Last week, President Bush addressed the question of when American troops will be brought home from Iraq. In downtown Everett Friday, I asked a supporter of Bush’s policies how long he plans to keep waving the flag at a busy intersection.
“Until they go home,” said Kevin Moeller, pointing to a group holding peace signs across the street. “And hopefully after our troops come back,” the Snohomish man added.
Across Hewitt Avenue, World War II veteran Owen Lewis of Everett was among seven people protesting the war Friday, pushing the message that U.S. troops should be brought home. They were slightly outnumbered by Bush supporters.
“I changed my mind about war several wars ago,” said Lewis, who served on a Navy destroyer. “War solves nothing, and this is an illegal war.”
Lewis’ 80-year-old wife, Bonnie, was more outspoken. “It’s horrible, we’ve destroyed their country. Bush has ruined our world.”
For more than two years, since before U.S. bombing began in Iraq in March 2003, anti-war and support-the-troops demonstrators have made their noontime stand each Friday at the corner of Hewitt and Colby avenues.
Moeller, 51, was still in his 40s when he began showing up with flags and signs. Last week, he held up the message: “Thank a vet for your freedom.”
Self-employed, Moeller said he keeps Fridays free between noon and 2 p.m., telling people “there’s something very important I have to do.”
Arlene Noyes of Mountlake Terrace said it’s important for her to be there with Moeller “whenever I can.”
“I lost a brother in the second world war,” she said.
“We do get a lot of support,” Don Quale, 58, of Lake Forest Park, said as drivers honked in approval of the group waving American flags. “Talking heads on TV intimate that support for the war is waning, but that’s the wishful thinking of liberals.”
A veteran who retired after 20 years in the military, Quale said he served as a Marine in Vietnam and was later in the Army. He expects to see U.S. forces in Iraq for years as democracy takes hold.
“The reason the majority of us come out is to offset those people over there,” Quale said.
While the flag-waving crowd drew the loudest response from passersby, 88-year-old Beryl Neff of Lake Stevens said on the other side of the street, “We get a lot of support, too.”
“They need the noise,” Owen Lewis said. “When you’re wrong, you’ve got to be loud.”
“Many people stop and say thank you,” Neff said.
Two young men in a blue sedan pulled up to the peace demonstrators. The man in the passenger seat rolled down his window and said, “Get our troops out of Iraq now.”
Neff agreed. “I think we should come home, let the Iraqis handle their own government and help repair the damage,” she said. “It’s such a waste.”
Dave Meeds, 72, of Monroe called the administration’s justification for war “horse puckey.”
“There were no weapons of mass destruction, and Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11,” said Meeds, a Navy veteran who said he gunned the Korean coast. “I’m not a complete pacifist. I’ll fight in my defense.”
With the peace group was Tom Pease, a 63-year-old Everett man who’s been a Friday regular for two years. “We want to keep it in front of everybody,” he said.
“I believe now is the time to start pulling our troops out of Iraq,” Pease said. “Everybody is afraid of civil war, but that’s what they’re having right now.”
Dressed in an Uncle Sam costume across the street, Cecil Chapman of Mukilteo couldn’t disagree more.
“I think the insurgency would die away if they thought the U.S. would stay. We bloodied their nose, now run – that’s the wrong message,” said Chapman, 63.
Does anyone ever cross the street? Is there ever any rational talk between the two camps? Yes and no.
“Early on, we used to be able to talk,” Pease said. “Lately, they just shout us down.”
“I wouldn’t say we’re friends,” Moeller said.
They don’t have to be friends, or agree, or keep their mouths shut. Remember that as we celebrate our freedoms.
“We are allowed to speak our piece,” Moeller said. “That’s one of the cornerstones of our democracy.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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