American response to Girard's extradition was largely negative. Relatives and supporters in his Illinois hometown drummed up 182 feet of signatures for a petition decrying the decision, the American Legion protested vociferously, the Veterans of Foreign Wars said that Girard had been "sold down the river", Senator John Bricker of Ohio called the decision a matter of "sacrificing an American soldier to appease Japanese public opinion", and the New York Daily News summed up its feelings in a headline: "To the Wolves, Soldier".[1][2] In the midst of the uproar, the New York Times, fearing that American reaction was eroding the good will earned in Asia by the initial decision to extradite, published an article lauding the positive interactions between most U.S. soldiers and Japanese civilians, including photographs of soldiers celebrating Christmas with a Japanese family while clothed in traditional Japanese attire.[3]