Everett, Wash. Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Everett Iraq war demonstrators never waver
By Jeff Switzer Herald Writer
EVERETT -- For five years and counting, the raucous weekly demonstrations in downtown Everett have mirrored the nation's ongoing debate over military action in Iraq.
Sometimes there's yelling, cheering, jeering at the Friday demonstrations -- all seeking supportive honks from passing cars on Colby and Hewitt avenues.
It shows that the polarizing war led many people to find their voices -- whether they are supporting the war or criticizing it, or supporting the troops.
"We've established a stable and growing peace community of all ages in Snohomish County," said Lorna Frey, a member of the anti-war group Everett Peace Action.
Since fall 2002, Everett Peace Action has staked out the two southern street corners at the busy Everett intersection for Friday lunchtime demonstrations.
"One of my early vigil signs said, 'I weep for the people of America and the people of Iraq,'" Frey said. "I continue to mourn, and dissent is still patriotic."
In spring 2003, Kevin Moeller of Snohomish drove by the demonstrations.
He decided that passers-by needed to see and hear from those who support the decision to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He quickly hauled out his American flag and has demonstrated on the two northern street corners ever since.
Hoisting a 12-foot-tall flag pole each week, he literally is the standard-bearer for the Evergreen Troop Support Group.
"The rest of us have joined him in that effort," said Audrey McKee of Lynnwood. "We're out four days a week, some of us."
McKee, 70, demonstrates in Mukilteo on Wednesdays, Everett on Fridays, Lake Forest Park on Saturdays and Edmonds on Sundays.
"It's definitely a full-time job and more lately," McKee said. She also helps send cards and packages to soldiers, veterans and those wounded in the war.
Peace doesn't come from standing on a corner chanting "peace," McKee said.
The demonstrations are usually peaceful, but a Brier man who was protesting the war was arrested in Everett in 2006 for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after he confronted other demonstrators.
When demonstrating with his wife, John McKee carries a sign reading "Duty, Honor, Country," a phrase from Gen. Douglas MacArthur's speech at West Point.
"Support for the troops is growing, and I think people are seeing that the war itself is going a lot better," John McKee said.
The war in Iraq might have been over by now, though, he said.
"If we had gone in with overwhelming force to start with, we would have been done a long time ago. We didn't, and we have to do the best we can now," John McKee said.
Opposition to the war was once unpopular and unpatriotic, said Earl Boyko of Everett, a leader in Everett Peace Action and a history teacher for 30 years. In time, the country has largely turned against the war, he said.
"We've been so polarized on the war," Boyko said. "I had no idea that this war would last this long. I'm really ashamed of the way the country has gone. It's acted as bully of the world because of oil."
How his group demonstrates can set the tone for debate in the nation, he said.
"We look at ourselves as somewhat Gandhi-esque in our attitude toward trying to change things, from the perspective of Martin Luther King Jr., too," he said. "Violence only breeds more violence, so there's no point in it."
