons, readying them for combat. Today, Rick will celebrate his 36th birthday in the middle of a war.

His father said the bombing of Israel changed his outlook on the war.

"If (Israel) retaliates, it could easily turn into an Arab-American war," he said. "We'd be wiping Israel's enemies out for them and that's not what we set out to do."

Murphy called Saddam Hussein "worse than Hitler ever was.

"If he had been allowed to continue to take over countries, we would be in danger of losing our freedom," he said. "We had to go in and do this, as far as I'm concerned."

He said Iraq has still not felt the "awesome power" of the American Air Force.

After hearing the news of war Wednesday, Murphy said he, along with friends and family, went to church to pray.

Murphy, who retired from the Air Force in 1968, said: "If I wasn't too old, I'd go back over there myself."

Liz Abernathy says she has spent much of the last two days praying for the safety of the troops stationed in the gulf. Her son, Aaron, is one of them.

"I hated that it had to happen, but we knew it was going to," she said of the war. "I was pleased to hear that the air strikes were successful."

Aaron is stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division. The same division his father, George, served with for two years during the Vietnam War.

"It's harder when you've got a son involved with this," Abernathy said. "Having a husband in a war is hard, but you feel like he can take care of himself, that he knew what he was doing. It's different with a son."

Abernathy believes her son is not involved in combat yet, and she is hopeful that the air strikes can be successful in wiping out Iraq's army.

She called Thursday's missile attacks on Israel "not a good sign."