Town vigil set for Indiana Marine killed in Iraq\nGRIFFITH, Ind. -- A candlelight vigil in memory of fallen Marine Sgt. Duane Rios will be held Monday.\nRios, a 25-year-old combat engineer and Griffith High School graduate, was killed April 5 during a battle on the outskirts of Baghdad.\nTown officials, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9982 and American Legion Post 66 agreed to wait and hold the vigil two days after Rios' funeral so his widow, Erica, and other out-of-town relatives could attend, said Daniel Potosky, commander of the Griffith VFW.\nA memorial service for Rios is scheduled for Wednesday at the U.S. Marine Memorial Chapel at Camp Pendleton, Calif., near the couple's home in San Clemente, Calif.\nVisitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday at Kuiper Funeral home in Highland. A funeral service will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Griffith at 9 a.m. Saturday.\nAl Pulido, post commander of the American Legion, said the group had bought $800 worth of flags to give to attendees at the event. Pulido said they, too, will present a gift to the family: a gold star banner.\n"It's important to hold a vigil like this when any serviceman is killed in action because they're protecting our country and our rights," Pulido said.
Marine from Clinton County wounded in Iraq\nKIRKLIN, Ind. -- A Marine from central Indiana's Clinton County suffered a gunshot wound to the hand and leg during fighting in Iraq.\nSgt. Michael A. Bray Jr., a 1997 Clinton Central High School graduate from Kirklin, was wounded Friday, but his injuries are not considered serious, his wife, Trisha, told The Times of Frankfort in a phone interview from her Camp Pendleton, Calif., home.\nHer husband was sent back out with his unit later that day, she said.\n"They didn't say how he got the injuries," Trisha Bray said. "I'm assuming it was just a graze, something you could slap a bandage on."\nBray was deployed to Kuwait on Feb. 5. Trisha Bray said she had spoken with him once on the phone and received several letters since he left.
Carson says criticism of war has cooled down\nINDIANAPOLIS -- The military's success in Iraq appears to have ended the harassing phone calls made to U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., and other members of Congress in recent weeks.\nCarson said Monday she received about 15 anonymous phone calls after she and 21 other House members abstained from voting on a March 21 resolution that expressed support for the troops in Iraq and President Bush.\nCarson said she voted "present" because while she supported the troops in combat, she did not agree with Bush's war policies.\nShe said the messages left on her office voice mail stopped just short of threatening bodily harm. She said one caller suggested she depart for Iraq so she could be bombed.\nCarson said she and other representatives tried unsuccessfully to separate the resolution in two, one supporting the troops and one supporting the president.
Michigan City official criticized for guise\nMICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- An elementary school principal who dressed up as an Iraqi official during televised school announcements has not amused some parents.\n"I don't know if he was trying to be funny or what, but no one took it as funny," Cynthia Schweizer, whose son is a first-grader at Coolspring Elementary, told The News-Dispatch for a story Tuesday.\nMichigan City school officials were investigating the satirical announcements Principal Ken Rohrer made Friday over the school's closed-circuit TV system, said Carla Lacona, the district's personnel director.\nThe Associated Press left a phone message seeking comment Monday at a number listed for Rohrer.\nRohrer, in the guise of "Niknak-Padiwak Givudogabon," a fictitious Iraqi "minister of disinformation," said the takeover of Baghdad by U.S. troops had been faked using a GI Joe doll and a toy tank.\nThe script also included announcements for an anti-bullying program that compared U.S. actions in Iraq to bullying, and announced that an upcoming ice cream social would be held "while the Iraqi people are starving because of U.S. sanctions."
Bayh says Syria should learn from Iraq's example\nEDINBURGH, Ind. -- U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh told troops preparing for deployment to the Middle East that Syria should learn from Saddam Hussein's example.\nBayh's remarks Monday at Camp Atterbury echoed those of Bush administration officials who have accused Syria of harboring members of Saddam's government and supporting terrorism.\nThe Democratic senator said Syria should take the opportunity to "stop supporting terrorism, to give up their weapons of mass destruction and work with us to provide more stability in that part of the world, and I hope they'll do that."\n"I would advise them to do that as soon as possible," Bayh added.\nHe said he was troubled by reports that Syria allowed mercenary soldiers to cross its borders to fight against the U.S. in Iraq.\nBayh thanked soldiers training at the central Indiana base, which was activated by the Pentagon in February to help train Guard and reserve troops.\n"It is vitally important that we not only win the war, but we also win the peace," Bayh said. "It's going to take a while for us to get the Iraqi people back on their feet"
