Las Vegas takes retaliation in stride

Angela Soo and Daniela Mohor

Monday, Oct. 8, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

The first act of war by U.S. forces against terrorists suspected of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington were met Sunday in Las Vegas with the public reaction President Bush had been seeking for two weeks.

Things were normal -- or as normal as they've gotten since suicide pilots rammed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Travelers crowded into McCarran International Airport, arriving hours before their flights to make time for thorough security checks. The National Football League dominated TV screens at the casino sports books. Visitor volume to the grand opening of the Guggenheim museum at the Venetian remained steady throughout the afternoon.

At McCarran International Airport, business was usual, except for the noticeable presence of the National Guard members wearing patches that read "Airport Service." The rifle-toting guardsmen in camouflage walked in pairs throughout the airport, providing as much psychological comfort as security to weary travelers.

"I feel much more safe now that they are here, even if that means I have to wait for an hour in the security line," Robert Kaler of Kansas City, Mo., said.

But a financial planner from Denver said the armed guardsmen serve as bleak reminders of an uncertain future.

"The only thing that alarms me is the need for the troopers," Marlon Azada said. "I know they are here for our safety, but it's just so odd seeing them right here in a U.S. airport. It reminds me of Saudi Arabia."

Staff Sgt. Steven Stolle, a guardsman on airport duty, said most people were thankful for his presence.

"People would come up to me and just start saying: 'Thank you,' 'God bless you,' or 'Nice to see you,' " Stolle said. "We want the American public to know it's safe to fly."

Some worried that airport travel would come to a standstill again when they first heard about the Sunday morning counterattacks.

But traffic was normal on Sunday with operations running at 90 percent, Bill Keller, an airport spokesman, said. The airport did not take additional security measures after the U.S. attacks on targets in Afghanistan.

Life, and the games, went on in area sports books, as well.

At the Las Vegas Hilton, walls of TV screens switched about 10 a.m. -- near time for the kickoffs -- from National Football League pregame shows to an address to the nation by President Bush.

After the president's speech discussing the attacks that had begun half an hour earlier, bettors broke into applause, and the televisions switched back to the games.

Outside the Las Vegas Auto Raceway, a sports bar-eatery in the airport, about 20 people crowded around the window to get a glimpse of the television screens inside. Most eyes were fixed on the largest one in the middle. The Green Bay Packers were playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Fans cheered, paying little attention to the smaller screens that silently broadcast CNN news coverage of the U.S. counterstrike against Afghanistan.

At Paris and Caesars Palace sports books, channels switched back and forth between news and football, Heidi Hedquist, a tourist from Detroit, said.

"Most people in general were far more concerned about the game," she said.

Locals also headed to the Guggenheim Las Vegas "Art of the Motorcycle" exhibit, which opened to the public at the Venetian hotel Sunday.

A newlywed couple from Toledo, Ohio, who got married Wednesday at the Viva Las Vegas Chapel, said they never considered not coming to the exhibit after learning of America's retaliation.

"I view this as an escape," Sharon Stebbins said. "What can we do about it except to show emotional support?"

But with the U.S. retaliations, some said, comes the fear of new actions from the terrorists.

"If they're going to retaliate against us, then I'm going to be very concerned," Lorenzo Chambers of Albuquerque, N.M., said as he waited at the airport. "That's why we have to make sure we do just enough damage the first time around to let them know we mean business."

Despite the fear of new attacks, the fact that the government had waited weeks before retaliating helped to avoid panic, a Stratosphere tourist said.

"Sept. 11 was a shock," Debbie Baldwin said. "Today we were prepared. We knew we were going to strike back, we just didn't know when."

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