By Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
WHIDBEY ISLAND — Activity on the north end of this island — home to a significant West Coast military base and families, and businesses that depend on the Navy and tourists — reflected the seriousness of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.
Deception Pass Bridge, one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions, was closed to visitors Tuesday morning. Orange construction barrels and cones closed off parking areas on both sides of the bridge, and walkways on the 180-foot-high span were blocked with lines of orange and yellow construction tape.
The State Patrol posted troopers at the northern end, while workers from the state Parks Department kept visitors away from the south end of the bridge. A ceremony to mark the opening of a new viewing platform was canceled. And the famous bridge, usually packed with camera-toting tourists, was eerily empty.
Five of six gates at the Whidbey Naval Air Station were closed, leaving just the Charles Porter gate open. A 100 percent ID check was in effect, and no one without a Department of Defense ID card could get onto the base.
"All the gates are closed except this one," said Anthony Popp, a spokesman for the base. Security has been heightened, he added, including at military housing neighborhoods in the area.
The gate closures will continue.
"Right now, it’s indefinite. I don’t know how long this is going to take," Popp said. "People should expect delays."
Earlier, the base fire department filled waist-high yellow traffic barricades with water, and the obstacles were placed in the roadway at each gate to prevent straight-through access.
Like the rest of the country, Oak Harbor residents were left in a numbed state of shock over the morning’s events.
"I can’t believe that it has happened. I’m just numb," said Mary Woodbury, a retired Navy anti-submarine warfare specialist who lives in Oak Harbor.
She first heard about the attacks over the radio, and didn’t believe the reports at first. "I thought it was a radio prank until I saw the flags at half-mast."
"It’s World War III, I’m afraid," she said.
"The sun is shining here, but it sure doesn’t feel like it," said Debbie Beyer, the wife of a Navy chief stationed at Whidbey.
Oak Harbor, a town of roughly 20,000 with military ties that date back to World War II, was already beginning to look out for its own. Some churches in Oak Harbor scheduled special prayer meetings for Tuesday night.
"We will be praying for justice to be done and for the future of our nation," said Marshall McBride, associate pastor of music and worship at First Church. The church had scheduled a prayer meeting Tuesday evening in the sanctuary room.
"It’s an overwhelming tragedy," he said. "But we also trust in the ultimate justice and healing that God will bring."
It’s inevitable that some members of the congregation, Navy pilots at the nearby base, will be deployed in the near future, he said, so there will be prayers for those service members as well.
Signs of support and hope were already springing up throughout Oak Harbor.
Leslie Steinbach, an assistant manager at Dugualla Bay Farms, was putting up a reader board message outside the business on Highway 20. It read: "We will prevail together united."
On the other side of the billboard, McCala Caren put up another message. "God bless America."
You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.
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