As the bombs rained on Baghdad early yesterday, one State College Borough Council member thought of his son stationed at Desert Storm Command in Saudi Arabia.

"I said a prayer and cried a little," F. Dan Winand said of the moment he first heard the news. "I prayed for everyone. Even the Iraqis."

Winand's son, Capt. Daniel L. Winand, an attorney for the Army, is in an activated reserve unit from Atlanta.

Capt. Winand served a few years of active duty in the Army, part of that time as an airborne ranger.

Capt. Winand's wife, Jane Winand, is also a captain in the reserves, but her unit has not been activitated. If Jane Winand is called to active duty, her parents will take care of her 14-month-old child.

"It's been rather traumatic for all of us," F. Dan Winand said.

But F. Dan Winand said he believes everything will work out in the end.

"Whatever cards we are dealt, we will play them," he said. "Others have been in this type of situation before."

The councilman said he received word his son was still alive yesterday, and added that he supports the president's actions in the Middle East.

F. Dan Winand said the attack was necessary because diplomacy and negotiations did not work.

Other council members also believe force is the only way to liberate Kuwait.

"I feel we had to do it," council member Peter E. Lang said. "Everyone seemed interested in a compromise except for (Saddam) Hussein. He didn't even try to work things out."

Now that U.S. forces have entered into combat, they deserve support from the American public, local legislators said.

"No matter how strongly I might have wished for peace, we are now at war," councilwoman Jean W. McManis said. "Now is the time for solidarity. We have to stand together."

Council members said protesters have the right to disagree with the war, but wondered if protests helped the situation.

Lang said Saddam may have believed the United States would not use force because of television reports of protesters.

"So it's possible that Hussein refused to leave Kuwait because he saw the protesters and didn't believe we were serious," Lang said.

F. Dan Winand said he hopes the people who disagree with the war support the troops in the gulf.

"I just hope everyone supports our troops in the gulf, whether they agree with the war or not," he said. "I hope everyone is behind the people who are over there."

Most legislators said they believe a draft will not be necessary.

"I do not expect there to be a draft," councilman Bill Welch said. "It probably won't even last long enough for a draft to be needed."