Yellow Ribbons And Prayers

With an explosion of yellow ribbons, tiny American flags and a small media army, the war in the Balkans came to east L.A. Thursday, reports CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen. On the street where Sergeant Andrew Ramirez grew up, everybody's worried about the kid they call Andy.

In Andy Ramirez's old neighborhood, Delores Sanchez was handing out more American flags. "This way he'll know we're supporting him, that we want him back, and this is a country of freedom!" she said.

But Frank Jasso, the great uncle of Sgt. Ramirez, expressed the family's uncertainty.

"Well, I feel bad," he said. "It's like...a death in the family, really, because we don't know if he's going to come out."

However, on Friday, Jasso voiced a more optimistic view of the situation, saying that he and is family were "holding up pretty well."

"So far, anyway, we're hoping that he'll come out of it all right," Jasso told CBS This Morning. "But the family is holding together. We're a little encouraged from God and the community. We would like everybody to know that we would like some prayers for him and that things will be all right for all of us."

In rural Capac, Mich., the battered face of Sergeant Chris Stone stared out from the morning paper. Prayers were posted at his old high school, where cross-country coach Ken Marsga said the Serbs are going to find they have their hands full.

"When push came to shove, he got tougher and tougher," Marsga said. "I can't picture him giving anything, anything up for those guys. Nothing!"

In Texas, where Stone's wife and four-year-old son live, his mother-in-law said the family is doing all right. "Your expressions of concern for Chris and Trisha and their little boy are especially heartwarming," she said.

All across Texas, yellow ribbons went up on the state prisons to remember the three soldiers taken prisoner, especially 21-year old specialist Steven Gonzalez. His father is a corrections official at Huntsville. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez said the TV images of their son were cause for hope and anxiety.

"It's a bittersweet relief," said Gilbert Gonzalez. "You see him alive and blinking his eyes. You don't know what's going to happen."

Steven's mother Rosie added, "Steven and these other two soldiers are not criminals. They should not be dealt with as criminals."

Some of the supporters have an idea how to get Andy and the others home. "I do not see why they won't go in there, into the country and take them out," wondered Jasso. "They have to. I mean, you know if they don't give them up...go in. You know we got the power over there and we're supposed to be the strongest country in the world. Why shouldn't we?"

It was little more than a week ago that President Clinton urged Americans to look at a map to learn where this war is being waged. In Los Angeles, Capac, Mich., and Huntsvlle, Tex., they don't have to look very far. The war is on their doorsteps.