HOME FRONT ANXIOUS AS YOUNG, OLD FOLLOW GULF DEVELOPMENTS

YOUNGSTERS PRAY FOR SOLDIERS: Elizabeth Meyr, left, and Lane Thomasson, students at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau, offer their prayers for service personnel in the Persian Gulf during a special service at school Thursday morning. (Photo by Fred Lynch)

CAPE GIRARDEAU Shelley Hammontree couldn't study Wednesday night for final exams Thursday; she was watching news about the outbreak of war.

Hammontree, a senior at Cape Central High School, like most high school students interviewed Thursday, said she supports the U.S. attack on Iraq, but hopes the war is over quickly.

"I'm scared," she said. "My cousin, who is my best friend, is over there on the front line. I was awake almost all night watching TV.

"People our age have never experienced war," said Hammontree. "It's new and scary."

"I think we're doing the right thing. Kuwait is a little, bitty country, but he (Saddam Hussein) wouldn't stop. I think Hussein would be another Hitler."

Anne Norman, a junior at Cape Central, said, "I knew it was inevitable that the U.S. would go to war. The United States gets into situations it should stay out of.

"I understand the United States has an obligation to try to protect democracy, but they have a different way of life and a different way of doing things there. We should let them settle it in their own way.

"I think we're there to protect democracy. But it also has to do with our economic interests," she said.

Schools dealt with news of the war in different ways. Parochial schools like Trinity Lutheran and Notre Dame held church services to pray for peace. Public schools discussed the events and ramifications of war.

The Rev. David Dissen, of Trinity Lutheran Church, talked with Trinity Lutheran School students about the war at an assembly Thursday morning.

"This is the first time these children have been exposed to war. It is very traumatic for them and they don't really know what they should do," Dissen said.

A special mass and prayer service were also held Thursday for students at Notre Dame High School.

Following the service, Jason Ayers, a senior at Notre Dame, said: "The war is so far away. Last night when I was watching television, it didn't seem real. It seemed like a soap opera."

But, he continued, "There are a lot of graduates from here who are over there now. It does make me feel closer to the situation. I've been thinking about it a lot. If we are going to do it, let's get it over with.

"I support what we are doing," he said. If called on to serve in the military, Ayers said he would. "I wouldn't like it, but I feel obligated to serve if they need me."

Michelle Ressel, a senior at Notre Dame High School, said: "I think it's better that it's started so they can get back.

"I don't know exactly why we are there. I know it's partly the oil."

Notre Dame senior Tim Landewe said, "War was bound to start. We are supposed to be there for the liberation of Kuwait. But I don't know if that is really why we are there."

"Saddam doesn't have the right to take over another country. But I hope it's over quickly. I just hope and pray it's over quickly," said Jennifer Glosemeyer, also a senior at Notre Dame.

"I agree with what we're doing as long as its for the people," said Nicki Renick, a Notre Dame senior. "The quicker we get it done the better.

Robert Arendt said, "I'm in full support and I'm ready to back them all the way."

He added that, if called upon, he would serve in the military. "I don't like guns and don't even know how to hold one, but if they want me, I would serve."

Student conversations, held between final exams at Central High, were mostly about the war.

Mindy Chong, a senior at Cape Central, said: "I was a little surprised to find out we really went to war. I was surprised we actually bombed them.

"I guess we are right to be there. I really don't know. The only thing I don't like is all those men over there being killed."

Chong continued: "I just never thought a war would ever be in my life. Wars are something you read about in history books."

She said many of her friends are concerned that a draft may be implemented. "I don't want my boyfriend to go," she said.

Jason McKee, a junior at Cape Central, said, "We were right to attack hard so we can get in and out fast. I think we're doing the right thing. We waited long enough."

McKee said, if called upon, "I'd go. I wouldn't be real happy, but I'd go."

DeAnna Krauss, a senior at Cape Central, said, "It's scary, but I think if we don't do something take a stand he (Hussein) will take advantage and start doing it more.

DeAnna's brother, Eric, is aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf. "I hope we can hurry up and get it over with," she said.

"I feel kind of overwhelmed, especially because I've never experienced anything like this before," she said. "It doesn't really seem real."

Jennifer Pierce, a senior at Cape Central, said, "I wasn't surprised. We just don't tolerate things like that. It's better to do it now and get it over with. So many men have been killed just training for this.

"It's best that we bombed first, that way not as many people will be killed," she said.

"I think Saddam Hussein needs to be stopped. In a few years, he would have his army built up and he would try to take over a lot of other countries, even the U.S."

Chris Jenkerson, a sophomore at Cape Central, said, "If we don't stop Saddam Hussein from doing what he is doing, the whole world will fall apart.

"I wouldn't really want to go. I wouldn't volunteer, but if I was drafted I wouldn't have a choice."

Christie Morgan, a junior at Cape Central, said, "I think what we did was right. We gave them a deadline and we have to stick to our word, or anything else we did wouldn't be taken seriously."

She said several friends' brothers are overseas. "It's sad that they might be killed, but I still think it's the right thing.

"It doesn't really seem like it's happening because it's not here, it's only on TV."

Brooke Welker, a junior at Cape Central, said, "I think that President Bush has done his best. He tried everything. I think this was necessary. I wish it hadn't been necessary because all these lives will be taken. But I think he's done his best.

"We've never been in a war. I don't know what I'm feeling. In a way, it's exciting. There is so much happening."