Monsignor Harold Knueven hugs preschool teacher Judy Doyle at a prayer service for the troops at Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic Church on March 20, 2003.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on March 21 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2003, the front page of the Daily Journal was dedicated to special coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
“Second Wave” was the headline, with as the subheading saying bombs pounded specific targets in Baghdad — including where Saddam Hussein was.
Two stories from The Associated Press were on the front page, as was a Daily Journal story about how the start of the war stirred mixed emotions in the county.
“I sure hope we got him. How long would they put up a front and say he’s still alive?” said Alice Sturgeon, a retired Franklin teacher. Sturgeon was one of several diners at Arthur’s Roto Grill near Amity watching news coverage of the missile attack.
Another diner, Carroll Henneke, a Vietnam veteran, was encouraged to hear that Iraq’s dictator might have been eliminated.
“This is really kind of exciting, what happened last night,” the Indianapolis man said. “It seems like we could save a lot of lives if that was the case.”
Sturgeon agreed with most Americans that the world would’ve been a better place without Hussein. She understood that bold action and sacrifice are sometimes necessary, having lived through World War II and rationing, she said.
On the other hand, she wasn’t convinced that President George W. Bush had considered all of the consequences of going to war, including the potentially enormous cost in dollars and in human lives.
“I’m scared he’s going to bankrupt us,” she said. “I hate having to send all those boys over there.”
Henneke said the attack on Iraq was an unfortunate necessity.
“I’m disturbed that America has to be the policeman of the world,” he said. “I also know that bullies don’t go away unless you put them away.”
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2014
An appeals court reduced a man’s sentence by 105 years for rape, but he was still expected to spend life in prison.
2012
Four men were charged in a burglary attempt near Trafalgar.
2008
The superintendent of Franklin Community Schools announced his plans to resign that summer, returning to his home state of Colorado.
