Ex-servicemen talk of likely war with Iraq

Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

The gray-haired men late Sunday afternoon on the eve of Veteran's Day talked of war, battles of the past and the one that may come to the Middle East.

Military veterans and their families gathered at Veterans of Foreign War Post 3848 in Henderson for their annual classic car show, but late in the day the conversation shifted to the possibility of future war with Iraq.

The old soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from World War II to the Gulf War appeared unanimous in their opinions that not only should the United States to war with Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein, but that they would put on a uniform and fight again.

The U.S. Security Council unanimously approved a new disarmament mandate for Iraq on Friday, requested by President Bush, that warns President Hussein to end his weapons program or face the consequences, probably a U.S.-led war against his nation.

"I'm 81 years old and I have a saying," said Jim Childers, who survived three years imprisoned in a World War II German prison camp in Poland. "'Have gun, will travel.' I'll go if they ask me."

A tailgunner riding B24s in the war, Childers said he was shot down on his 29th mission.

Childers came to Las Vegas and worked in Strip hotels from the Stardust to the former MGM Grand, now Bally's, he said. He also served as state POW veteran's commander, he said.

Army veteran Jim Duffin, 65, said former President George Bush should have stopped Hussein in the early 1990s during the Gulf War.

Over 2 1/2 years, in 1967 to 1968 and again in 1970 to 1972, Duffin said he did tours of duty in Vietnam, but is ready to serve his country again.

"They really blew it," Duffin said of the failure to topple Hussein. "I'm too old, but I'd like to be one of them."

While they can't fight anymore, state surgeon John Stroud said the post stands behind the decision to invade. "We support our president," he said.

Stroud came to Nellis Air Force Base in 1984, spent 1992 and 1993 on the Korean Peninsula and did some top secret work before retiring from the Air Force in 1997.

"The young men and women defending our freedom today are important to us," Stroud said. "They will carry our honorable tradition."

Stroud, in his capacity as state surgeon, pleads with Nevada's congressional delegation for a full-scale health center to care for veterans and keeps the veterans informed of the latest developments from lawmakers.

"We support what has gone on and what the veterans in the future face," Stroud said.